Chioma Omeruah: I’m Still Searching For True Love

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Multi-lingual comediENnE, Chioma Omeruah otherwise known as Chigul in Nigeria’s showbiz industry is fast becoming a household name. This uncanny character started making headlines in the comedy world in 2010. Chioma, a French-tutor turned entertainer shares her private life with LANRE ODUKOYA

INSPIRATION FOR COMEDY…
It’s all about what people want to hear and see and I was just lucky to have the Chigul character at a time when people wanted to hear and see her. And a few events came up at a time I was available and I keyed into them. Chigul was a character I created out of sheer boredom. I constantly like to create things because I’m also an actress and a singer. I’m into languages because I like them a lot. I’ve always heard different accent from every part of the world and I’ve always tried to imitate them, I was used to imitating people’s voices, cartoon characters and virtually all acoustics that my ears picked when I was a child. It was not planned to be commercial because it was what I was having fun doing and here I am today.

MY FIRST PUBLIC APPEARANCE…
When the first voice note ‘Ki lo de?’ on Blackberry came out, then I did the Valentine song dubbed, ‘What are you going to buy for me’. I was at a wedding of a friend of mine and I was singing love songs for them. So, the bride and groom who actually knew me well requested for my songs, ‘Ki lo de’ and ‘Don’t be a waste’. That particular day, Buchi, the comedian was the MC of that event. Then, he spoke to Bright Okpocha (Basketmouth) about me and Bright was very excited about what I do and so gracious too. He called me one day in Abuja and asked if I wanted to be part of ‘Lord of the Ribs’, his comedy show. I was so excited. I came to Lagos for the show and that was the first time people saw and could put a face to the comic voice they’ve heard via voice notes. It was well received. And I started getting followers on twitter and I add followers every day.

WHAT I DO ON THE SIDE…
When there are no entertainment engagements for me, I have a 9am-5pm job that I do in Abuja. Most of the shows you see me do are on the weekends. So, most of the times, I only come to Lagos on Saturdays, do the show and return to Abuja. But I’m going to quit my job sooner or later because entertainment is what I’m meant to do.
MY ROUTINE…
I’m a very early girl, my alarm goes off every day like 5:30am and people ask me why I wake that early, but I sincerely don’t know why I do that too. I just get up, shower and start waiting for the time to hit the road again and be at work. I work till 5pm or 6pm depending on how busy the office is, come home and if I’m not doing anything in the weekend, I like to just stay at home and watch TV.

CHILDHOOD AND LOVE FOR
LINGUISTICS…
I was born and lived in Lagos. I, left for the United States when I was 18 and stayed in the US for 12 years. I came back in 2006, moved to Abuja in 2008 and Chigul was revealed in 2010. I went to the college and university in US where I studied French Education and after then, I taught French at the High School for four years. There are too many things about me that people don’t know; I speak and teach French, I speak Spanish, Hausa, Igbo and I have introductory level of Swahilli, Hausa and Fulani. I’m teaching myself Hindi. I started learning Japanese but I stopped when I could no longer cope. I speak Yoruba and understand it well. My friends taught me Hausa in school and my dad used to speak Hausa, so we spoke it together. I love languages a lot. I was quite a mischievous child. My mother told me I had always been a funny child. I used to mimic people a lot, especially in the soap operas of those times. I used to imitate every cartoon character I knew. I would watch the TV and replicate the commercials word-for-word while in school and I could not do my mathematics like that.

MY LOVE LIFE…
I’m just going to say that this aspect of my life is complicated and I’ll leave it there. But I can say that I’m searching for true love right now. But maybe I’ve just not paid close attention to that well enough. I believe God will bring the right man in His own time.

MY IDEAL MAN…
The man has to be sane in every sense of the word. He must be a man who has dreams and aspirations, one who works hard, with whom I can be my best. And I want to be a helpmate to that person. I want to contribute to the person’s wellbeing and fulfillment in life too. I like someone who knows God, a prayerful person because for me, everything begins and must end in Him. I want to live a life close to extreme normalcy. I want to be a good mother, call someone baby, sweetie bla…bla…bla, I want to go for holidays in Holland and do all of that.

2013 OF MY DREAM…
First of all, it’s to make the Chigul brand bigger and better. We are trying to explore every area of entertainment. We are going into movie, music, comedy, TV, radio, internet, commercials and so on. In fact, I would be performing at the Julius Agwu’s Festival of Love on February 16 at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja. I just want Chigul’s name in everybody’s ears. I just want people to know that Chigul is just a comic character created by Chioma Omeruah who has a regular lifestyle. When I think about some of the things I want to do, I laugh too because I think that will make someone laugh.