Omotola Jalade Ekeinde

Omotola Jalade Ekeinde, (born Omotola Jalade, 7 February 1978) is a Nigerian actress, singer, philanthropist and former model.

She attended Chrisland School, Opebi (1981–1987), Oxford Children School (1987), Santos Layout, and Command Secondary School, Kaduna (1988–1993).

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, she starred in several sequel films, including Lost Kingdom II, Kosorogun II, and Blood Sister II, leading to a grand achiever award from the Global Excellence Recognition Awards in 2004.

Since her Nollywood film debut in 1995, Ekeinde has appeared in over 300 films, selling millions of copies.

Omotola is the second Nigerian and first Nigerian celebrity to receive over 1 million likes on her Facebook page.

She currently has a total of 3 million followers on Facebook.

Her first acting role was in the 1995 film Venom of Justice, directed by Reginald Ebere.

She was given the lead role in the film.

Her first major role was in the film Mortal Inheritance (1995), where she played a sickle-cell patient who fought for her life against small odds of survival.

Since then, she has starred in several films, including Games Women Play, Blood Sisters, All My Life, Last Wedding, My Story, The Woman in Me and others.

She had a brief stint at Obafemi Awolowo University and completed her studies at Yaba College of Technology (1996–2004), where she studied Estate Management. She originally wanted a career in business management.

However, while awaiting her results from university, she began modelling to earn a living.

Ekeinde was introduced to acting while accompanying a friend to an audition.

For her role in Mortal Inheritance, she won "Best Actress in an English Speaking Movie" and "Best Actress Overall" at the 1997 Movie Awards.

She was the youngest actress in Nigeria at that time to win this.

She was awarded best Actress in a supporting role during the Africa Movie Academy Awards in 2005.

Ekeinde launched a music career in 2005 with the release of her debut album titled "gba".

The album produced the singles "Naija Lowa" and "The Things You Do To Me."

Her unreleased second album – Me, Myself, and Eyes, brought in production from Paul Play and Del B.

It was supported by the songs "Feel Alright", featuring Harrysong, and "Through the Fire", featuring Uche.

Ekeinde became a United Nations World Food Programme Ambassador in 2005, going to missions in Sierra- Leone and Liberia.

She also supports organisations such as Charles Odii's SME100 Africa to empower youth and young women in society.

After shooting roughly three hundred video movies, Ekeinde received her first cinematic movie role in the 2010 film "Ije".

This film was shot at locations in Jos and the United States."Ije" was the highest grossing Nollywood film at the time – A feat later broken by Phone Swap (2012).

In 2012, she starred in the Nollywood thriller, Last Flight to Abuja which became the second-highest-grossing movie in West African cinemas in 2012.

She has gone on to win over forty domestic and international awards.

In late 2012, Ekeinde began working on her third album and enlisted the help of The Bridge Entertainment.

She went to Atlanta, Georgia in the United States to work with producers and songwriters who could help create a sound that would resonate with American audiences.

She had studio sessions with Kendrick Dean, Drumma Boy and Verse Simmonds and recorded a song with singer Bobby V.

In 2012, Ekeinde also launched a reality television show, Omotola: The Real Me, on Africa Magic Entertainment, a M-Net subsidiary broadcast on DStv.

She was the first Nigerian celebrity to star in her own reality show.

In 2013, she was included in Time magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in the world.

In 2013, Ekeinde made a brief appearance on VH1's scripted series, Hit the Floor.

On 2 November 2013, she spoke at the 2013 edition of the WISE- Summit, held in Doha, Qatar.

In 2014, she was honoured by the Nigerian government, when she became a Member of the Order of the Federal Republic (MFR) for her contributions to Nigerian cinema.

Omotola Jalade, who is of Ondo descent, was born in Lagos State.

She grew up with her parents and two younger brothers, Tayo and Bolaji Jalade.

Her mother, Oluwatoyin Jalade née Amori Oguntade, worked at J.T Chanrai Nigeria, and her father, Oluwashola Jalade, worked at the YMCA and the Lagos Country Club.

In 2015, Ekeinde celebrated her 20th anniversary in the entertainment industry, having appeared in about two hundred films.

In June 2018, Ekeinde and fellow Nigerian Femi Odugbemi received invitations to be voting members at the Academy Awards.