Adesua wears Ejiro
Amos Tafiri
With this level of success, you almost
wouldn’t believe that there was ever a
fear of failure -
“Yes, the fear of failure was a huge
thing for me and my moment of
epiphany didn’t happen at once - it
was a sum of many moments. What
got the ball rolling was in 2012, when I
went to the Edinburgh French Festival
and I performed everyday for 21 days.
I remembered feeling so at peace and
being so joyful knowing that I was
waking up everyday to go and do a job
that I loved. That was what really did
for me and I hope people realize that
all you need to do is get up and do it. ”
Adesua admits.
Perhaps, resilience is Adesua’s secret
for success. As well as determination,
as proven with her big break. “My 1st
role in film was Knocking on heaven’s
door and I’m really grateful to Emem
Isong for that. I had missed the 1st
stage of the audition and when I got
back, my friends told me about a film
which involved singing as well. I didn’t
know anybody in the industry at the
time but I knew that there was such
a thing as social media. I searched
on twitter and couldn’t find her so I
searched on facebook and then sent
her a message telling her that I’d heard
about the audition for the film, wasn’t
sure if it was already too late but I
would love the opportunity to audition
for the film. I had never acted in a film
before so naturally, I was nervous. So, I
sent the message and she responded
a few hours later- same day. She told
me to come through and sent me the
address- I remember feeling super
stoked. And that’s how I went for the
audition and got the role!”.
Ever since Adesua’s career kicked off,
she has earned a special place in the
hearts and affections of cinema goers
who have so dubbed her Nigeria’s
sweetheart, quite reminiscent of
America’s sweetheart Julia Roberts.
But Adesua has her eyes set on more
than just a reign as Nollywood’s
golden girl. While for most it’s easy
to talk about doing more, the many
reasons why we should do more ,
the strategies we can use in order to
make an impact, for Adesua, it is about
actually about doing more whether
big or small.
For a start, Adesua intends to take
on more socially conscious roles that
will change narratives as she strongly
believes that there is power to effect
change both positive and negative
through acting. “I intend to play roles
that would break certain stigmas, roles
that would educate people more, roles
that would affect society positively. I’d
love to get involved in projects that
address things like mental health,
gender inequality, poverty. I want to
do conscious projects that reflect the
world we live in now and the power
of the arts.” Adesua affirms, making it
clear that she is indeed at a transitional
phase in her career.
But, whether or not there’ll be offers
of such roles, Adesua still intends to
make this change a reality. “I’ve gone
from wanting to just be part of films
to wanting to create films and other
projects. Also to do my own projects
and give other actors the opportunity
to be part of my film. I’ve gone from
wanting to just be an actor to wanting
to find other actors and create my own
projects.”
A step further away from the bright
lights, Adesua has taken up the cause
to end poverty - One justifiable by the
fact that Nigeria is the 1st country in
the world with the highest number
of citizens living in poverty as well
as the fact that Africa accounts for
2/3rd of the world’s extremely poor. In
proving her commitment to this cause,
Adesua joined 7 other young leaders
from different parts of the world for
the GoalKeepers event organized by
tne Bill & Melinda Gates foundation
renowned for its remarkable advances
in the fight against poverty, inequality
and disease.
In championing the fight to end
poverty, Adesua isn’t unaware of the
fact that she can’t do it on her own as
she continues to call for joint efforts -
which is key. “This has got to change
and we must all get involved. Progress
is possible but it is not inevitable - we
must all get involved in the progress
we’d like to see.” Adesua says.
For all her beauty, for all her brains,
what makes Adesua truly stand out is
that she is a woman with purpose who
is evidently going places.
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