Somkele Iyamah-Idhalama (born 23 March 1988) is a Nigerian TV and film actress and model. She is well known for her roles in '' 93 Days'' (2016), '' The Wedding Party'', '' The Arbitration'' (2016), and the TV series ''

Gidi Up ''Gidi Up'' is a Nigerian television and web drama series starring OC Ukeje, Deyemi Okanlawon, Somkele Iyamah, and Titilope Sonuga in lead roles. The series was created by Jadesola Osiberu and executively produced by Lola Odedina. It is prod ...

'' (2013–2014) and at the ''

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a perman ...

'' and ''

Africa International Film Festival The Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF) is an annual film festival that takes place in Nigeria. It was founded in 2010 with its Inaugural edition in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria. AFRIFF was founded by Chioma Ude a passionate fi ...

''. She is an ambassador for

Multichoice MultiChoice is a South African company that operates DStv, a major satellite television service in Sub-Saharan Africa and GOtv, a minor service operating in over 9 countries of this area and Showmax service. MultiChoice was formed out of the sub ...

's DSTV Explora, the widest satellite cable network across Africa. She has in the movie, A Soldier's Story 2: Return from the Dead - sequel to a 2016 multiple award-winning romantdramasama. Iyamah was born in Ika South Area of Delta State, to Andrew and Onyi Iyamah, both are of Ika (

Agbor Agbor is the most populous city among the Ika people. It is located in Ika South Local Government Area of Delta State, in South-south geo-political zone of Nigeria, West Africa. Agbor is the headquarters of Ika South Local Government Area, in ...

) origin. She is the third of four children. She was introduced to dance and drama by an inspirational teacher, Mrs. Abe while attending Grange School in

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national capital of Nigeria until December 1991 fo ...

. Somkele holds a bachelor's degree in

biochemistry Biochemistry or biological chemistry is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology and ...

from

McMaster University McMaster University (McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood and Westdale, adjacent to the Royal Botanical Ga ...

. Somkele volunteered in several shows for charity at McMaster and modeled during the holidays in Nigeria. Her website states her work includes

Virgin Nigeria Air Nigeria (originally Virgin Nigeria Airways, and then Nigerian Eagle Airlines) was the national flag carrier of Nigeria, which operated scheduled regional and domestic passenger services. The airline's base was Murtala Mohammed International ...

, Harp, ETB and Visafone Communications.

Career

Her first audition landed her a lead role. Her works for TV are in the

AMVCA ''Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards'' (AMVCA) is an annual accolade presented by MultiChoice recognizing outstanding achievement in television and film. The inaugural Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards ceremony was held in Lagos, Lagos State ...

nominated and critically acclaimed series, ''‘GIDI UP’'' by

NdaniTV Ndani TV is a web-based channel owned by GTBank. History Ndani TV was established in 2012 by GTBank to offer both entertainment and informative content in order to attract a youthful customer base. It was the first online video content vehi ...

, Amazon's ‘''THE EXPAN,SE’'' and CBC's ‘''CORONER''’. Her career in film has led her to share the screen with Nollywood's directors such as Steve Gukas and

Kemi Adetiba Kemi Adetiba (born 8 January 1980) is a Nigerian filmmaker, television director and music video director, whose works have appeared on Channel O, MTV Base, Sound City TV, BET and Netflix. Education Kemi holds bachelor's degree in law fro ...

. She also shared screen-time with Hollywood veteran, Danny Glover in the biopic, ''93 DAYS'' where she plays one of the surviving doctors who caught Ebola in Nigeria directed by Steve Gukas which went on to win several awards and accolades. That role won her an ELOY award (best actress of the year), AMVCA nomination best-supportingting actress, an AMVCA trailblazer award win, TFAA award, an

AMAA 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 ...

nominat,ion and an AFRIFF Jury Award. She starred alongside Hollywood veteran,

Eric Roberts Eric Anthony Roberts (born April 18, 1956) is an American actor. His career began with a leading role in '' King of the Gypsies'' (1978) for which he received his first Golden Globe Award nomination. He was nominated again at the Golden Globes ...

in the movie: ''A Soldier's Story 2: Return From The Dead'' which was released in Dec 2020''.'' Her corporate endorsements include Multichoice Nigeria (DSTV Ambassador), Jewel By Lisa, and The Access Bank Lagos City Marathon. She has been on the cover of GENEVIEVE Magazine and interviewed by her Alma Mater, McMaster University for their Canada @ 150 special Edition as well as CNN online. She serves as the Regional Head of the fashion brand, Andrea Iyamah.

Personal life

Somkele manages the fashion brand, ''Andrea Iyamah'', founded by her younger sister,

Dumebi Iyamah Dumebi Andrea Iyamah (born 18 March 1993) is a Nigerian-Canadian fashion designer born and raised in Lagos, Nigeria. She is the founder and CEO of the fashion label Andrea Iyamah that caters to bridal, swimwear and ready-to-wear lines. She is kn ...

. She is married to Captain Aaron Idhalama, a thought leader and industry professional in the Nigerian aviation sector. She has a son that had cancer and later became cancer free.

Awards and nominations

Filmography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Iyamah, Somkele Living people Actresses from Delta State 21st-century Nigerian actresses Nigerian film actresses Nigerian television actresses AMVCA Trailblazer Award winners McMaster University alumni 1987 births Nigerian models Nigerian female models Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards winners 21st-century Nigerian businesspeople Nigerian television personalities 21st-century Nigerian businesswomen Nigerian film award winners

Career

Personal life

Awards and nominations

Filmography

See also

References