Doing Life With… is a BellaNaija Features series that showcases how people live, work, travel, care for their families and… everything in between. We are documenting the lives of all people and ensuring everyone is well-represented at BN. Throughout the month of March, the series shall be all-women. 

Our last conversation was with Aruna Ganiyat. Did you miss it? You can catch up here. 

This week, we are doing life with Ojinika “Oji” Obiekwe  is an Emmy Award-winning journalist, media personality, speaker, and global event host with a career spanning over two decades. Ojinika has covered red carpets at the Tony Awards, VMAs, Grammys, and the Met Gala. She has also hosted elite global events, including a high-profile gathering during the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s visit to Nigeria. Her commanding presence makes her the ideal host with an astounding ability to effortlessly adapt to any setting to create memorable experiences. Enjoy the conversation!

Hey Ojinika, how do you feel today?

I almost always feel great; and I say almost always, because every day is different. But for the most part, I’m usually feeling great and immensely grateful.

That’s beautiful. What are the three things in your life that you are grateful for right now? 

I have a gazillion things I’m grateful for, but I’ll stick to the three. At the top of my list is the gift of life. Every day I wake up is a blessing and for that, I’m grateful. I’m also grateful to be surrounded by the most talented and most supportive group of people, which makes it easy for me to continue to dream the biggest dreams possible while operating in my gift and walking in my purpose. 

And last but not the least, I’m grateful for yam. Yes, yam. Known as “Ji” in Igbo, “Iṣu” in Yoruba and I believe “Doya” in Hausa. I’m obsessed with yam and I’m very grateful that it exists. 

I love it so much that if I’m invited to an event or a party, I would automatically most likely not want to go because I’m kind of an introvert, but if you tell me they’ll serve yam; it doesn’t matter if it’s fried, boiled, pounded; even if it’s uncooked sef, then just know thats there’s a 99.9% chance I’ll show up, just to eat yam.

Tell us briefly about your background–your upbringing, education, and any key moments from your childhood that shaped you into what you are today

I was born and raised in Nigeria, in Enugu. Moved to the U.S. after secondary school with the dream of becoming a journalist–a newspaper/magazine writer, so the goal was always print journalism. Television wasn’t even as much as a thought at the time. But I know now that TV is where I’m meant to be because I saw how the redirection happened, and how people and events were placed in my path for everything to fall into place. 

My teachers at Air Force Primary School, who, after grading my essays, would tell me what a great writer I was, played a huge part in my origin story. I can’t think of what I could have possibly written to make them think that, but I embraced it and started writing and saying that I wanted to be a journalist when I grow up, mainly because it was the only profession I could think of at the time that requires one to have writing skills. 

So my family and teachers encouraging me to continue on the path that was meant for me, deserve some major kudos because who knows what would have happened if they didn’t? I would be the worst doctor or lawyer or anything else of all time, abeg.

So as a Nigerian, how was transitioning from Nigeria to the U.S. and establishing yourself in the media 

It was definitely a learning experience, but I’ve always been and still am a go-with-the-flow type of person and can adjust to any environment/situation I find myself in and make it work. I did just that.

As for establishing myself in the media, that was never part of my plan but I believe that there’s a higher power that unfailingy lights and guides my steps and blessed me with my gift. All I’ve had to do is stay prepared, pay attention and follow the directions I’m given. That’s it. 

With over 20 years of experience working in the media, you have interviewed global icons like Oprah Winfrey and Denzel Washington and covered prestigious events like the Met Gala. What has been the most memorable moment of your career so far, and why?

I don’t have a moment that’s more memorable than others. I know some people will roll their eyes but it’s the truth. 

They are all equally special; every interview means a lot and I’m beyond grateful to get to do what I’m meant to do. Not many people can say that, so I don’t take any moment for granted. There are lessons and blessings in all of them, whether it’s Tyler Perry or Tom Cruise, a young actress cast in her first movie, or a college student talking about festivities planned for their graduation ceremony. No interview is greater, better or more important than the other. 

All those conversations, whether it’s with an A–lister or a No–lister, have helped mold me into the crazy journalist I am today. And I mean crazy in the best possible way. The people who know me get what I mean and those who don’t will soon find out.

As a Nigerian woman achieving remarkable success in international media, how do you navigate the dual identity of representing Africa while working on a global stage? 

The only way I’ve been able to successfully navigate my way through this industry, aside from God’s grace of course, is by being myself. That’s it. It doesn’t matter where the stage is, the size of the stage, who built the stage, or the material that was used to build it. Showing up as true authentic self has been key. 

I’ve never tried to be someone that I’m not. I always say that I’m a living, breathing example of that saying about how you can take the girl out of Africa but you can’t take Africa out of the girl. 

I still speak and write Igbo very fluently. One of the producers I work with always makes fun of how I never lost my heavy Igbo accent. Another friend of mine jokes that it’s hard to believe I’ve lived in the U.S. for so long and sound more Nigerian than people who live in Nigeria. I’m Nigerian, born and raised. If I don’t sound Nigerian, then who else am I supposed to sound like? 

I don’t want to sound like anyone else, abeg. Of course, in the U.S., I switch my accent and pronounce words differently, it makes communication easier, especially in a career like mine, but my Nigerian accent always pokes in every now and then and I don’t mind it. 

Embracing who I am, and where I’m from and being unapologetically African has made that navigation a not so stressful one. I hope that answered the question o, so all this English I just spoke isn’t for nothing. 

Aha, you did

Ah, thank God o.

Now at the peak of your career, you would want to step into your next chapter. What upcoming project are you looking forward to? 

You don’t want to wait and see for yourself? Here’s what I’m going to say, I’m still sticking to my usual beat, serving up celebrity interviews and lifestyle trends, but we’re going to get a little adventurous and kick things up a notch. 

It will be super exciting, uplifting and hopefully inspiring to the audience, to me, all of us. You know, this show has always been a vision of mine, but I believe in divine timing, things come together exactly when they’re meant to, so I was never in any rush. Interestingly, a recent injustice I had to confront ended up creating the perfect opening for this to happen. It’s proof that when some try to tear you down, they set you up for something greater. I’m standing up to that injustice, but that’s a story for another day. 

Let me ask my lawyers what I’m allowed to say and as soon as I get the greenlight, I’ll be right back with the scoop before my big mouth says what it’s not supposed to say. But I will say this, when you hear what happened and what’s about to go down, you’ll be very proud of me and so will our ancestors.

We will always be proud of you

Thank you jare.

How does the project aim to amplify diverse voices and showcase African stories to a global audience, if it intends to do so? 

You can take the girl out of Africa, you can’t take Africa out of the girl. Africa is in me, I take the continent with me wherever I go. So, at any stage I step on, Africa will be showcased in some way, shape or form. Even when I don’t speak, the presence of the continent will be felt. That’s just how it’s always been, our stories will be told any chance I get. 

Africa continues to overflow with talent and the dream is to take advantage of any and every opportunity to collaborate with them, and even if enough of those opportunities aren’t presented, we’ll just create them ourselves. The more the merrier and I like to be merry all year round, not just during Christmas.

What advice would you give to young African women aspiring to break into international media, and what do you think are the important factors for success in such a competitive industry? 

My advice and important factors are the same. I would say make sure it’s your calling, and that you’re going into it for the right reasons, that’s one. Always be yourself, it makes life and the job so much easier, trust me. Never be afraid to speak up for yourself. And yes, hard work and dedication are a must, but you should never let people take advantage of that, so please always feel free to say NO whenever it’s necessary.

Given what you do, what’s a typical day in your life? 

My schedule has always been all over the place, not much has changed, but I’m used to it now. When I did the morning show in New York, there were times I had to get to work at midnight. This was when I worked on the assignment desk. When I became a producer, my shift would start at 6 am, but I always got to work about 2 hours before I was supposed to start. Then I was on the evening news for a bit, then went back to the morning show where I started at 3 am, and then later became 6 am. It seems crazy, but I can adjust to any schedule, which is working out a lot for me now that I’m prepping for a new show. 

If I have a call with someone in Lagos and they say 10 am works best for them, I’ll be up and ready to go at 4 am because of the 6-hour time difference, same goes for my London calls. 

I have to calculate the three-hour time difference with my team in Los Angeles. Aside from my schedule that’s jagajaga like me, the constants now include fasting till at least noon or whenever I get a break to eat. Sometimes it’s noon, sometimes it’s 2 pm, sometimes it’s 4 or later. It just depends on when I’m done with meetings/calls. And I do make sure I get 10k steps in a day, but I’m not too hard on myself when I don’t. That’s pretty much it.

If you could remove three things from your life right now, what would they be and why? 

Remove? Things like what? I don’t know o. I can’t think of anything. 

Wait, maybe I can give you one thing. When I flex, you can see the muscles in my arms and that’s the only time you can see them. When I’m not flexing, they disappear. So I’d remove the little jiggle and replace it with a little more muscle. Not too much muscle o. Just enough to show my buffness without having to flex, hehe.

Thank you for being on Doing Life With…, Ojinika

Thank you for having me.

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Many thanks to Ojinika Obiekwe for having this conversation with us and answering all our questions – and swiftly too, we must add.

Do you love this content, have any feedback for us or want to be a BellaNaija Features contributor? We’d love to read from you. Shoot us an email: features@bellanaija.com. Join us on Saturday for the next episode!

The post Becoming a Media Maverick: Ojinika Obiekwe on Her Journey and Upcoming Project in Today’s “Doing Life With…” appeared first on BellaNaija – Showcasing Africa to the world. Read today!.