Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde – 40 things you need to know about the actress as she turns 40 today!

It’s Omotola’s 40th birthday today and to mark the special day, we would love to share with you forty things you need to know about the Diva.

1. Omotola Jalade Ekeinde was born in Lagos on February 7, 1978, to a family of five.

2. She attended  Chrisland School Opebi (1981–1987), Oxford Children School (1987), and Command Secondary School Kaduna (1988–1993)

3. Omotola had a brief stint at the University of Lagos before she finally graduated from Yaba College of Technology with a degree in Estate Management.

4. Omotola got into acting by accident. She started out as a model, and followed her friend to an audition. Her friend didn’t get the part but she encouraged Omotola to audition. The rest they say is history.

5. She got a role in the sequel of the Nollywood classic ‘Nneka The Pretty Serpent‘ but she turned it down because her mother did not approve of her role as a mermaid.

6. Omotola was paid 43,000 as her fee for her very first movie.

7. Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde met her husband, Mattew Ekeinde in church through his sister.

8. She is building a film village.

9. Her first daughter, Princess aspires to be a chef in the future.

10. Omotola’s last son wants to be a filmmaker and an actor which makes her very happy.

11. Omotola Jalade considers her best role to be the one she played in ‘My Story‘ with Van Vicker, as well as her breakout role in ‘Mortal Inheritance‘.

12. Her close friends in the industry are Rita Dominic, Omoni Oboli, Rukky Sanda, Zeb Ejiro, and Chidi Mokeme.

13. Omotola’s first son, MJ is a music producer.

14. Her second daughter earned N2.4m from her Knorr endorsement

15. Omotola is married to a pilot, Captain Mathew Ekeinde.

16. She is blessed with four children, Princess, MJ, Meraiah and Micheal.

17. Omotola got married in 1996 when she was just 17 years old.

18. In 2001, Omotola and her husband had their dream wedding on board a flight.

19. The movie “Mortal Inheritance” brought Omotola to the limelight.

20. Omotola’s husband, Mathew proposed to her when she was just 16 years old.

21. Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde is considered as Africa’s biggest box office actress.

22. She has over 40 domestic and international awards to her credit

23. Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde celebrated her 20th year in the entertainment industry in 2015.

24. Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde lost her father, Oluwashola Jalade in 1991.

25. In 2005, Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde joined the Nigeria music industry and released her debut album ‘Gba.’

26. Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde is the first African celebrity to receive over 1 million likes on her Facebook page.

27. In 2013, she was honoured in Time magazine‘s list of the 100 most influential people in the world alongside Michelle Obama, Beyoncé and Kate Middleton.

28. Omotola currently has a total of 3 million followers on Facebook.

29. In 2014, she was honoured by the Nigerian government as a Member of the Order of the Federal Republic, MFR for her contributions to Nigerian cinema.

30. Omotola’s reality show “The Real Me” made her the first Nigerian celebrity to own a reality show.

31. In 2005, Omotola became a United Nations WFP (World Food Programme) Ambassador, going to missions in Sierra- Leone and Liberia.

32. In a list compiled by Yahoo in 2015, Omotola was listed among the highest-grossing movie stars one has never heard of; the listing included Shah Rukh Khan, Frank Welker, Bob Bergen, Jack Angel and others.

33. Contrary to popular opinion, the actress said bedroom scenes are not glamorous.

34. On 9 November 2013, Oba Victor Kiladejo, the royal king of Ondo Kingdom conferred Omotola with a chieftaincy title in her hometown of Ondo State.

35. In 2012, CNN Travel noted Omotola’s famous tongue (accent) on their list of the world’s 12 sexiest accents.

36. Omotola lent her voice in 2010 to the Rewrite The Future Campaign of Save The Children UK.

37. Omotola through her NGO, Omotola Youth Empowerment Programme, is known to be fierce human rights campaigner and philanthropist.

38. She was the youngest actress to win “The Best Actress Overall” at the THEMA awards back in 1997.

39. Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde has two younger brothers,  Tayo and Bolaji Jalade.

40. Omotola has starred in over 200 movies.

Courtesy: PULSE