Jennifer Eliogu speaks on losing father’s favour
Jennifer Eliogu, a well-known Nollywood actress, has spoken candidly about her father’s lack of approval after she decided to pursue an acting profession against his desires.
This confession was made by the actor during a recent interview with media figure Chude Jideonwo.
Jennifer revealed during the interview that she came from a conservative family and that her father wanted her to become a lawyer. While enrolled in her diploma program in 1997, she stumbled into acting and was immediately drawn to it.
Jennifer Eliogu remarked when she thought back on her adventure,
She said, “I didn’t come out to look for movies, I just stumbled into it [movie industry]. A friend of mine, Princess Babiana… My dad was very strict growing up. We hardly go out, so we had our playground in the house. He doesn’t like visitors. So, we only go out when he is out of town.
“He prefers we are friends with people he knows their parents so he knows that when you go there, you are comfortable. So, my dad and her dad were friends. And she came to visit and she was going for [movie] rehearsals. So, I was like, okay because it’s her and my dad was out of town, I could go. So I followed her.”
“He was difficult. He didn’t even want to hear it. I was already doing diploma in UniJos. My dad always wanted me to be a lawyer. He felt that I was going to be a very good lawyer. It caused a whole lot of problems and my mum was at the receiving end. He kept saying, ‘is this what you really want to do? If anything goes wrong, you will not forgive yourself.’ And I was like, ‘I’m sure, this is what I really want to do.”
“It took a long time, very long time. I stopped being his girl. And you know what, I stopped going to school. He was like I’m not going to pay your school fees.” She added.
The actress admitted that their relationship suffered as a result of her father’s slow acceptance of her career choice.
