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SUNDAY VANGUARD, APRIL 4, 2021, PAGE 25
I don’t like every woman’s
man – Opeyemi Adetunji
Opeyemi Olumide Adetunji has come a long way from that greenhorn that would
jump at anything thrown her way. She has stamped her feet on the landscape
and pretty much in control of almost everything around her. She’s a
producer of five films and still counting. In this interview with AYO
ONIKOYI she shares her journey in the make-believe world where she
ekes out a living.
Life as a producer
Being a producer is not an easy
task. You have to take care of
everyone on your production and be
fair to all. I have produced five
movies, namely Mope, Voice, Pinch,
Selflessness and Awo. I have also
featured top stars like Funsho
Adeolu, Adedimeji Lateef, Bimbo
Oshin, Olaide Bakare, Aisha Lawal,
Afeez Eniola, Toyin Adegbola,
Bukunmi Oluwashina, Adeniyi
Johnson,Yewande Adekoya Abiodun,
and many others in my productions.
Challenges
It has not been a smooth ride I must
say. Before I joined the movie
industry I thought it was as simple as
we used to see on TV. Money is one
major challenge because you go for
rehearsals, locations and you don’t
get paid because you are just
learning but they forget you need
money to feed and sustain yourself.
Another, is how to get directors
and producers to believe in your
craft because most producers prefer
known faces. And another challenge
is the issue of unpleasant rivalry. I
am grateful for lessons learnt
because I believe in the saying “Life
is about accepting the challenges
along the way, choosing to keep
moving forward and savoring the
journey.” The challenges helped me
sit up and most importantly, made
me a producer.
High and low moments
I have had lots of high and low
points in the course of my career but
in all I have learnt few lessons. The
biggest lesson of all is not to trust too
much, especially people of my
gender. I have also learnt that
staying focused and self-discipline
go a long way. And above all,
believing in yourself is supreme.
Intimate beliefs
I believe it takes two to tango in a
marriage, but marriage is not for
everyone. Not everyone would find
•ThaCutegeminme
love in marriage and I believe if it is not
working it is better to walk away instead of
staying in an abusive marriage.
Being sexy to me, is self confidence and
looking good. A woman is free to flaunt her
endowment if she so desires. The body is
hers and she can do whatever pleases her
with it.
Social media
Social media is a major PR for our job,
especially when you are a movie producer
like me. It helps me to reach out to my fans
easily. My movie ‘Pinch’ got 1million views
in one month and it is only with the help of
social media I could go that far in such a
short time
Crazy moment
My craziest moment was with a fan who
wanted to kiss me at all costs when he saw
me. He said I kissed very well in one of the
movies I featured titled “Every woman”. He said
ever since he watched the movie he had been
looking for me to have a kiss.
Kind of man
I love men with high intelligence. When a man
is intelligent he turns me on easily. And when he
is intelligent with good looks I’m almost done for
him. But talkative men and flirts turn me off. I
can’t date a man who
is every woman’s man.
I hate men who want
to see under the skirt
of every women. It’s a
major turn off for me.
and plus size singer, Maria Benjamin is
Heartbreaks
My heart has only
been broken just once.
It was his choice to
pick a mere stone over
a diamond. Life goes
on. Having a man is
not the greatest
achievement in life.
The amount of effort I
put into my career as a
woman is what matters
most to me. From
being career-oriented
to striving for the
unreachable heights to
achieve my goal is my
ultimate dream.
I want to make short models walk the
runways someday – ThaCutegeminme
Vivacious from Benue State, same as Nigeria’s Afropop icon,
Innocent Idibia, famously known as 2Baba. Beyond
their common state of origin, the duo make good
music. While 2Baba is a legend in the music industry,
Maria Benjamin is a rookie, silently and diligently
making a name for herself as the ‘Queen of Patwa”
fusing Afropop with RnB. Little wonder, the ‘African
Queen’ music giant had no qualms joining forces with
her on her first single “Imi” which she dedicated to
couples to stick together through thick and thin.
Maria Benjamin who is back with a new song titled
“419” off the EP she is currently working on explains
why she featured the iconic singer in her debut
single.
“ Everyone knows 2Face is a legend and the most
inspiring musician of our time. 2Baba doesn’t just
sing, his music inspires. His music inspires me. He is
not only the biggest brand locally but also
internationally out of Africa. Working with him was a
Model Thacutegeminme has said that her aim is to become a
globally recognized model and project Nigerian models on the
world stage.
The University of Lagos undergraduate said in a chat with
Potpourri that models in Nigeria are not given their dues and are
under-paid, adding that she wants the people to change the
perception of models and modelling in the country.
On what motivated her to get into modeling, she said her’s is
inborn and that she naturally just loved watching fashion shows
on television as a kid and also watching her sisters do it.
She added that she has always loved to be a model, “Especially
a runway model, but my height could not get me that because I
am 5’3. So I just went for face modeling instead; I got interested
because I really like flashy lifestyles, cameras, photo shoots,
looking different all the time and all because as a model, it is
like you are a thousand people in one person because you get
to change your looks and all and also to improve my esteem
because I was a really shy person growing up.”
The Instagram queen stated that she aims “to own a
modelling agency for petite models like me and by God’s
grace make sure short people are able to walk the
runways someday because I feel everyone should have
that opportunity.”
•Opeyemi
Adetunji
Why I featured 2Baba in my first single
– Patwa Queen, Maria Benjamin
•Maria Benjamin
big honour and a whole new experience
for me. The single “Imi” is a song to
inspire married couples, that no matter
what they are going through they should
stick together and try to make things
work,” she said.
On her new single “419”, Benjamin
revealed that it was inspired by a
situation between two girls and a boy he
experienced at an eatery sometime ago.
“I was in an eatery and a lady walked
in, after sometime a guy and a girl
walked in too. Shortly after, I found out
that the guy is dating the two girls. He
seems to love one very much and appears
to be collecting money from the other. I
saw he was keeping the two girls for love
and money. When I got home that day the
whole drama came back to me. That is
how the song “419” was born. It’s about
what evil men do in the game of love
and lust,” she narrated.
With the talent she has displayed in
the music-making craft, Maria
Benjamin believes it was music that
chose her and not the other way
round. She started music back in
school as a member of a group known
as “The White Doves” and they went
as far as dropping an album.
Her first musical effort was the
cover of the Brick and Lace
hit “Love is Wicked”. When
she did a Nigerian
version of it, putting her
Patwa to good effect and
gaining wide acceptance she
knew she has a fruitful future
ahead of her. And the best point
that could have underscored her
conviction is to get 2Baba to
endorse her career by featuring
on her single.
Maria Benjamin has two
other singles to her name,
namely; “Gudu” featuring
2Tight and “Nnamdi’. Her
two greatest musical mentors
are Tiwa Savage and 2Baba.