My Mother Went To The Grave With About 90 Percent Of My Secrets — Chioma Akpotha Reveals
Chioma Akpotha sets aside every May 22 of each year to celebrate her mother who died about five years ago. In a chat with Saturday Beats, the Nollywood actress revealed how close she was to her mother as the first daughter. In fact, her mother went to the grave with about 90 percent of her secrets.
With eyes soaked with tears, Chioma recalled the way her left- handed mother used to discipline her whenever she made a mistake. Despite this, she never nursed any ill-feeling for her mother after the slaps and beatings she received despite not being a stubborn child. She still continued to love her mother. Chioma Akpotha said:
“It has been five years that my mother has died and till date, I still miss everything about her. Being the first daughter, she was my best friend but whenever I misbehaved, she hardly used a cane on me, instead, she would use her hand, slippers, pestle, among other things . She was left handed but I always forgot that aspect whenever she was beating me, so there were times that I would expect the slap on the right cheek and would have guarded the right side of my face only for the slap to land on the left side . I miss her a lot. My mother went to her grave with about 90 per cent of my secret and that is how close I was to my mother. She was practically my backbone. When I had my first son, my mother stayed with us for about a year. Although she had a restaurant at the time, she abandoned it to look after my child and would accompany me to the various movie sets I had to attend. She was running her business from the movie location. I miss everything about her. There is a saying that Igbo people have which states, ‘the day you lose your mother is the day you lose your God. Her death has thrown me into the open but I believe she is now an angel who watches over me from up above and she is fighting for me.”
Chioma also disclosed that even though she joined the Nigerian movie industry as a teenager, she never embraced any vice because of the kind of upbringing her mother gave her.
“I was not mischievous per se but I did not believe that you could cheat me out of what is mine. If my mother did not have any other job, she probably would have been a soldier. I am the first daughter and as an Igbo woman, the first daughter had to be an example of what a good home would be like, so I could not have indulged in any bad vice during my early years in the Nigerian entertainment industry. Also, when it comes to my personal hygiene I am allergic to smoke among other things. I get ‘ high’ easily and I act in silly ways but I like to comport myself in public hence when you see me, you tend to think I am uptight. I had friends that took alcohol and tried to cajole me into taking some but I always refused because if you know who you are, why succumb to peer pressure?”
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