Infuse your life with action. Don't wait for it to happen. Make it happen. Make your own future. Make your own hope. Make your own love. And whatever your beliefs, honor your creator, not by passively waiting for grace to come down from upon high, but by doing what you can to make grace happen... yourself, right now, right down here on Earth. Behind all the designer bags,designer shoes, latest cars there is always a story to tell. Most celebrity were not born with a silver spoon,they had to go through some hard times.
Here are my list of celebrities with the most inspiring 'grass to Grace' story
1.Omotola Jolade Ekeinde
Omotola is a super star actress who has a fulfilling career and family. She made the Times Magazine list of Most Influential People in the world in 2003. But read her grass to grace story below:
“Before my father died,we had a good standard of living. Immediately my father died,the first thing that came to everybody’s mind is, oh, their standard of living is going to drop. They are going to become very poor. She would probably become a prostitute. So my mum was on edge and under a lot of pressure. She was very uptight, always walking on pins and needles.
I am the only girl,first daughter. So, at a point I was really confused as to how my life was going To go,because there were times when we didn’t have anything to eat. That is the truth. We are 3-myself and my 2 younger brothers,I went through a lot within the time I lost my father and found my feet.
Once, my mother and I went to beg for money in the house of of one prominent Nigerian. We were so totally hopeless that day. I have never told anybody this before.
We cried all day because my younger brothers school fees was due and we didn’t have money to pay. There was this man on my street,who is very rich. He is into Oil,Crude Oil. We walked to his house because we didn’t know what else to do. We sat down at his gate from morning till night,when he came my mother and I sat on the pavement on the floor,by the gutter waiting for him to pull by.
I remember that when he got to the gate, he wound down and he recognized my mum from their days at Landlords meeting. He said Madam whats your problem. She told him everything.
He said oh I really feel for you.
Maybe we will talk later I am just coming from work and he drove in. He said I am really tired. The truth is that we never got anything from him.”
2.Ramsey Nuoah:'my mother and I had to sleep in store with no cup to drink water or even a stove'
Ramsey is a super star now but things were so rough for him while growing up.
Read one of his interviews below:
Tell us about your growing up?
My growing up was like tasting the two sides of a coin. When I said tasting the two sides of a coin; I mean tasting being a rich man and a poor man. I grew up with my mother, and with a silver spoon, I had it all. When I began to realize that I had good things to show off, everything disappeared. We started from grace to grass; that has helped me a lot because it totally balanced the equation of life. It gives me confidence in all spheres. For instance, I can hang out with the enlightened or the rich. I can mingle with them very easily without any complication or complex whatsoever. Also, if it is the low class or poor people, I can mingle very easily with them. I can eat a fantastic dinner in a huge, expensive restaurant and I can go eat amala at a buka and I would not feel anything. I don’t care being a popular actor or a role model. I am a role model to everybody.
For you, what was the worst scenario when life was so cruel?
Those were the times when things got really bad for my mother and I and we had nothing. It was so bad that we didn’t have a home or shelter to live in. We had to stay in a store, a small store that could take only one mat.
My mother and I squeezed ourselves in that mat. We didn’t even have a cup to drink water not to talk of a stove to cook. And my mother had to borrow, beg and stuff like that. These were moments when I was young I didn’t realize the gravity of poverty we were in, I couldn’t tell. But it was a good orientation for me. It was moments that I thank God for making me past through, because that has sustained and helped me even as an actor. The ability to deliver all the roles they give me because I have tasted both sides of the coin.
With all these experiences, what has life taught you?
Life has taught me never to look down on anybody because the person you disregard might just be your saviour tomorrow. I realized that all my mother’s property was washed away by rain. We couldn’t sleep all through the night because of the flood. It was really terrible. Like I said, it is a life lesson.
3.P-square:'When you have six boys and two girls living in a one-room apartment'.
They top the list of biggest artistes in Africa now, But read their grass to grace story from a past interview they granted after their mum’s demise.
“We have our poverty story, however. Yes, in our own way, we experienced poverty. It was very bad. Our mother used to sell pap and our father was trying to set up his bakery. After school, we all would go to the bakery to see how we could help out. When you have six boys and two girls living in a one-room apartment, that should tell you how bad it was. The kids live in the living room, where there were two beds and my parents had their own room, where they stayed with our sisters. Paul and I are the last boys.
I remembered in a day I cannot spend up to N100, breakfast N30, lunch and supper get the same budget, the remaining N10 for pure water. To survive, I once worked as a supermarket attendant and Paul did some electrical repair for pay.
Coming to Lagos
Before we moved to Lagos after our graduation, we took our CD and DVD to our parents. The DVD contained our video. We told them we are done with schooling and we wanted to move to Lagos. We assured them that music will change our lives. In preparation for our relocation, we started selling little things that we had and also some of our father’s little stuffs. We even stole some of his money, about N100,000 or so, though he wasn’t aware. We were four boys about to embark on that exodus. Our father brought out N100, 000 and said, “Take, you people, you are on your own, don’t call me to send you bag of Garri or anything, not even anything.” We moved to Lagos in 2004.”
4. Mercy Johnson
The actress had humble beginnings and she revealed in an interview with Tribune that sometimes when she cries on set, its because she remembers how she started. She revealed that her family once moved into an uncompleted building, where they lived with lizards and when rain fell they had to take cover.
5. Joseph Benjamin – “I Moved From Being A Bus Conductor, Security Guard, Waiter, Bakery Worker To A Shoe Seller.”
The Kogi born actor has done enough to earn him a star status in Nollywood, but his role as co-presenter in MTN Project Fame West Africa shone the spotlight on Benjamin.
Joseph Benjamin was on Inspiration FM sometime ago with Wana Udobang on the show ‘Talk About It’ when he disclosed the rough roads he had to travel before becoming who he is today.
“I’ve moved from being a bus conductor, security guard, waiter, worked in a Bakery, sold shoes at Balogun; then moved into IT before acting.”People’s feedback on twitter showed her inspired they were with his story as he continued giving tips on how goals could be achieved.“Keep improving your craft. Nourish that which you have. Be your own inspiration!”Speaking on start-up businesses, Benjamin had this to say;
”Understand your market before you decide what you want to do.”
6.Tonto Dikeh – “I Used To Beg For Food And Clean Rooms For N200″
Tonto is an A-list actress and maybe a D-list singer. But she struggled before fame came to her.
She captured her grass to grace story below:
“Hmmmm looking back and all I can say iz Lord I thank you for talent oh life waz nt easy somtimz it seemz iz d end of d world, n somtimz I even sit n askGod why me? N somtimz I used to say why waz Int born abroad cuz I used to think money fall frm tree ova der! Uni life waz so hard for me, handouts I could not afford I beg frm hand to hand jst to eat!Denwil be jeans @ alaba market if d jeanz is longer Dan me I will cut it to my size n I will say iz rugged jeans! I will ask friends for favour before they help they will ask me to do somtin for dem eg clean their room, help with course work jst to hav 2000 nair gosh, I never allowed dat to pull me down play like play I finished my uni n graduate with 2nd class Engineering!Job waz hard to get mov frm place to place until 1 day I came across a poster dat says BE THE NEXT MOVIESTAR I applied and to GOD be the Glory THEY called me I waz short-listed for the realty TV show tho I dint win but I came out 2nd and the rest iz history so palz if I can make it in 9ja! U can also do dsame life iz full of HARD TIMEZ but never let it break u down, never give up fight for what u believe cause God haz iz special plan for u! Diz my life my story hope to read urz som day n I see greatness in daz readn diz
7.2Baba Idibia
Nigerian celebrities and their Grass to Grace
He is one of the biggest singer in Africa and is well respected. Recently in an interview he talked about his hungry days.
When you remember the days when you didn’t have money, food or a roof over your head and all that, what comes to your mind?
Back then, we were on the ground already so there was no fear of losing anything so what we were doing was hoping that it will work out. There was no fear of‘what if e no work out. Nothing dey work out already so we no fear whether something no dey work out’. ‘It was ahead-ahead, we go follow this thing up, if e click, fine; if e no click, we go look for another work do’. But for me, I had never ever at any point in my life thought of doing anything else so it was no going back.
This is me, this is my life, this is what I want to do. I never ever dreamt of anything else on my life. So, back then,it was just about doing it to the end.
8.Wizkid – “I Walked The Streets Of Surulere; My Parents Gave Me Nothing”
Excerp of his interview:
Why do you always re-echo your past in some of your songs?
–Because I want people to know. A lot of people seeme and they don’t think I’ve gone through anythingtough in my life; they see me and feel I just woke up one morning and started making money. Not a lot of people saw me when I was walking the streets of Surulere. So I need people to know that I didn’t just get things for free. Nobody gave me anything, my parents gave me nothing. This is something I did for myself. I took a loan from my friends, I jumped my books for loans and nobody saw that part of the hustle, and I think it’s just relevant for me to point it out so that my fans will be sure of where I came from.
9.Patoranking
At the Headies last year, Patoranking revealed that he had once been a bricklayer and a rat-poison seller. The young musician grew up in a slum called Ilaje in Ebute Metta. He began his career in 2010 and had got into the limelight with songs like ‘Girlie O’ in 2014.
10.Banky W – “I Begged To Sell CDs In US Salons To Survive; Went To Church To Eat Free Food”
Banky W is an R&B super star and producer today. He narrated his humble beginning, indeed his tale solidifies his emphasis on little beginning because to achieve his dream of becoming a music superstar, Banky had to take up to three jobs while also in university!
He said:
“I worked in fast foods outlets, clothing stores and as a knife salesman, selling knives from door to door. That way, I gathered money to pay for studio recording time. I was recording with a close friend at that time.
“After making that music, we printed a thousand CDs though we didn’t have any fan. I had one battered car that broke down virtually everywhere, so, we would print black and white posters, stick them on the sides of the car, sell from the car’s trunk and drive to salons to do marketing. We would walk to the owners of the salons, greet politely, and ask them to let us entertain their customers. Sometimes, some would kick us out and sometimes some would say yes. If told yes, after singing for a minute or two, we would sell our CDs to the customers!
“A lot of people see you on stage and see the success but do not know what you had to go through! I never had one really big break; it was always two steps forward and a couple backwards. But I just decided that I was going to make music work for me. That was why I moved on to a new salon each time any salon rejected me! I just kept going because I believe failure is when you give up. Albert Einstein said he tried a hundred times to make the light bulb.
When he was asked what kept him going during the 99 times, he said:
“I didn’t consider those 99 times as failure; rather, I considered them 99 ways that it didn’t work!’ We went about selling CDs and, on the days we couldn’t sell much, we would sit down and be broke together. I remember my friend was a member of a church that usually served food after service. So, on the days we didn’t sell CDs and were too broke to buy food, we would attend service in that church so we could pack rice and store in the fridge.
Never give up if they can make it you and I could. Pursue your dream. Some people would call them selves hustlers and they are the most lazy set of people,always sleeping even in the day time, still collecting feeding fee from their parents. To succeed,never give,never say i can't because you can if you keep trying because i believe one day,you would succeed. I hope you were inspired with these.
