Enterprenuer, actress and scriptwriter, Elvina Ibru, is the 11th child of late business scion, Olorogun Michael Ibru who passed on late last year. In this chat with Effects, the graduate of Theatre Arts and mother of one opens up on growing up, her late dad and of course, movies.
You said something last time about your weight loss. How did you achieve it?
There is no easy way to losing weight. Do things the right way. Eat less and exercise more and discipline yourself. Of course, I had sugar cravings even up till now and that is the problem with weight loss. It is not losing the weight that is the challenge, but keeping it at bay. Exercise is a big part of it, because even if you eat a normal portion of food and you are not doing your exercise, you might just remain there. If I don’t gym for a few days, I start ‘spreading’, even if I am eating the same portion of food. And I don’t mean you must do hard exercise. You can swim and walk; swimming is actually the best form of exercise. But luckily, I have always been a fish and have a pool at home. But for those who don’t have a pool I will suggest walking instead of killing yourself with jogging and then, stretching; stretching is also very good.
Can you give us the five hottest tips to a successful weight loss programme?
Start with your mind. Your mind has to be in the right place. Like I said, there is no easy way to losing weight. Even if you decide that you want to go for surgery, it is not easy. So your mind has to be made up. Then your lifestyle is very important because some people spend all day sitting at a desk. Those that sit at the desk are not using up energy at all, so your lifestyle is important. And the time you eat at night is also important. You don’t have to eat late. You must eat your last meal around 7pm. I think you shouldn’t deprive yourself of anything. In the past when I tried to diet I would say ‘I am never going to eat chocolate again, I am never going to drink Coca cola or eat rice again. Everything should be in moderation. Before, I could drink eight bottles of coke, now I might drink a bottle a week. If I go to a party and I see cake I will eat. I won’t say because I am dieting I wont eat cake again. But the thing is that I will not eat cake every day. So don’t deprive yourself. One thing I did was that I started studying slim people. I realised that they eat everything, but in moderation. In those days I used to eat until I was silly. But now, once I feel full I stop. I think that is number four. Number five is eating little, it works for me. I don’t know if it will work for others, but your metabolism works faster when you eat little meals every two or three hours, rather than doing the big one especially at night. I eat a lot of proteins and less carbs but in moderation. You see, it helps you with weight loss and helps you born fat faster by boosting your metabolism.
Tell us about Twice As Nice and the business side of you?
Let me use this opportunity to correct a mistake. Twice as Nice is not a clothing store. A lot of people make that mistake. Twice as Nice opened about a year or two before the clothing store, so I don’t know how we bear the same name, but mine is Twice while his is Twice as Nice. Twice As Nice is a production house. I am a showbiz woman. We produce films and documentaries and we also specialise in organizing unusual functions. I am talking about stuff with a twist, out of the box ideas. We have produced a couple of films like Diana’s Verdict, Cajole and a third one. They are all showing on Africa Magic. I am a Theatre Arts graduate and I studied in England so my first love is actually stage, but I love acting generally.
Late last year, Nigeria was thrown into mourning over the passing of your dad. How did you take it?
I actually couldn’t breathe for a few seconds. It is funny because my dad had been sick for years and was being cared for in America because he had a delicate condition. He suffered Parkinson’s and that was why he was in America, because the air is cleaner. He had been ill for sometime and we had almost lost him a couple of times but each time we rushed him to the hospital he bounced back and the doctors were like ‘your father is very strong’. But when he finally passed, he simply went to sleep. There was no emergency, he wasn’t feeling anyhow. He was 85 years old even though we knew that a day would come when he would leave us, the way he went was something else; he went peacefully, so we were not prepared. It was shocking even though we knew he was old and had not been well, and really, the sorrow that I felt was out of selfishness, because he wasn’t living his life to the fullest anymore. For instance, he had to be fed through a tube in his stomach and the man loved food. You can imagine loving food, but never being able to taste it, so really it is selfishness that I will miss him, that he is no longer there and I cannot just jump on the aeroplane and go and hug him when I feel like it, so, in a way, the sorrow is selfishness. We all know he is in a much better place, so we thank God that this man no de suffer again, e don go rest with his wife that has been waiting for him for 27 years. I really loved my father.
Okay, let us go back to growing up. We know you were born with a silver spoon. Could you recount the golden memories?
Childhood was lovely. I am the last of my mother and the 11th child of my father. We were 17 of us. I am from a polygamous home. So my mum was the first wife and she had seven children. Oscar was the first son and I am the last from my mum. So I was surrounded by elder brothers and sisters. I was never a spoilt child. I received a lot of love from my mum. I am very close to my sisters and I grew up in Apapa and to this day, we are still sentimentally attached to Apapa. I had all the opportunities anyone could have asked for. The only thing I could say I did not have enough of was the presence of my father. However, as busy as he was, even though it was a polygamous home, he still made effort to see us, his children. So if there is anything in my childhood that I would have liked to have more of, it would probably be more of the presence of my father. I never got enough of that, but apart from that, my childhood was rosy.
Could your mum not have filled the vacuum?
Of course, she was a very strong woman. She was both mother and father and a loving disciplinarian, the most generous soul I ever saw, and she was a mother to all and everybody called her aunty. But the fact is that your dad is your dad and you know, we girls have a special love for our daddies, but even if my father was not present at all, my life would have been extremely happy because my mum was tough. She taught us to be appreciative, do things by ourselves. We grew up in a big house full of house helps. But God help you if you wake up in the morning you don’t make your bed, eat and don’t wash your plate. She is in the kitchen and you are not there; Both boys and girls. All my brothers know how to cook and that is what I am trying to do with my son. That is why all my brothers’ wives are meticulous; they can’t do sakara for my brothers, because all my brothers know how to cook. She raised us to be polite, respectful and to be humble. She and my dad used to share an old African proverb, which says ‘no matter how high you raise your shoulders, it can never be higher than your head.’ She taught us that today you could be talking to a mechanic and tomorrow he could be president. After all, OBJ was a humble farmer. My father was a humble fisherman. That was how she raised us and, of course, if you were naughty she brought out the cane.
Your dad was a national icon. What lessons did you learn from him?
He left me with laws of life that still guide me till today. Law of hard work; you can never reap what you don’t sow. The law of karma; be a good and kind person because whatever you do to others will always come back to you. The law of humility; never put anyone down or think too highly of yourself for your shoulders can never be higher than your head. Fourth is the law of generosity; if you have, always give because God will always meet you at the point of your need and five, the law of putting God first. With these five points he left me fully armed to face life and I am trying my best to pass the lessons to my son, Elisha. Last week was his first anniversary and I cried when we went to the tombstone.
Today, domestic abuse is on the upswing. At what point should a woman walk out of a relationship?
As soon as the abuse starts. When a man gives you a heavy slap and he says I am sorry, and then the next week he repeats it and says he is sorry , it is time to flee. If my man slaps me once I will take it as ‘okay, it could be his five minutes of madness’. Everybody is allowed that. But if it happens again, then it is probably in his DNA and it is all over. We all have our different situations and that is why I say to girls, use your brains and not your breasts. Go to school, be independent. Whether you are married or not, have your own thing going because a lot of women stay in abusive relationships because they have nowhere else to go. If they leave their husbands, children’s school fees will not be paid and there will be no food in the house and they can’t fend for themselves. So when you have 23-inch waist and 46 inch ‘yansh’ and there is one guy toasting you and he has all the money in the world, beware! That is not what it is all about. Because for every 23 inch waist, there is a 24 and when that man gets bored and if he is abusive, you are in big trouble. So go to school, be independent, your own woman. If you meet a good man, thank God, but if perchance you meet a monster, move on before you are killed.
We are aware of your stage antecedents, why don’t we see you in Nollywood movies?
Dem nor de gree employ me na (laughter). Is it by force? They don’t call me, but there was one I was in recently, entitled Alter Ego by Omotola. It was fun. I was also in Cajole and another one. Alter Ego is the first one I am in that is in the cinemas. I am getting there (laughter). Maybe, people are not aware I do it seriously; they think it is a hobby. In those days I used to think that maybe it was because I was so big but now I have lost the weight and people are still not coming for me (laughter). Maybe they don’t think I am talented enough; I don’t know.
What was it like starring alongside Omosexy in Alter Ego?
It was great! My part wasn’t very elaborate, but I liked it. And they say there is nothing like a small part, only a small actor. And I had full screen time with her. Omotola is actually one of my favourite actresses; she is prolific.
Let us go back to your foray into movies, what is new?
I have a project coming up. I can’t say too much about it for now. Talking about my own production, there is a short movie I wrote called Life which runs for 10 minutes and it is about the life of children on the streets and how they shouldn’t be on the streets and how government needs to do something about it. It is about how with the amount of oil we have in this country, no child has any business hawking. It is about a 12 year old boy whose father dies and the mother is kicked out by the father’s family and the little boy is forced out of school and starts hawking on the streets and then, something very tragic happens.