My career and 2Baba’s African Queen video -Yvonne Jegeda

BY ORJI ONYEKWERE

Beautiful Nollywood actress Yvonne Jegede, has said that she did not set out to become an actress. It was destiny through her uncle and actor, Ignis Ekwe, that brought her into the make believe world. According to Jegede, after her graduation, she decided to tag along with her uncle Ignis Igwe, a veteran actor, who has featured in a number of movies including the family soap opera “Everyday People”.

At 18, she wasn’t going to auditions and movie sets because she wanted to go into acting, but she just tagged on with her uncle more like a PA. That was when an opportunity to get to meet some of the industry big heads like Pete Edochie, Larry Coldsweat  and others came.

A year later, her uncle Ignis Igwe relocated to Edo State and she stopped going to movie sets. Fate was to smile on her one night when she visited a friend’s house where she watched a movie which was directed by Charles Novia.

The next day she was at Babs Animashaun Street. Surulere, where she ran into Charles Novia.

Yvonne narrated in an interview that immediately she saw the respected movie director, she screamed his name; Charles turned and beckoned on her to come closer. When she came, she told him that she just watched a movie he directed the previous night and she was a big fan of his. Charles Novia then asked if she would be interested in acting, which she gave an affirmative answer. He gave her his number and asked her to come to his office anytime she is ready to feature in the movies.

The next day, Jegede headed for Charles Novia’s office and that was how he started taking her to auditions and movie locations where she got minor and none speaking roles.

One day, Charles Novia called and told her about  a movie role he has for her, which incidentally was her first speaking role with 28 scenes. The movie – ‘Missing Angel’ featured other established actors like Desmond Elliot, Stella Damasus, Gloria Young and others.

Mother luck also smiled at her after she made a cameo appearance in the music video  ‘African Queen’ by 2Face Idibia alongside Annie Macaulay.

But how did the opportunity to feature in the award winning ‘African Queen’ video come?

She explained further: “I was sitting beside Uncle Charles Novia at the set of Missing Angel when his phone rang. Charles Novia turned to me and said Uzor, the director of African Queen, wanted to speak to me. I picked up the phone, and he said, “I want you to do a music video for me tomorrow.” I was like, music video?”

According to Jegede, before then she has featured in a music video for singer Slam, where she only danced and she also featured in a couple of other music videos.  When she got off the phone, she told Charles Novia that she wasn’t ready to shoot any music video again.

Later in the evening while talking to friend, she told him about the offer to shoot a music video for the song ‘African Queen’. The friend encouraged her to go ahead because it was a trending song by a former member of the hip hop group the Plantashun Boiz, who was going solo.

She continued: “In the evening, I happened to be on the phone with a friend, and I told him they wanted me to be in a music video. He asked what video, and I said it was 2Face, one of the Plantashun Boiz, who had just gone solo. Before I could even finish saying African Queen, my friend was already quivering at the other end of the phone. “Go and do it! Go and do it!” He kept screaming. “I love that song!” And the funny thing is, I hadn’t even heard the song at the time. But he just kept shouting, “Go and do it!”

“It was about 9 p.m. that same evening when I picked up my phone and called Uzor. I told him, “Okay, I think I’ll do the video.” He gave me all the information. That night, I had to go to Surulere—there was a studio there, and a salon to get my hair done. When I got to the salon, they already knew someone was coming to get a specific hairstyle. After they were done, I took a bike to the location. And that was the beginning of my career, with the African Queen video”.

Jegede later took a short leave and headed back to school. After her university education in 2012, she came back to Nollywood and starred in movies which includes Okafor’s Law, Single and Married and 10 Days in Sun City among others.

In 2015, she produced her first movie 3 is Company, where she starred as the lead character.

To her credit Yvonne Jegede has featured in more than 30 movies.

Last year -2025, the actress celebrated her 20 years in the industry with funfair.

The actress is also a philanthropist who has touched many lives through her foundation especially training children in primary and secondary schools. The actress disclosed that she has adopted some children she has been supporting in their education. Jegede, who is also a model and a media personality has another initiative she tagged, the single parent, which according to her, is yet to kick off fully. This initiative she disclosed will support the single parent financially, in addition to helping them to know how to navigate through the challenges of life. The actress said they have been contacting the parents to understand what businesses they run and how they can get involved.

Yvonne Jegede’s life has not been devoid of controversies. In 2019, she officially announced the breakdown of her marriage to Olakunle Abounce Fawole. In an interview with an FM station based in Lagos, she described marriage as being “overrated” arguing that some long-term relationships struggle once the marriage label is introduced.

Yvonne in another podcast interview said, one of the reasons she left her marriage was because she was the one contributing more financially in the union.

The actress said she is open to remarrying but not actively seeking it. She noted that couples who dated for many years sometimes separate shortly after marriage due to increased pressure and intolerance, adding that, in some cases, peaceful cohabitation may be a better option than formal marriage.

Yvonne Jegede, a single mother of one was born in Agenebode, Edo State, south-south Nigeria on the 25th of August 1983. She had her primary and secondary education in Lagos State, Nigeria, before proceeding to the university, where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in International Relations.