Nollywood actress Sola Sobowale has opened up about her experience with starting over in the UK as a caregiver after already becoming famous in Nigeria.
Speaking on the latest episode of the King of Talks podcast hosted by Teju Babyface, the actress revealed why she left Nigeria between 2004 and 2016 after becoming popular as Toyin Tomato on the series Super Story, Pulse Entertainment reports.
“When I started this ‘elevated omo odo’ thing, I started from the grassroots. Then, I went to the college. I got my NVQ 2,3,4, to become a team leader. When I started work in that office, there were Nigerians, Jamaicans, and Ghanaians, and all of them knew Sola Sobowale. But it was confusing because my tag read ‘Olu’ and not Olusola,” she said.
The thespian stressed that at the time, she was a firm believer of dignity in labour, and did everything to put food on the table for her children and pay her bills.
The actress recalled a time when she was recognised by a Nigerian co-worker named Seye Fadipe, who questioned her for leaving the fame behind to start over.
“He looked at me and said, ‘Are you crazy?’ I said I am not crazy. He asked, ‘What are you doing? You are up there in Nigeria’. But there was something better than that. My future. My children are my future. There will be a time when the energy will no longer be there. Then it is what you sow that you reap,” she said.
Highlighting the difficulties she faced, she emphasised that her switch was not an easy one.
“It was not easy starting all over, because in this place, only the tough will last. If one is lazy, one will be hungry. People who have been here for 20 to 50 years don’t find it easy, because with the kind of system they have, one cannot avoid paying bills. If one does not work, one won’t eat, and one won’t be able to pay bills,” she added.
