Ngozi Nwosu, popularly known as Peace in the Fuji House of Commotion, a long-running TV series, was rumoured to be down with the cancer of the blood. But in this interview with ’NONYE BEN-NWANKWO, the actress says she is in perfect health and has never been diagnosed with any ailment like that. Ngozi Nwosu denies cancer tale
It is amazing seeing you looking this well as we learnt you are down with cancer of the blood.
It is the person who wrote the story that has the cancer. Me, Ngozi Nwosu that you are seeing now, doesn’t have cancer. Please, do I look like somebody who has leukaemia? The writer must have been seeing double.
Where could the story have come from?
I don’t know. But wherever the story might have come out from, I should have been called to confirm if it is true or not. Nobody called me. But when the trouble started, the reporter eventually got my number and has been calling to beg. That means he has evil intention about me. I don’t even know who he is. I have never met him before. Why would somebody decide to tarnish my image? Is leukaemia something you can wish for anybody? It is a terminal disease.
But we learnt you were bedridden in a hospital in Maryland (Lagos).
I’m not in any hospital. I’m in my house. This is me. I was sick in 2009 and I was okay. It wasn’t a serious thing. It wasn’t anything near leukaemia.
But then, we heard you initially contracted HIV and was calling on people to help you with funds.
If I had a terminal disease and I need people to support me, at this stage in my life, I think I know a lot of people who can rally round me to help me. Will I now come and say I need help when nothing is wrong with me? That is 419. I don’t need any help unless people just want to ‘dash’ me money, I will accept. Anyway, I will only thank those people that started this rumour as they have given me so much publicity. My time has come. I didn’t want the publicity before. God has decided to raise me up again.
So, what did you do when you saw the report?
I was devastated. At that point in time, I became ill. I was just looking at myself. I asked myself if I was ill and I didn’t know. But this is me. I went on the Internet and I saw a lot of trash people were writing. My God! A woman called me and started crying. She was praying for me that I was going to be okay. I told her to stop crying because nothing was wrong with me. It was crazy. Why would anybody do this to his fellow human being? Is it because I am an actress? That is just the way to make cheap money.
It might be because you lost a lot of weight…
If I lose weight, you have the right to call me and ask me why. I lost weight because of three things. My fans were complaining that I was gaining so much weight. I had to start doing aerobics since 2008. I wanted to come down. I used to go to the stadium everyday except Sundays to work out. Is it a crime that I decided to lose weight for myself and for my fans? When you are too fat, you get tired often. It is not healthy for one. I lost weight because of my fans. I lost weight because I wasn’t comfortable with it any longer. I lost weight because, as an actress, I didn’t want to be playing a particular role. I no longer wanted the motherly role I was always acting. I wanted to see myself from another angle. I lost weight, especially for my health. I feel good. I feel better. When I wear the kind of clothes I love, I don’t feel stupid. I love wearing hugging clothes. Now I wear them and I see I’m okay in them. So, it is now a crime to lose weight? Just because I lost weight, I now have HIV/AIDS and leukaemia?
Can you tell us why you left the Fuji House of Commotion?
I don’t even want to talk about it. It is over. Let us forget about it.
But people know you as ‘Peace’ more than your real name…
I always thank God for one thing. In every role I played, people were always able to identify me with the role. When we had Living in Bondage, people identified me with ‘Ego Mehn.’ When I did Evil Passion, people identified me with ‘Ije Kpoms’ and so on. I just bless God that in every role, people always identify me with it. Even as I’m no longer with the Fuji House of Commotion, I’m still known as ‘Peace.’
Is there really a difference between what you act and the real you since most of your roles are stereotypical?
Because of the role one plays, people think that is who you are, although some of us are indeed what we act in the movies. I have noticed that. But all the same, as much as I’m not really what I act, I will not remove the fact that I’m somebody who doesn’t take any nonsense. (Ngozi) Nwosu doesn’t take rubbish. But I’m very patient. I don’t always get angry. But when I do, I shout. I’m not a wicked person unlike what I act in the movies.
Do you get embarrassed when people see you on the streets?
If it is possible for some people to take a gun and shoot me, they would have done it. The one that pains me is when somebody sees you on the road; he greets you and tells you immediately to start acting that role you played on TV for him. It is crazy.
Since we no longer see your face in the movies like before, are you still acting?
Definitely! I’m planning one or two programmes as well. When that one is out, you all will see it. I have shot a couple of movies that are yet to be released. I have a TV programme that is on air. I’m still into my business. I’m into entertainment. I’m a compere. I’m a lucky person. If I’m not shooting movies, some times I will be on the stage performing. At times, I’m on Yoruba movie locations. There is no dull moment.
You speak Yoruba fluently…
Oh yes. I grew up in Lagos.
Can you compare the Yoruba and the English movie genres?
There is nothing to compare. The Yoruba people are proud of what they do. They are proud of their heritage and that is one thing I love about them. Irrespective of the fact that some of them are into English films, they still go back to their tradition. They still go back making films that make them to stand out. They are so proud of their language. In film making, film is film irrespective of the language. The Hausa people have their own movie industry. It is just the Igbo movie industry that is dead. They claim to know it all yet they are master of nothing.
How did you come to be a part of Nollywood since you were there almost as soon as it started?
We started Nollywood. Living in Bondage was something we all decided to experiment with. The movie was just a trial. We all worked as a family. That was how it came out and it became the beginning of home videos.
Did you expect it was going to make you a star?
Before Living in Bondage, I was already a known face. I was Madam V Boot in Ripples. I was already a household name.
Are there times you wish you are not a star?
So many times. In fact, with this last incident, I wished I wasn’t known. I wished I was just an ordinary person walking on the streets. Nobody would have known me. We have lots of prices to pay for this stardom. You are no longer the person you wished to be. Privacy is no longer your own property. People will not allow you. People will not even know that you have your own character. If you let out steam, they will say that is the way you behave.
A lot of scandals have been associated with you…
I couldn’t be bothered. There was a time they said I was the worst dresser and the greatest smoker. All these things don’t bug me.
Do you intend to marry again?
Oh yes. God is yet to bless me with a child and I know He will. I’m not going to be a single mother. I will marry again.
Do you regret your first marriage?
This is another thing I don’t want to talk about. If I say I didn’t regret it, I lied. To me there is a first time and there is time for you to make amends. If I had been in Christ then as I am now, I might have been able to salvage my marriage.
Some people said your profession was part of the reasons your marriage broke up.
My career never had anything to do with my marriage. It wasn’t my job at all. Marriage is a union of two people. It is not an individual thing. If yours is working out, pray it continues to work out. Dating is quite different from marriage. When you get married, you will start seeing certain things you never expected. Marriage is something you commit totally into the hands of God.
So, you didn’t try at all to salvage your marriage?
I will not lie. I didn’t try at all. I was really hurt. I was taking it from the angle of ‘you did this to me and I will not take it.’ So, I didn’t try to salvage it.
Are you still friends with your ex?
Oh yes. We’re still friends. He calls me on the phone and I call him as well. He has been to my house once. That is to tell you that life is too short.
You guys should have reconciled…
We should have reconciled. The thing that happened to us is something that we could have easily made up and still be together. But a lot of water has passed under the bridge. I now leave everything in the hands of the Lord.
What is your future aspiration?
I want to impart some knowledge in the lives of people. I want people to embrace God. He is the only person you can trust and not man
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