I can’t compete with Tiwa Savage –Okiemute

Okiemute performing during PFWA 2016

Okiemute became a celebrity by virtue of participating in Project Fame West Africa 2016 which she eventually won. OSEYIZA OOGBODO BLOG met her and brings you excerpts of its interview with her.

How do you feel as the winner of Project Fame West Africa 2016?

Oh! I feel blessed. I’m happy. I feel speechless. The feeling is just overwhelming.

Is there a secret behind your success? You went all the way out of thousands of hopefuls. Is there something you did differently? Is it that you were working the hardest or you were able to canvass many more people to vote for you?

Well, we were in the academy, and we didn’t even know what was going on outside. We didn’t know whether people were voting more for this person or that person. As for me, I was scared. I didn’t go on probation at all, and I was like, does West Africa love me, like those people who had been on probation and were saved by West Africa? So that thought kept running through my mind and I can’t really say there was a specific thing I did particularly different as everyone was a strong contender that could win.

There was a white guy who was hugging you intimately on stage after you won. Who’s he?

My fan. You could see he wore my shirt. Everyone came and hugged me. He’s just my fan.

When did reality dawn on you that Project Fame was a competition?

Oh, reality dawned on all of us, I would say, when Favour was eliminated. She was the first elimination, and even the faculty knew that reality had dawned on us.

Now you are going to go into the music industry proper. Do you think you have what it takes to compete with successful female artists like Tiwa Savage?

Compete? I don’t believe in competing, because there were people that were there before you, who made impact and we know what they did. So I can’t say I’ll leave Project Fame and go and compete with such people. What I can only do is learn from them, not compete with them.

How do you intend to cope with your newfound fame? Can you still buy boli on the road, for instance? Can you still enter a public bus?

If I want to buy boli, I must buy it oh. I’ve been in Port Harcourt for 8, 9 years and boli, you know, boli is a major delicacy in Port Harcourt. So maybe we’ll get something to be preparing the boli, or do you think that I’ve not asked the boli sellers the recipe, because as a woman, you’ll want to know how they do it just in case you have to do it yourself. And even if I want to buy it from them sef, we’ll find a way.

You are in a relationship, right?

That is an exclusive piece of information you are seeking.

OK, what do you look out for in a man?

I love happy people. I love people that love life, that love God, that love themselves. Because if you can love yourself, you can love me.