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Special: The real housewives of Abuja to the world!

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The Real Housewives of Abuja (RHOA), now showing on Showmax, has taken the country and indeed, Africa by storm. Featuring six strong, powerful women, the show follows the luxurious lives of the capital city’s ultra rich. The women include Arafa, Comfort Booth, OJ Posharella, Princess Jecoco, Samantha Homossany and Tutupie as they navigate their opulent lives, relationships, family and businesses within Abuja and beyond. Friday Treat, in a recent interview with five of them, presents their opinions on what to expect on the show, among others.

Bringing multiple strong women together is bound to create drama —Arafa

Soft-life pundit, Arafa is the most certified Zumba instructor in Nigeria with six Zumba licences. More importantly though, the Russian-born, half-Tanzanian, half-Calabar princess is a mother of twins is also the owner of Selara Stiletto Studio, a female-only pole and sensual dance studio in Abuja. A multi-lingual, she speaks French, Swahili, and a bit of Hausa. On the show, Arafa is edgy, expressive and easily recognised with her signature haircut.

A lot of people believe that on reality TV, good vibes is not enough to make the show entertaining, that drama is the key to success on reality TV. Is drama your thing, or do you plan to bring any drama to the show?

Going into the show, I decided to keep it 100 per cent. I wanted to be myself. But when you put five, six strong women together, there’s bound to be drama. So, the drama did come, and the drama was real, but it wasn’t about trying to bring drama or trying to project, it was just about being yourself, and if the drama comes, hey, you deal with it.

 

You have been a fan of The Real Housewives franchise for a long time. Is there any of the past Real Housewives that you think you may be channelling on the show this time or someone that you may imitate?

Not directly. I love The Real Housewives of Atlanta. I got to know about that franchise because one of the characters on the show, Nene, happens to have the same name as my sister who also lives in Atlanta and some of my friends thought it was my sister. But that is not to say I am channelling her. I am not channelling anyone, but I do like Kandi. She’s a go-getter who is all about making her paper no matter what and not necessarily listening to what people have to say. I can see myself more like Kandi, but not necessarily channelling her.

 

What do you have to say to those people who believe that reality TV stars go through life without working; that they just lounge and enjoy money from wherever?

I’m speaking for myself when I say I know I want to live a soft life. I know that I like to work smart now and not hard anymore. I’ve been working hard in the past, and right now I think I’ve paid my dues. I’ve set up a business that this reality TV allows me to show. Being on this platform gives me the opportunity to show people without really trying so hard. All through the show, I wore my designs, and that was me promoting my brand. If you can work smart, why not? I mean, we all would like to live a soft life. But trust me, most of us on the show all have what we’re doing, it is not all about waiting for that paycheck. I know Princess, I know Samantha, Comfort, OJ, Tutupie, and we all have what we’re doing. We are simply pushing out our brand.

 

I am a drama queen, but chose to be reserved on the show —Tutupie

Borno-born Tutupie is the vibe queen and foodie of the group just because she is a chef who loves to cook. Also a multilingual with an interesting catalogue of languages like Hausa, Turkish, and basic German, she is the life of the party and viber. On the show, even though she tries to tone down the drama, it seems to always find her.

 

As a chef, do you show off more of those skills on the show, or is there a particular brand you showcase?

I showed it as much as I could because I feel like production was more into the drama than my cooking. There were times that I invited everyone to my poolside that I would cook. But the push for drama was higher. I tried as much as I could to showcase what I bring to the table in the kitchen .

 

Speaking of drama, how did you balance it?

I did not even bring drama at all, to be honest with you. I’m normally a drama queen, but 80% of the time, it didn’t come from me. There were a whole lot of positive moments and sisterhood moments.

 

As a well-accomplished woman, do you think that being on the show downplays your personality and your achievements as a woman?

I literally did half of what I have accomplished on this show for personal reasons, so it cannot be downplayed. I just choose to not share that part because I would rather hold on to that. However, I don’t think it was downplayed. I feel like I downplayed myself a little bit because even people that didn’t know me got to know me on this show and just concluded that I am a crazy person. Everyone just thinks I’m just out here being crazy, but I really downplayed my personality. There were times that it popped out, but most of the time, I tried to be calm.

 

My multiple personalities exist because I’m a happy woman — OJ Posharella

She is one woman with three names on the show. Sometimes, the Kaduna-bred humanitarian and entrepreneur is known by her name Ojoma Sule. Popularly, she is called OJ Posharella, while at fun times, she is ‘The Incredible Minister of Happiness’.  A socialite with enviable poise and grace, Posharella is a girl-child advocate that finds joy in making people happy.

 

Tell us about being the minister of happiness. What does that mean?

I guess it is because I have multiple personalities. Being the minister of happiness was something that came because everyone felt that I am so happy all the time. And I feel like, yes, I am, because I just want to be happy and make people happy. I don’t know what your terms are for the ‘Minister of Happiness’, but I guess I have things like my composure and all of that. My voice is chilled, and I’m very energetic, bubbly, charismatic, and very entertaining. I guess that’s what it is. And for me, it’s the ministry. I just want to put smiles on people’s faces and bring positive vibes.

 

As one who is very passionate about the girl child, are you worried that people might not take you seriously because you are on reality TV; that your cause as a humanitarian is just courting fame?

No, I’m not worried about that, because first of all, when you’re meeting me, you would know and can see the truth and the light that I carry in my heart. I don’t feel like people take me as unserious, because it’s been a work in progress, and I’ve been working on this stuff for years. I live with about 10 girls, I inspire people, and I take care of people. I just want to change the world and put a smile on the next person’s face. I’m very spiritual and religious and I focus on loving my neighbour as myself in everything I do. That’s why I stay calm. Sometimes when people hurt me, my thought response is what will God do? What will Jesus do?  That’s just who I am and it is how I was created to be. I don’t think I can change.

 

Tell me about your multiple personalities.

Multiple in the sense that I am creative, I can do certain things, and people wonder. Sometimes, I wear an outfit that makes me look like one Arabian… all that makes people wonder who I am. I can also act, sing, dance, do stand up and a lot of things. That’s why I said I have multiple personalities. For me, every day is just fun.

 

My energy qualified me for the show — Princess Jecoco

Princess Umeh-Ubaka, known on the show as Princess Jecoco is the energy queen of ‘The Real Housewives of Abuja’. A lawyer, brand ambassador, influencer, content creator, YouTuber and hotelier, the managing director of the Sefcon Group of Hotels is married and is a mother to two beautiful kids. But this does not slow her down in any way. Instead, the Borno-born beauty is an energetic representative of the Igbo congeniality on the show.

 

You seem to be the actual housewife on the show with your background in law, your work as a content creator, and your family. Where does being a reality TV star come into all of these?

I don’t know, but I just feel like my personality generally is very extra. Anytime I come into a room, I like to bring the vibes out, make people happy and all of that. I think I’m very dramatic as well because a lot of people call me very dramatic. I can exaggerate things just for fun purposes, to be honest. Being a content creator, I’m also a YouTuber, so from that, you can sort of understand my dramatic side. I think that maybe that’s where the whole reality thing fits in.

 

Which of the personalities did you bond with most on the show?

I don’t know about bonding with a single person, but I feel like I knew everybody or I was friendly with everybody on the show apart from Comfort whom I didn’t know at all prior to this. I was closer to Tutupie because I’ve known her for years, so she is like family at this point.

 

What do you think qualified you to be on the show?

I feel like the family side of things because I was the only one that brought my husband, mother, and the whole family into it. And I feel like I’m already a dramatic person. Even on Instagram, on social media generally, that’s one thing that the producers like.

 

What was the hardest part of being on the show?

I feel like it’s just the time and timing. We were shooting back-to-back, and that affected my real-life money. I have businesses, and a lot of that was pushed to the background. Also, it was physically, mentally, and emotionally draining. There were times when I had arguments on set, and it would affect my real life. I try not to dwell on it though, and I leave that day and move on. We’re human beings though, so it’s almost normal. In fact, except you’re like a robot, that’s when it would not affect your real life at some point. But, that was the hardest part of it.

I foresee another hard part of the show is not depicting exactly what transpired in terms of the drama or the things that actually happened. It would be difficult for them to manoeuvre and actually tell a story without removing some things.

 

This is my first time in public glare — Samantha Homossany

Samantha is a fashion enthusiast with a dash of mystery to her. A mother, businesswoman, wellness entrepreneur, humanitarian and the creative director of Zohi Taglit, she was born and raised in Benue State. While she is naturally not dramatic, she is capable of switching when her buttons are pushed.

 

Being on reality TV is mentally challenging. Did it in any way affect or impact your mental health?

This is the first time I am opening up my life. I’ve always been very private. The Real Housewives of Abuja brought me out there. Of course, I’m ready for whatever comes with it, more of the positivity than the negativity. But it was challenging in every aspect, especially business-wise. I was shut down for some time. Sometimes in our business, you must be there to oversee everything. But because we were shooting all through daily, I couldn’t be there for my business.

 

As a private person, how prepared are you for fame?

I am very prepared. That’s the reason I took the chance.

 

Is there any drama that you would have done differently if you were given the opportunity?

I’m usually drama free, but I think I did Princess pushed me a lot. Of course, with Princess, I can’t be dramatic because she’s very pushy. She pushes you until you get to that point where you must respond. I usually do not allow people to push me, so I’m always very calm about situations that are going to push me to react in a negative way. I wasn’t involved in dramatic scenes on the show. Even if I was there, it didn’t have to do with me, I was just there to settle scores.

 

When you got the call to be on the show, how did you feel?

When I was approached, I think I shared the link or something, and someone asked if I was on the show, so I was excited, but I had to think about it for a long time. I decided to do it because a lot of people would wish for the opportunity.

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