Chiwetelu Ejiofor is an international movie star of Igbo Nigerian heritage born in Britain. Ejiofor is among the second generation of Africans Diasporas in Europe, America and across the globe.
Chiwetelu Umeadi “Chiwetel” Ejiofor was born to Igbo-Nigerian parents in England and he grew up in London’s Forest Gate. “His father, Arinze, was a doctor, and his mother, Obiajulu, was a pharmacist. His younger sister is CNN correspondent Zain Asher. In 1988, when Ejiofor was 11, during a family trip to Nigeria for a wedding, he and his father were driving to Lagos after the celebrations when their car was involved in a head-on crash with a lorry.
His father was killed, but Ejiofor survived. He was badly injured, and received scars that are still visible on his forehead.Ejiofor began acting in school plays at the age of thirteen at Dulwich College and joined the National Youth Theatre. He then got into the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art but had to leave after his first year, after getting a role in Steven Spielberg’s film Amistad. He played the title role in Othello at the Bloomsbury Theatre in September 1995, and again at the Theatre Royal, Glasgow in 1996 when he starred opposite Rachael Stirling, who played Desdemona.”(Wikipedia)
Ejiofor took his talent home to land of his father, when he star in the movie ‘Half of a Yellow Sun’ opposite Thandie Newton, in a book written by Ngozi Adichie. The movie was based on Nigerian-Biafran Civil war that led to wanton destruction of lives and property in the country culminating to a genocide.
In 2014, this year Ejiofor was nominated for best actor in the Golden Globes and for the Oscar, for his lead role in “12 years a slave.” , where he buttressed the life of Solomon Northup. The movie was based on a real experience of Solomon Northup, “a free black man kidnapped and sold into slavery in pre-Civil War. “ Also for his television series “Dancing on the Edge,” he was nominated for Golden Globe.
Chiwetelu Umeadi “Chiwetel” Ejiofor has brought pride to Ndi-Igbo, Nigeria and Africa with his ingenuity, hard work and artistic expression. His spirit of perseverance, dedication and commitment has been his life signature.
For his vision, intellectual potential, marvelous artistic expression and his struggle to restore the dignity of man, The Board and Staff of AFRIPOL (Africa Political & Economic Strategic Center) chose Chinwetelu Ejiofor as the AFRIPOL PERSON OF THE MONTH.
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