Stop Calling Me An Actress — Ayobami Ojo Cries Out Over Stereotypes

Nollywood actress Ayobami Ojo has appealed to Nigerians to stop identifying her as an actress, saying the label has repeatedly worked against her in business and personal life.

In a video posted on her Instagram page, Ojo expressed frustration over what she described as years of judgement and rejection tied to her profession.

According to her, she has missed out on opportunities to acquire land and secure spaces for business because of assumptions attached to actors.

“I am tired of being called an actress. Stop calling me an actress,” she said.

The actress explained that she stepped away from acting years ago and insisted she had never engaged in anything that should make people judge her unfairly.

“I stopped being an actress years ago, and even when I was an actress, I never did anything wrong. I say this with my full chest. I didn’t do anything wrong to anybody.”

Recalling one of the incidents, Ojo said she once attempted to purchase land in Lagos but lost the deal after the seller’s family objected.

“The last time I was trying to buy a landed property in Lagos, I didn’t get it because the seller’s wife said, ‘Oh, I don’t want my husband to sell this land to an actress.’ There was also a time I wanted to rent a place for my business, but I didn’t get it.”

She added that a similar situation happened when she tried to rent another property.

“Another one I was really interested in… the man was told, ‘This woman doesn’t live here. She goes to the UK and back. She is an actress.’ Immediately he heard I was an actress, he said, ‘I’m not renting my house to an actress.’ What did we do to you, people?”

Ojo also claimed that negative perceptions surrounding actresses affected her romantic life.

“Now I am seeing someone. I am talking to that person, and yes, I am so in love with that person. Then one family member or friend tells him, ‘No, you cannot marry an actress. They do juju too much,’” she said.

She accused some women of discouraging potential partners from getting close to her.

“This person is my fellow woman. She doesn’t want anything good for me because whenever she sees a good man trying to ask me out, she says, ‘Actresses are not good.’ But I don’t see anything bad in this one.

“I have not trended for anything bad on Instagram. The only problem people have with me is because they say actresses are bad. So you automatically think we are bad.

“What did I do to you? Except if there is no God. Those of you who go out there to spoil actresses because of one thing somebody puts out there… sometimes the things they put out are not even real.

“I wanted to do this video since last year when I lost that landed property, but I overlooked it as the price I had to pay for being an actress. Is it a crime?”

The actress went on to stress that her success came through hard work and long working hours abroad, especially in the United Kingdom.