Mercy Aigbe is a popular name on the Nigerian film industry scene with over two hundred features to her credit. She stands tall as a film producer and star actress with millions of fans and followers attached to her success. She has been busy with her own production and has not been frequent in other productions for some time now. In this exclusive interview with The Nation’s ASSISTANT ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR, GBENGA BADA, Aigbe, who recently converted to Islam after her marriage to Alhaji Kazeem Adeoti, opens up on a variety of issues, career, marriage, motherhood and new project.
You haven’t featured in many films in recent times as you used to, what has been happening to you?
You are the one saying I have been on the low, I don’t think I have been on the low. And I just feel that when you get to some certain level of your career, there are some things you have to focus on. Yes, I am still very much around, I still do films, and I am still very active, we have a YouTube channel, Yorubaplay, and we produced two movies that premiered on our YouTube channel, which are ‘Agbeke Ayaoba’ and ‘Jaguda Baba Ole,’ which the reception has been very good, so I have not been in a lot of films but I have been doing my own productions and more, I also had to take out a little bit of time to plan my upcoming project.
So, about this upcoming project, would you be kind enough to share some details about this project?
I am so excited about this project because this is my first major cinema project. I am scared because it’s like new terrain for me actually. I know I have loyal fans and supporters and all that but you know when you want to do something new, you might experience fear here and there because I believe in what I’m bringing to the table, I am excited about it and I can not wait for fans to see this project. The project is titled ‘Ada Omo Daddy.’ It’s going to be really awesome and will be in the cinemas in December and I am super excited about it.
So what informed the title?
I am sorry I can’t give out much details on the project because it’s meant to surprise everyone but I was once asked by my publicist what informed the title and that is the catch. The project is something every tribe needs to look forward to because it’s a cultural fusion film that unifies people. The theme is unity and we all know a lot of things have been going on, especially with the elections and after the elections, so this film will be doing justice to unity and why we all have to see reasons that we are all one. Let me just stop here before I start giving out spoilers. It’s a beautiful family-oriented drama with a lot of lessons and very entertaining. It’s a feel-good related kind of story.
There are several streaming platforms out there now, would you be looking at taking your project to any of these platforms after the cinema run?
Of course, absolutely. We will be going on one of the platforms after the cinema run.
What are some of the factors that have helped you achieve your goals in your career over the years?
Being authentic to my brand, consistent, hard work, evolving and God has helped me achieve many of my career goals over the years. All these might sound cliche but I pray and God answers with awesome grace.
You have featured in English-speaking and Yoruba-speaking films, which would you consider as your strongest?
I would say that I started out with English and I crossed over to Yoruba and then I made my name in the Yoruba-speaking films. So, anywhere, I would say Yourba is my strongest forte for me because this made me who I am today. That being said, I would say there’s no division in Nollywood, it’s just one Nollywood but the medium or language of film is different. Either Yoruba, English, Hausa, or Igbo, are all homegrown Nigerian movies and I am proud of Nollywood.
How do you juggle all your real-life roles as a mother, wife, actress, producer, and fashion entrepreneur?
It’s not easy because aside from acting, I am also into business. I am into fashion. I run a boutique. I am a wife, a mother, and all, so it’s a lot of hard work but I have a very good support system in person of my husband, and my family, hence, they make my job easier and then I have staff in my businesses who are loyal and dependable, in short, I have good hands.
Let’s talk about motherhood with a teenager and a young adult, how has it been?
So, my daughter is so grown, she’s an adult now and you know she has been far away in Canada studying and at times when I look at her, I wonder aloud saying so, this is my daughter who is all grown up and it feels like I am getting old. To me, aging is a blessing but I want to be a baby girl for life so when I look at her, she reminds me that I am no longer a baby anymore. Another thing is before when she did something wrong, I would shout at her, but now, I can’t shout at her because I remind myself that she’s now an adult, we have to dialogue and I would rather give her that liberty to make some decisions herself so I don’t influence all her decisions, I just have to be there to guide her and make sure she doesn’t make mistakes although mistakes are allowed if it’s not too much, it’s fine because you learn from it. And for my son, he’s also a big boy now and we give God the glory.
Are you still going to have more kids considering your young marriage?
You know someone asked if I was going to have another child and I am like no, maybe I would adopt but for now, I don’t know and we are good and to God be the glory.
What would you say is your life mantra?
Stay true to yourself always, and remain authentic.
Let’s talk about your conversion to Islam from Christianity, how has it been so far?
I just converted. The journey just started for me as a Muslim. I was a Christian for 40-something years of my life. I just became a Muslim some months back and the journey for me has just started. But the thing for me is that I have always been open-minded when it comes to religion and I believe that we all serve one God but the medium is different and that is why I have found it easy to actually blend because before now, I have always had Muslim friends, they invite me for events, Ramadan lecture and growing up, I have followed some of my friends to the Madrasa, where I learned the sura-al Fathia, so I have always been in tune with Islam so converting to it was easy because I have always been very open-minded.
Did your husband influence your conversion to Islam?
Let me tell you something, when I married my husband and I saw the way he prays and his way of life, I got influenced. You know at times, when you get close to someone, you start to do things that they do without even knowing it. So, when he’s praying, unconsciously, I am listening to how he’s praying when I am talking, I started using his frequent words like Alhamdulillah, and Bismilahi, and at some point, I thought to myself maybe I would start to learn how to practice Islam and if it’s not difficult, I will convert and that was what I also told him and Alhamdulillahi, God almighty has made it easy for me, it has been easy for me, even when we decided to go for Hajj and I was hearing a lot of things, I just decided that I will go and serve and pray to God and God made it easy for me with the support of my husband and I believe going forward, God is still going to make it easy for me Insha Allah.
So why the choice of the name Minnah?
It’s actually Minnah with the H because once you remove the H, it gives a different meaning that was why I made a video that went viral on how my Muslim name should be pronounced. If you are going to spell it, spell it well. So back to the name Minnah. It’s a unique name that is uncommon. It’s not a name many are used to and I am a unique human being, so when I wanted to convert, I wanted a name that is beautiful, meaningful, and unique at the same time I spoke to my husband about it and I always wanted a name that meant the same meaning as my name, so we researched and we came to the conclusion Minnah. Minnah means gift from almighty Allah, it is gift, mercy, and grace because that is what God gives us all – the gift of mercy and grace, so, I am a gift to mankind from almighty Allah, so it’s Minnah with the H.
This leads me to your marriage to Alhaji Adeoti. You and I have read so much but from you, what was that thing you saw in him that sealed the relationship for you?
Look at my husband, my husband is a fine man, and really that was the first attraction, he’s a handsome man. And then he has been my friend for a very long time. We have worked together for a long time, I worked with him in the capacity of a producer and him as an executive producer and movie distributor, so we have had a working relationship for a while and the working relationship has been amazing because he is very honest, he won’t reap you, he’s also very intelligent and when we are talking stories, he contributes. He’s argumentative but makes a lot of sense when he marshals his points. He’s someone that when you talk to, you can gain a lot of wisdom because he’s a very wise person, so all these are some of the attributes that attracted me to him.
What are some of the tips that have helped your business, MagDivas, over the last nine years?
You know now, everything happens on social media. Whether you like it or not, in fact, I make a lot of money from social media, the bulk of my sales come from social media. So, your social media page should be your office, don’t go about using your social media page to troll people. It should be your office, how you want people to perceive you should be well spelt out on your social media page and handle. So, use your page to make money and also, carry your business on your head, I always tell people that. Blow your own trumpet by yourself, even if you are at the back, let your voice be the loudest so that people can hear, see and patronise what you are selling.
So, how has the business fared in these years past?
We thank God. It has not been easy because managing business in Nigeria is a lot of work. We have a lot of challenges, especially working as entrepreneurs, staffing is a problem. Nigerians’ attitude to work is zero, people just want to get paid without getting the job done. I also have to juggle being an actor and most times, it can be overwhelming because you have to push them to do what they are paid to do, so it’s a lot of work, by November, we would be nine years. We are grateful to God and on social media, MagDivas is one of the most followed pages and that translates to the fact that we have a lot of customers both home and abroad, to God be the glory.
So the business is almost a decade old, what’s the next step and aim?
The next step for MagDivas is having the Mercy Aigbe Clothing line aside from securing a building of our own. We have started but we haven’t launched on a large scale and basically what we do mainly now is sourcing clothing lines from other designers in various places that include the U.S., U.K., and Canada but we are looking at officially launching a Mercy Aigbe Design. We have started but have yet to make it official.
You are no doubt a fashionable personality, how would you describe fashion?
So aside from acting, my second passion is fashion. I just love fashion. I just love to look good, and I love to be paid compliments for my looks, I don’t know if it is vain but it is what I like, it’s what I love. So, fashion to me helps you define how you want to be perceived when they see or meet you and that is what fashion does for me. You know people see you and say this person is neat, people see you and say this person is beautiful, and that is informed by how much you have taken care of yourself and how much you have been able to put into putting your outfit together. And fashion also to me also means trends, what is trending, what is onboard, and style for me is when you personalise fashion, whatever is trending, or whatever works for you in the fashion world, you now take it and personalise it.
What is your most valuable fashion accessory?
I actually love and have several fashion accessories but I think it would be the diamond ring my husband gave me.
What is the biggest lesson you have learned after working in the entertainment industry for over a decade?
My biggest lesson would be humility. Regardless of the height you have attained, be humble. Humility goes a long way. A lot of people see me like Mercy the star but I still and always see myself as the same Mercy that I have been over the years because I believe that what I have attained is just by the grace of God. Humility, when you meet people that are up and coming, don’t think you are one demi-god because it’s not by your own doing that you are where you are but just God’s grace that has placed you there and one should have good interpersonal relationship with people of any and all strata, that is one of the biggest lessons that I have learned in this industry. This is why when I go on set and I meet someone who is acting for the first time, I encourage them because someone once said to me that one who is already old has a defined path but the same can not be said for a young child coming up, let me tell you a story. I was on a set some years back and an actor was playing an extra role and this person walked up to me to ask for a picture with me and me in my usual always smiling and picture-loving self just smiled for the picture and we went our separate ways. Six months down the line, that up-and-coming actor turned out to be Broda Shaggi and I am like wow. When he took that picture, he probably had less than 1000 followers but now he has a large followership and has become one of the biggest skit makers doing awesomely well. You can imagine if I had discarded him when he walked up to me, he would have an opinion about me and look at him today. So, regardless, it pays to be humble always.
Over the years, you have been relevant and remained on top as one of the popular ones, what would you say has been your distinguishing factor or staying power?
It is still authenticity. I have just remained and been myself always. With Mercy, it is what you see that you get, I don’t fake it, whatever I put out is who I am and what I am. So I think that is one of my unique selling points and one of the things my fans love about me. I’m real, very authentic and then I think some of my fans love my fashion sense and get inspired by all that so, it’s just me being real, level headed and never allowing fame get into my head, I relate with everyone and authentic, those are some of my unique selling points as a brand and those are the things that have set me apart from my peers.
