“I grew up in Surulere, Lagos, as the fourth of eight children. Life was hárd—my father lóst his job twice, and we moved to Egbeda. My mother was a teacher who also sold goods, and I helped her hustle just to survive. I got pregnant at 17 and had to drop out of secondary school,

but I refused to let that stop me. At 19, I got my first acting role in Most Wanted, and later starred in Mortal Inheritance, which made people start noticing me. By the early 2000s, I was winning awards and even became the first actress to receive the City People Best Actress award in 2001. In 2018, I directed Lionheart, the first Nigerian film acquired by Netflix — that was one of my proudest moments. Even now, I haven’t forgotten my roots. I support girls’ education and small businesses because if a teenage mother from Egbeda can rise to the top, then others can too.” — Genevieve Nnaji