Lasun Alagbe
Veteran actress, Patience Ozokwor, has recalled how she turned down titles from people just to make a name for herself.
She particularly mentioned that people tried to liken her to Liz Benson, but she refused the comparison as she believed they were unique individuals.
Speaking on Nwafo TV, she rejected the idea of using her husband’s first name as her surname, opting instead for his family name.
She said: “I don’t know how it started, all I know was that when I started [my acting career] and people started recognising this woman from Enugu. So, there was a time I came to Lagos for a shoot and people started saying, ‘That’s her, this woman from Enugu.’ They said, ‘You’re the Liz Benson’ of Enugu.’
“I said, ‘No, with all due respect, I don’t want to be like Liz Benson, I want to be myself. I am Patience Ozokwor of Enugu’,” she recalled.
She added: “And some people came and said, ‘You don’t even need to answer Patience Ozokwor again. Answer your husband’s first name Edmund; Patience Edmund.’ I said, ‘No, because in Igbo land you’re not just married by one man, you’re married by a family. I don’t know about other tribes.
“So, my husband’s people, their name is Ozokwor. When you mention Ozokwor in any part of this world, people who know the Ozokwors would say ‘I know where she comes from’.”
