Elvina Ibru is a household name in the entertainment industry. She is said to be one of those who have contributed in making the industry what it is today. In singing, acting, directing, producing and so on, she has proved her worth and has never stopped. In this interview, she revealed a lot about herself, family and career.

Tell us about yourself

I was born at Nicolas Hospital on May 22, 1972, so I will be 39 this May. I was premature- two months early. My mum thought that they would lose me but I survived. I guess I have always been a fighter from the start. I wanted to come out early because there were things for me to do. I grew up in Lagos but I am from Delta State. My dad is from Delta State and my mum was half Cameroonian, half German. That is why I am very yellow. I have German blood. I went to primary school at Corona, Victoria Island and left when I was eight. My sisters went to school abroad and there is quite a big gap between my sisters and I in age. My immediate elder sister is five years my senior and the one before her, is 7 years my senior. They had already gone to school in England, so I missed them so much. After crying everyday, my mum decided to put me in the same school with my sisters.

So, I started going to school in England when I was 8. I went to Goud Hurst College. When I was 11, my sisters had finished their secondary and were off to university in America. My mum moved me to Kent College for girls. When I graduated from there, I worked professionally as a singer and actress. I did very well. I worked for BBC and I was doing well. But during that time, my dad was pressurizing me to go back to the university because my Theatre Arts degree was not a better degree, but I was rebellious because I was fine and making my own money. I was not asking for money from anybody. After about two years, he became a little bit ill and I got scared because at that time, my mum had already passed away. I encouraged myself to do what he wanted me to do. If he dies, it would look as if I did not give him his last request. I said to myself, since it was just three years, I was going to do it, but I don't like saying that I am regretting anything, but sometimes, it depresses me a bit. I feel that was a turning point in my life.

My life would have gone this way, or that way. I feel now that if I had kept to my performance, by now, I would be discussing Hollywood with you and nothing less. But God has a reason for everything. I went into the university thinking that three years, I would do my degree and come back and go right back into the business, not realizing that in a showbiz, three years is like 20 years. Being away from showbiz for three years when you are an active performer is like being away for 20 years. There were a lot of chances even in age. There was a bit difference between been 22 and 25 for showbiz. I went to the university and during that time, I was still singing, doing part-time in some side shows, but eventually, my agents left me because they kept booking me for shows which I couldn't fulfill because of my academic workload.

And I didn't want to go to the university and fail. Gradually, they had to let me go and by the time I came out, it was a different ball game. Obviously, there were young people that I had to compete with. I was then old compared to my contemporaries. I just looked at it and told myself that the only reason I was here is that of the profession I chose to go into. Moreover, this is not my country, so what was I doing in England because I never liked England. Yes, their educational system was okay but I never liked the weather, the people and so on. So, I said let me go home because my ultimate ambition at the end of the day was to come home anyway. So, I left England less than a week I wrote my last paper. I didn't even know my result when I left.

What did you do when you came back?

I got home and started working for Dish Engineering in those days when those big satellite dish just came out. Everybody wondered why didn't work for Ibru organization. But at a time, the Ibru organization did not have a leg in entertainment and did not seem to have interest. I never wanted to work for my dad. I always wanted to be an individual. There is no way you can take away the name Ibru from me and I don't want the name to be taken away either. But if Ibru is recognized 50 per cent, let Elvina be recognized 40 at least because I know the Ibru will be recognized more. If I like, I become President tomorrow, they will still say it is Michael Ibru's daughter. I know that it cannot change. Better still, 50-50. I never wanted to work for my dad. I wanted to do my own thing and become successful. I worked for dish as a producer, Minaj broadcast as presenter on Am breakfast show 6-12pm. It was so interesting because I learnt a lot.

When I came back to Nigeria, I found out that I was living with acting more than concentrating more on the singing. The singing came easily because I have some people in Port Hacourt. My family is from a lot of places because my mum who was half German and Cameroonian, was born in Calabar. My grandmother who was a Cameroonian lived in Calabar and met with a German, conceived my mum, and my mum was born in Calabar. They never lived as he went back to Germany. My grandmother later got married to a Bonny man, the late Chief Pepple. We have ties in Cross River and Rivers State. There was a particular lady who used to do events in those days even for the government. At that time, it was Odili that was the governor and his wife opened an NGO for youths initiative. They had the launch and opening of the NGO and this my friend got me in to sing. That was a big break because you can imagine the kind of people that would be there. There were a lot of governors, speakers and a lot of government people. After that show, from there I started doing a lot of shows and N25,000 for a show then was a big money.

Why did you stop singing?

I was doing a lot of big shows and meeting a lot of high earned personalities. But unfortunately, one time I was asked to come and sing for Igbinedion's 40th birthday in Benin. I did the show and the next day, I woke up without a voice. My voice was gone. I had to go and see the doctor who checked and said I had a tear and had probably strained it without realizing. It was actually a small tear like a muscle that was torn. And like every other muscle, for it to heal, you have to rest it. So, I was advised not to talk for six months. I told him it was not possible and he advised that I don't talk for two weeks. I managed to do that for two weeks. I was writing everything and giving signals. By the end of two weeks, I was able to speak normally but the singing was still not there. The amazing thing is that, after a long period of time, the voice started coming back but I had to sit down and think of what to do next. God works in mysterious ways.

If He wants you to do like this and you are doing like that, if you are being stubborn, He has to do something drastic for you to realize what He is saying to you. There were so many things I knew how to do which I left behind because I was concentrating on singing. When I sat down to think of what to do, I still found out I could not move from entertainment. I didn't know how to do anything else and I didn't want to do anything else. I decided to open up a production company. Then at that time, Nollywood was just about to explode. I decided to open a studio that would have editing facilities, cameras, light, etc. I didn't want to produce a film myself but I wanted to be able to facilitate people who needed it. What I wanted to do was documentaries. I opened up 2wice As Nice Limited. We started doing documentaries but not big documentaries that would take years. I decided to go for something that I could do immediately and I found this best in lives of ordinary people around events. We started small but today, we have grown.

We did Idol West Africa. We are also into events concerts. We do a whole lot as far as it has to do with showbiz. What I run away from is management of artistes. But even at that, I have a little partner. The guy owns a record label called the Entice entertainment. I don't like scaring people away, so If I see someone that has a potential, even if I don't have anybody that can sign you, I will direct the person to someone. I try and encourage artistes and put them in the right direction but to actually sit down and manage them, is not for me. But there is one guy, Vocal Slender who is now under my wing. We are hoping that he would explode into the music world soon.

The reason I was drawn to him was that he is a street boy but he never one day picked up a gun and said because life is so hard, this is the root. But what he was doing was to scavenge on the rubbish dump and when he manages to sell, it might take him two months to sell something that is worth N2000. But he would take the money to a recording studio and record some of his music. For me, that is somebody that is of character and somebody that should be looked up to by kids. He should be a role model to youths.

You were once Miss Big and Beautiful, what prompted you into that?

It was by fuss. I didn't want to do it. In England, there was a Jamaican lady that used to braid my hair. The first time I went to her house to get my hair done, she kept looking at me and I was asking myself why she was just looking at me the way she did. She is also big. At first, I thought maybe she knew me and was going to say she knew me from somewhere. Eventually, she asked if I had ever heard of the Miss Big and Beautiful competition and I said yes. She asked if I have ever considered entering, I said never. She wondered why I hadn't even thought I am so beautiful. She told me that she contested a year before but did not win but because she was a bubbling personality, they asked her to come back the year that we met to be one of the comperes. She encouraged me to go for it and that the price was good and that I was going to meet a lot of people. But I told her that I was not entering. I was somebody that never believed in beauty competitions before I entered. I never liked it because I felt that if something like talent and intelligence were attached to it, it would have been better looking at the whole personality of the person.

When I declined, she said okay that she has a book where she puts her clients names and addresses. As I was going, she asked for my details and I gave her and she took my photograph. A week later, I was with a friend of mine who is a model. We were just cracking jokes at home and a letter came in, I opened the letter and the letter head was Miss Big and Beautiful UK. Apparently, the woman that braided my hair had sent an application form there on my behalf. I wanted to discard it but my friend who was a model kept poke nosing and was telling me that I must enter. It was like a play but that was how I entered.

All the people that I met there were into it. People had their own stylist, make-up artists but I didn't have anyone. It was a very casual thing but when I entered it, to certain extent, I saw a lot of women that were very shy and at the end of the competition, become very bold and proud. It was a good thing for me. I actually saw another side of beauty pageant. And to my surprise, I won and I was the only African girl there.

Nowadays, people who win beauty pageants go into NGOs. Did you do something like that?

Not in England. They assigned on work to do. But as a queen I never sat down and said I wanted to go into NGO. That is a very Nigerian thing. And when they ask you question in the competition, it is the same answer. If you win this competition, how would you spend the money? I will spend it on opening children's home. All to get votes and to be seen as good by opening an NGO. That is not how it works in England. I guess their own form of NGO was to do what I was doing. Going round and talking to children without being paid.

How do you see showbiz in Nigeria?

Showbiz in Nigeria is doing well. I think that if the government should put eyes down, they would see that this will be one of our biggest money makers on the continent. Nigerians are very talented. At least now, we are beginning to understand what we have. Before, everything was Western, but now, you will find out that people even those in the upper class, would rather watch African Magic than watch Oyibo films. Talk about music, if you go to clubs, from the beginning till the end, they would be playing Nigerian music. Performers are now being able to eat from being performers. Whereas in those days, every performer was poor. And if you are a girl, you would be tagged a prostitute immediately. Then it was prostitutes that were singing and dancing. But now, there is a respect that is attached to the industry. I think the entertainment industry is something we really have to focus on and I understand that with our Federal Government giving us $200 billion or something like that, may be they are beginning to see the light.