Omotola Jalade Ekeinde ( ; born Omotola Jalade, 7 February 1978) is a Nigerian actress, singer, philanthropist and former model. Since her

Nollywood Nollywood is a sobriquet that originally referred to the Nigerian film industry. The origin of the term dates back to the early 2000s, traced to an article in ''The New York Times''. Due to the history of evolving meanings and contexts, there ...

film debut in 1995, Ekeinde has appeared in over 300 films,

selling Sales are activities related to selling or the number of goods sold in a given targeted time period. The delivery of a service for a cost is also considered a sale. The seller, or the provider of the goods or services, completes a sale in r ...

millions of copies. Omotola is the second Nigerian and first Nigerian celebrity to receive over 1 million likes on her

Facebook page Facebook is a social-network service website launched on February 4, 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg. The following is a list of software and technology features that can be found on the Facebook website and mobile app and are available to users of t ...

. She currently has a total of 3 million followers on Facebook. In 2013, she was included in ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, t ...

'' magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in the world. In 2013, Ekeinde made a brief appearance on

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism of Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Global. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Commun ...

's scripted series, '' Hit the Floor''. On 2 November 2013, she spoke at the 2013 edition of the WISE- Summit, held in

Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the c ...

, Qatar. In 2014, she was honoured by the Nigerian government, when she became a Member of the

Order of the Federal Republic The Order of the Federal Republic (OFR) is one of two orders of merit, established by the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 1963. It is senior to the Order of the Niger. The highest honours where the Grand Commander in the Order of the Federal R ...

(MFR) for her contributions to

Nigerian cinema The cinema of Nigeria, often referred to informally as Nollywood, consists of films produced in Nigeria; its history dates back to as early as the late 19th century and into the colonial era in the early 20th century. The history and devel ...

Early life and education

Omotola Jalade, who is of Ondo descent, was born in

Lagos State Lagos State ( yo, Ìpínlẹ̀ Èkó) is a state in southwestern Nigeria. Of the 36 states, it is both the most populous and smallest in area. Bounded to the south by the Bight of Benin and to the west by the international border with Benin ...

. She grew up with her parents and two younger brothers, Tayo and Bolaji Jalade. Her mother, Oluwatoyin Jalade née Amori Oguntade, worked at J.T Chanrai Nigeria, and her father, Oluwashola Jalade, worked at the

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams (philanthropist), Georg ...

and the Lagos Country Club. She attended Chrisland School, Opebi (1981–1987), Oxford Children School (1987), Santos Layout, and Command Secondary School, Kaduna (1988–1993). She had a brief stint at

Obafemi Awolowo University Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) is a federal government-owned university that is located in the ancient city of Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria. The university was founded in 1961 and classes commenced in October 1962 as the University of Ife ...

and completed her studies at Yaba College of Technology (1996–2004), where she studied Estate Management. She originally wanted a career in business management. However, while awaiting her results from university, she began modelling to earn a living.

Career

Acting career

Ekeinde was introduced to acting while accompanying a friend to an

audition An audition is a sample performance by an actor, singer, musician, dancer or other performer. It typically involves the performer displaying their talent through a previously memorized and rehearsed solo piece or by performing a work or piece ...

. Her first acting role was in the 1995 film ''Venom of Justice'', directed by Reginald Ebere. She was given the lead role in the film. Her first major role was in the film '' Mortal Inheritance'' (1995), where she played a sickle-cell patient who fought for her life against small odds of survival. Since then, she has starred in several films, including ''Games Women Play'', ''Blood Sisters'', ''All My Life'', ''Last Wedding'', ''My Story'', ''The Woman in Me'' and others. For her role in ''Mortal Inheritance'', she won "Best Actress in an English Speaking Movie" and "Best Actress Overall" at the 1997 Movie Awards. She was the youngest actress in Nigeria at that time to win this. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, she starred in several sequel films, including ''Lost Kingdom II'', ''Kosorogun II'', and ''Blood Sister II'', leading to a grand achiever award from the Global Excellence Recognition Awards in 2004. She was awarded best Actress in a supporting role during the

Africa Movie Academy Awards The Africa Movie Academy Awards, popularly known as AMAA and The AMA Awards, is presented annually to recognize excellence among professionals working in, or non-African professionals who have contributed to, the African film industry. It was fou ...

in 2005. After shooting roughly three hundred video movies, Ekeinde received her first cinematic movie role in the 2010 film "'' Ije"''. This film was shot at locations in

Jos Jos is a city in the north central region of Nigeria. The city has a population of about 900,000 residents based on the 2006 census. Popularly called "J-Town", it is the administrative capital and largest city of Plateau State. During British ...

and the United States."''Ije"'' was the highest grossing Nollywood film at the time – A feat later broken by '' Phone Swap (2012)''. In 2012, she starred in the

thriller, '' Last Flight to Abuja'' which became the second-highest-grossing movie in West African cinemas in 2012. She has gone on to win over forty domestic and international awards. In 2015, Ekeinde celebrated her 20th anniversary in the entertainment industry, having appeared in about two hundred films. In June 2018, Ekeinde and fellow Nigerian Femi Odugbemi received invitations to be voting members at the

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

Music career

Ekeinde launched a music career in 2005 with the release of her debut album titled "gba". The album produced the singles "Naija Lowa" and "The Things You Do To Me." Her unreleased second album – ''Me, Myself, and Eyes'', brought in production from Paul Play and Del B. It was supported by the songs "Feel Alright", featuring Harrysong, and "Through the Fire", featuring Uche. In late 2012, Ekeinde began working on her third album and enlisted the help of The Bridge Entertainment. She went to

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...

in the United States to work with producers and songwriters who could help create a sound that would resonate with American audiences. She had studio sessions with Kendrick Dean, Drumma Boy and Verse Simmonds and recorded a song with singer

Bobby V Bobby Marcel Wilson (born February 27, 1980), better known by his stage name Bobby V (also known as Bobby Valentino), is an American R&B singer. He was first a member of the R&B group Mista in 1994, before signing to rapper Ludacris through h ...

Reality show

In 2012, Ekeinde also launched a

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

show, ''Omotola: The Real Me'', on

Africa Magic Africa Magic is a collection of Pay TV entertainment channels that focus on African programming, most popularly Nigerian series and movies. ''Africa Magic'', which started off as single channel of the same name, is a brand owned by M-Net and no ...

Entertainment, a

M-Net M-Net (an abbreviation of Electronic Media Network) is a South African pay television channel established by Naspers in 1986. The channel broadcasts both local and international programming, including general entertainment, children's series, ...

subsidiary broadcast on

DStv Digital Satellite Television, commonly abbreviated to DStv, is a Sub-Saharan African direct broadcast satellite service owned by MultiChoice and based in Randburg, South Africa. Launched on 6 October 1995, the service provides multiple aud ...

. She was the first Nigerian celebrity to star in her own reality show.

Philanthropy

Ekeinde became a United Nations

World Food Programme The World Food Programme; it, Programma alimentare mondiale; es, Programa Mundial de Alimentos; ar, برنامج الأغذية العالمي, translit=barnamaj al'aghdhiat alealami; russian: Всемирная продовольствен� ...

Ambassador in 2005, going to missions in Sierra- Leone and Liberia. She also supports organisations such as Charles Odii's SME100 Africa to empower youth and young women in society. She has been active in the Walk the World project and participated in the Walk the World campaign in Liberia with President

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (born Ellen Eugenia Johnson, 29 October 1938) is a Liberian politician who served as the 24th president of Liberia from 2006 to 2018. Sirleaf was the first elected female head of state in Africa. Sirleaf was born in Monr ...

. Her human rights campaign work is centered on her NGO project, called the Omotola Youth Empowerment Program (OYEP). This undertaking brought hundreds of youths together for the Empowerment Walk and Convention. She lent her voice in 2010 to the "Rewrite The Future" campaign of

Save The Children The Save the Children Fund, commonly known as Save the Children, is an international non-governmental organization established in the United Kingdom in 1919 to improve the lives of children through better education, health care, and economic ...

UK. She became an Amnesty International campaigner in 2011 and has participated in campaigns in Sierra-Leone (Maternal Mortality) and a 2012 campaign for the

Niger Delta The Niger Delta is the delta of the Niger River sitting directly on the Gulf of Guinea on the Atlantic Ocean in Nigeria. It is located within nine coastal southern Nigerian states, which include: all six states from the South South geopoliti ...

in Nigeria, where she shot a video asking

Shell plc Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New ...

and the government to "own up, clean up, pay up, and take responsibility for the oil spills in the Niger Delta. In June 2020, she visited an orphanage home in Tanzania run by Tanzania Mitindo House which focuses on

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of '' Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immu ...

infected children, with

Tanzanian Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

actress Wema Sepetu. To promote the 2021

World No Tobacco Day World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) is observed around the world every year on 31 May. The yearly celebration informs the public on the dangers of using tobacco, the business practices of tobacco companies, what the World Health Organization (WHO) is ...

and the #SmokeFreeNollywood campaign, Ekeinde and actors (

Dakore Egbuson-Akande Dakore Egbuson-Akande (born Dakore Omobola Egbuson; 14 October 1978) is a Nigerian actress. She is an ambassador for Amnesty International, Amstel Malta and Oxfam of America. Biography Dakore was born in Bayelsa State as the first child of her ...

, Daniel Effiong,

Meg Otanwa Meg Otanwa (born 14 February) is a Nigerian actress and former banker. She had her Nollywood debut in 2011 in the film, ''I'll Take My Chances'' and had featured in films such as ''October 1'' (2018), ''Ojuju'' (2014), ''Kpians: The Feast of So ...

, Michelle Dede,

Osas Ighodaro Osas Ighodaro (Osariemen Martha Elizabeth Ighodaro; born 26 October) is a Nigerian American actress, producer, host and humanitarian. She won the Miss Black USA Pageant in 2010, and founded the Joyful Joy Foundation, an initiative that raises ...

pledged to stop smoking in their movie scenes, as it had a negative influence on young kids who looked up to them. The campaign was backed by US

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

Tobacco-Free Kids and a

sub-Saharan Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the African co ...

public strategy firm - Gatefield.

Awards and recognition

Ekeinde has a regular column in '' OK! Nigeria Magazine'' titled "Omotola's Diary", which features writings about her life and experiences. On 5 November 2013, she received the Ebony Vanguard Award at the Music Video and Screen Awards (MVISA) held in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

, England. On 9 November 2013, Oba Victor Kiladejo, the Royal king of Ondo Kingdom conferred on Omotola a chieftaincy title in her hometown of

Ondo State Ondo State ( yo, Ìpínlẹ̀ Oǹdó) is a state in southwestern Nigeria. It was created on 3 February 1976 from the former Western State. It borders Ekiti State to the north, Kogi State to the northeast, Edo State to the east, Delta State ...

. In 2012,

CNN Travel CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by t ...

included Ekeinde's accent on their list of the "world's twelve sexiest accents, . The Nigerian accent ranked fifth on the list. In 2013, she was included in ''

'' magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in the world. Ekeinde was included in the list of Top 100 most influential Africans by

New African ''New African'' is an English-language monthly news magazine based in London. Published since 1966, it is read by many people across the African continent and the African diaspora. It claims to be the oldest pan-African monthly in English, as well ...

magazine in 2013. In 2015, she was listed among the highest-grossing movie actors. Others on the list included

Shah Rukh Khan Shah Rukh Khan (; born 2 November 1965), also known by the initialism SRK, is an Indian actor, film producer, and television personality who works in Hindi films. Referred to in the media as the " Baadshah of Bollywood", "King of Bollywood" ...

Frank Welker Franklin Wendell Welker (born March 12, 1946) is an American voice actor. He began his career in the 1960s, and holds over 860 film, television, and video game credits as of 2022, making him one of the most prolific voice actors of all time. With ...

Bob Bergen Robert Bergen (born March 8, 1964) is an American voice actor. He voices Warner Bros. cartoon characters Porky Pig and Tweety and has voiced characters in the English dubs of various anime. He formerly hosted the children's game show ''Jep!'', a ...

, Jack Angel, Mickie McGowan, Michael Papajohn, Martin Klebba,

Clint Howard Clinton Engle Howard (born April 20, 1959) is an American actor. He is the second son born to American actors Rance and Jean Howard, and younger brother of actor and director Ron Howard. His 200-plus acting credits include feature films such a ...

and Chris Ellis. This listing was compiled and researched by

Yahoo! Yahoo! (, styled yahoo''!'' in its logo) is an American web services provider. It is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California and operated by the namesake company Yahoo! Inc. (2017–present), Yahoo Inc., which is 90% owned by investment funds ma ...

Personal life

Jalade married Captain Matthew Ekeinde in 1996. Together, they have four children.

Selected filmography

Discography

Studio albums

* ''GBA'' (2005) * ''Me, Myself, and Eyes'' (unreleased)

Singles

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ekeinde, Omotola Jalade 21st-century Nigerian women singers 1978 births Living people Yoruba actresses Actresses from Lagos Nigerian philanthropists 20th-century Nigerian actresses 21st-century Nigerian actresses Yoruba women philanthropists Nigerian Christians Best Supporting Actress Africa Movie Academy Award winners Yaba College of Technology alumni Members of the Order of the Federal Republic Actresses in Yoruba cinema English-language singers from Nigeria Obafemi Awolowo University alumni Models from Lagos Yoruba women musicians Yoruba female models Actresses from Ondo State Nigerian film award winners Nigerian humanitarians