Jennifer Eliogu is an actress and a singer. Blessed in and out with a good heart, a lot of negative stories have unfortunately been swirling around her lately. And during an encounter with YES International! magazine on Thursday, November 14, 2013, she responded to some of them…
What’s new with Jennifer Eliogu?
My music! I just went into music fully and professionally. I have a 12-track album; it’s not been released yet, but I’ve 2 singles out, enjoying massive air play. I just shot a video for one of the songs – Ifunanya. And the video was nominated for Best New Video, NMVA 2013. I have a 10-man band, because I do more of live performances and it’s been a beautiful experience.
The 12-track album, what’s the title?
Beautiful.
The two singles that are out, what are their titles?
You and I and Ifunanya. The first one was You and I; which I released in December. I think on the 9th of December. It’s an old song originally done by Celestine Ukwu. Bless his soul! I re-did the song and added a little bit of RnB to it. Beautiful! It’s a mixture of highlife and RnB and then the second one is an RnB song. A beautiful song titled Ifunanya.
Now that you are paying more attention to music, what happens to your acting career?
Nothing! My acting career is intact. When I get offers to shoot movies, I will go and shoot movies. I write my stories myself; I’ve started producing as well. So, when I’m ready to produce another film, I will; when I’m blessed with the funds. My music career does not interfere or halt my acting career.
When was the last time you acted?
That was in April. No! May. It’s the biography of Chief Gabriel Igbinedion. I played his wife, Lady Cherry and Tony Umez played the man. It’s just about his life and it was a beautiful one. We were depicting real life stories.
Lately, we ‘ve been hearing some unfavourable stories about you. And the latest is that you just wrecked Emeka Morgan’s marriage. What happened exactly?
I think somebody is just being mischievous. I wouldn’t dwell on the story, because as far as I’m concerned, it’s not founded. Morgan, I know. Yes! Morgan is my friend. Am I dating Morgan? No! And I never will.
So, what do you think could have prompted the story? It was all over the place.
I don’t know; I really do not know and in my usual habit, I don’t give credence to a lot of those stories. In this day of blogging, if you don’t like my face, you can go on the blog and write stuff and then you have haters who can comment. How many of them do you reply to, how many do you debunk, how many do you accept? I guess my silence is just golden.
So, how do you feel each time you come across some of these negative stories?
It’s sad, but I know it comes with the job. I chose to be an actress and I’m a good one at that; and now a musician as well. So, I don’t expect everyone to like me. I’m not a perfect human being, but I know I’m not who they say I am. And it’s not for me to try and impress them; tell them, oh, this is who I am. It’s for you to get to know me and then know, oh, this is really who Jennifer is. And another thing is, I know myself; my family knows who I am; my relationship with God is intact. That’s all that matters to me.
People have written a lot of negative stories about you, which one still pains you or pained you the most?
They all get me worried, because I’m human. When people say things about you that are not true, if you say, oh, I don’t care what they say, then you are lying to yourself. Of course, I care what people say about me. But the truth is, I don’t allow it to distract me. I keep my eyes on the ball always. Every negative thing that has been said and written about me actually affected me because I’m human. But you know, when you have the support of your family who loves and understands you, it’s easy to overcome these temptations.
If we may ask, who is the real Jennifer Chioma Eliogu? You said earlier on that most people don’t even know the real you.
I think I will rather not demystify myself. That’s the beauty about it. Let them keep wondering. Whatever impression you have is fine by me. If you are my friend, personally, you know me as my friend; if you are my sister, you know; if you are seeing me from afar and you choose to believe what you read; because the truth is that whatever I say is not going to change the impression that people already have. So, what’s the point? I’m just me and I thank God for being me.
Where are you headed next? What new things should people expect from you?
Some movies! And then, I’m taking music seriously. Like I said, I do a lot of live performances – weddings, AGMs, luncheons. I have a 10-man band that is solid. My band is called the Silk Band. You are going to see a whole lot more of us from now on. And it just gives me joy that eventually I’m getting to live my dream. I’ve always wanted to do music professionally and that time has come. There’s no going back.