chinyere amaechi-musa.

Iam Miss Naomi Okeh. I am from Oko-oko Item, Bende local government area, Abia State. Presently, I work with an oil firm and I am also into modeling and pageantry. I am an actress. I have actually shot three movies but they are yet to be in the market for public consumption.

The first one is titled Widow’s Curse. It is all about a widow who lost her husband in a mysterious circumstance and also had herself unjustly killed by the people but before she died, she placed a curse on the community. She also lost her only son before her death. Her curse negatively affected the community.

The next is an epic movie with an Ibo title: Atu ekere meaning God of Justice. It is actually a true life story of a village.

The third is a soap opera though much like a comedy. Hard nut to crack. It’s about the role or what we hear about our female banking marketers and the kind of life they live. It portrays though in a comic way what banking marketing is really all about.

It is really tight now in the Movie industry in the country because the industry is currently regulating the market in that you don’t just push your production into the market without clearance from the industry via the Nigerian Actors Guild. It is a matter of turn by turn so we are waiting for our turn.

I am also an ex-beauty queen.

The themes of the three films

The themes are derived from the experience of the writer and that is what writing is all about. Even when it is a fiction there is usually a reality prompt to it. They are actually not my stories but that of the writer.

Growing up

I had an interesting growing up and upbringing. After thanking God, I usually thank God for the kind of parents He gave to us and so I do thank them too. Though I lost my dad as a little child but I saw the good legacies he left behind which empowered my mother and saw all of us through to this day. For instance, I still have part of him in me. I come from a very religious background and we had good upbringing. I can confidently say that I am God-fearing.

Educationally, I was born at Enugu in Enugu State and so began my educational training there. Though I began my secondary school at Enugu, I concluded at Aba, in my home state. I graduated from Abia State University where I read Linguistics. I did my compulsory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) at Kaduna, the capital of Kaduna State. After service, I decided to come to Lagos to see how I can help myself realize my many dreams.

However, before coming to Lagos, I did sample Kaduna itself and Abuja before settling for Lagos. Truth is that, I have not been disappointed by coming to Lagos. It is a good place for young, ambitious and hardworking people. If you are hardworking you will surely find where to plant your feet in Lagos.

It is not all about my training as a Linguistic scholar but it is about me. I must confess that Lagos has really brought out the innate talents in me. Though I began my modeling and pageantry in Abia State, being Miss Abia 2000, I have blossomed in Lagos.

After Miss Abia

My admission into the University came as soon as I became Miss Abia. I continued with my academic pursuit. I did not want to interrupt my education because of beauty pageantry. In 2003, I went for Face of Abia state, I came out as first runner up.

That was not a pageantry per se but more of a cultural queen contest. In Lagos, I have done a lot. I do runway and modeling. The most recent for instance is that I did MTN Calendar, 2010.

Likes/hates

I have a very plain mind so I like playful people. I like God-fearing people, honest and responsible people. I also like reasonable people. On the other hand, what I hate most is a tricky human being. I don’t like it when people are not straight forward. I like people that are open and guided by the spirit of God because with God in you, you will always be restrained from hurting others or committing evil.

Philosophy

This life can be simple depending on your slant and how you propel it. I don’t seem to see life as being so hard because I have had some experiences that helped me in drawing my inferences. Truth is that I prefer rough experience than an easy one. This is because if you are wise you learn a lot from every experience but especially the rough and hard ones. It is the hard experience that tests you on who you are. It is usually our rough experiences that bring out the better part of us and make us better for it. This is why we must learn to take life easy because it can be as simple as A, B, C, D. More-so, we are all like flowers on this planet earth and one day we shall fade away. I have seen people very dear to me pass on and yet the clock did not stop ticking nor did life stop but instead life goes on. So, what is this special thing about life that makes it a very serious issue? Be open as long as life lasts and share what you have with others. These can give you true happiness and fulfillment. I have also noticed in this life that people love you more when you have a plain mind and good things come your way too but when you take life so hard, you tend to scare people from you and you bring lots of hatred to yourself.

Love life

I have got quite good experiences about love life on a broader spectrum. Those experiences have really helped me in putting some things in place. Looking at me, I have always been one that cannot be hidden anywhere I find myself. Wherever I go and no matter how hard I try to hide, I will always be fished out. I don’t think this quality has anything to do with whether I am beautiful or not. It is simply a gift. As a beautiful lady who finds herself in the entertainment industry, you can guess at the rest of the story. There is usually a shower of love – real and imagined – but I thank God that I have always been able to control it. The key thing is to understand what love life is all about, knowing what you want and being able to fish out the true ones from the many fables. It is also annother simple aspect of life if you understand it. I think I have answered that well because if you go further to ask more on this, I think that may be too personal for me to talk about.

Are you in love?

As an adult and an ex-beauty queen, it is expected that I should be in a serious relationship. That is very right and by the grace of God, it will happen soon because I love family life and I love children dearly. So, I am also dreaming of having some of them as mine soon. People may be expecting that having come so far, I should be thinking of settling down. Yes, I do really desire it but I am taking my time. I don’t want to rush into it or go into marriage because of money, I am only trying to look before I leap. I also know that my God knows what I desire and He will soon be making me a happy woman.

The break after Miss Abia

I got admission into the University as soon as I became Miss Abia State. I also had an option to represent Abia State at Miss Nigeria 2001 but I chose to pursue my educational career and so Abia state was not represented. However, I still did some projects in my state as Miss Abia and a lot of works of charity. Though I hardly occupied the office in Abia state, but I performed what was expected of me.

The future

I look forward to becoming a great woman of honour. I want to be a role model to all and sundry and to build a happy home other families will want to look up to in imitation. I also want to impart positively on the life of others.

I am the anchor person for Widows Concern Organization (WCO). I’m sure I have been chosen for this role because of the kind of heart that I have. I want to see myself helping people even if not financially but by the kind of words that flow out of my mouth.

What I do as anchor

We visit widows with gifts as well as give them words of encouragement and also teach them skills. Some of them have heart rendering stories to tell about their situations and they need people to hear their stories and alleviate their situations. Some of them have been ejected and rejected by their husbands’ families and some of them are indeed going through hell. They need to be heard and assisted and that is what we do in WCO.

Mother as a widow

I do think and through some of the stories my mother used to tell us that she also went through some of the ugly experiences of widowhood. I thank God for her case and for who she is because despite the demise of my father, she ensured that all of us were duly trained academically and otherwise. She is a woman of God who tries to imbibe godly principles in all she does and this helped her tremendously when she was going through the bad experiences of widowhood. That is why when I address the widows, I’m never tired of telling them to hold onto God no matter the storm they are passing through. God will also stand in for you at all times as long as you cast your burdens upon Him I use to tell them.

I happen to be my mum’s favourite. My dad died young while my elder ones were in school. I was with my parents and saw it all happen even with my infant eyes because I was still very young then. That sort of brought me real close to my mum. I am a very emotional person and so was always around my mum. We are six in number and I am the fifth child. I know it was not easy for my mum then but God was with us and He is still with us.

Advice to youth

I always tell some of my friends to believe in themselves and be focused. Don’t allow yourselves to be influenced by anyone. My experience in Lagos shows that most of the misdemeanors our youths exhibit they actually pick through imitation from peer group members and so are victims of peer group pressure. They can choose not to be influenced. If you believe in yourself and try to explore some of your hidden talents, the sky is your limit. There is hardly any one created by God that is without a talent God has planted in him/her. So, try hard to discover that talent in you and use it well. You can get to any height you desire for yourself in this life if only you are focused and hardworking. You may not necessarily be a university graduate to make it in this life. There is a lot young girls of nowadays can do to excel like their male counterparts. Be creative and do something for yourself. Don’t always fold your arms waiting for a man to do everything for you. As a young reasonable girl you can take yourself to places. For instance, all I do for Vision Africa Entertainment is presenting their programmes and it is paving way for me. Modeling is in me. What I studied at school was Linguistics and not modeling but modeling has been in me and that is why I am doing well in it. If I did not discover it and try to push it for people to see and patronize me, it will lie there in me and of course I will die with it untapped. The worse thing that can happen to anyone is to die with an untapped talent in him/her.