OKECHUKWU UKEJE---AMBO 2 WINNER

Last year’s winner of the Amstel Malta Box Office 2, Okechukwu Ukeje, has said that he faced many challenges during the competition, but he had no choice but to work hard to make it to the top.

And he is already enjoying the fruits of hardwork and endurance. Since he emerged the AMBO winner last year, he has become a regular face at locations, featuring in some movies that would soon be released.

He said he had started by acting in a concert where some movie businessmen spotted him and liked the way he played his role. They then decided to secure his services.

The graduate of Marine Science from the Lagos State University disclosed that he is from a family of four with just a single parent. But the challenge of having to live on the meagre resources provided by his mother did not distract him from pursuing his dreams.
He said his mother had told him she had no objection to his decision to pursue a career in acting as far as that would make him happy.

Even when he had to choose between travelling to England and writing his semester examination in his second year at the university, his mother, to his surprise, did not object to his travelling abroad.

Ukeje may have become a star, but he said he had not lost contact with his friends whom he reckoned had been his great supporters. “They are my great supporters. Nothing has changed between us since I won the AMBO 2 competition. We are still buddies. They were there before AMBO, so I can never ignore them,” he said.

He, however, would not speak about his love life, saying it is a private affair which should be distinguished from his business life. “There should be a demarcation between family and business. But my girlfriend is fine. She is in support of what I am doing and we are doing well,” he said.

According to him, the yet-to-be-released films he has already participated in include White Rogers and Comrade. “And, of course, let me just say that I have a lot of projects on ground. But you cannot say you have a job until you have put pen to paper,” he said.

Asked what plans he has for his country, Ukeje said it was a premature question for an up and coming artiste like him. “Until we have fed fat and our tummy is full, we cannot start thinking of what to do for the country. But I must also say that life will be a better place if only we don’t think of ourselves alone. “For now, I am working on some TV shows, which is a medium to sensitise the society and make people realise how much success you have recorded in your chosen field.” He said in spite of his foray into acting, he still planned to practice the course he studied in the university, but that would be in the area of investment. “I see it as an investment angle because I don’t see it as a study and study thing even though we have to study to know certain things, but of course, there is a time when that will be required.”