Ojinika Obiekwe: Behind The Stories – 12 Years & Counting | 12 Years Slave

Ojinika Obiekwe‘s vivacious spirit is evident when she gets in front of the camera. This hardworking and professional journalist, has worked for the past 12 years wearing multiple hats just to get the job needs to be done.  At BellaNaija, while we seek to entertain and educate, we also hope to inspire our readers and show them that there are people who keep striving  to make a difference in their chosen careers. In this vein, we spoke with Oji and shared her story with you.{Click here if you missed it}.

As she looks back on her journey so far, she has chosen to share 12 memorable stories from her career. As she recalls her growth path and the lessons she has learned, she hopes to reach as many people as she forges ahead to an even brighter future.

Read part XI of her chronicles below:

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When people ask me how long I’ve worked at this station WPIX-TV, I say “12 Years a Slave.”
Jokingly of course (and by that I mean I don’t need to hear any sermons about being disrespectful to my ancestors) I love my ancestors. And I don’t throw the word ‘love’ around all willy nilly.
But I do say it when I mean it.

For instance, when I say I love the movie “12 Years a Slave”? Totally mean it. It’s kinda more like a love/hate situation for me though. I say this because I cried my eyes out.

I cry a lot at movies, not just tear jerkers like this one, but even comedies and commercials; songs on the radio sef. We already established that I have issues; so no surprise there, abi?
But I had a different crying experience for this movie. I thought I would choke on my own tears.
I not only felt physical pain in my throat but the story literally broke my heart. I can’t really say any dude has ever broken my heart, but “12 Years a Slave” has. I’m totally not exaggerating…if you’ve seen the movie you totally get what I mean. If you haven’t, then go see it and then you’ll get it.

Anyways, we usually have to see the movie before the interviews – so as usual, I did.
I didn’t expect to cry as much as I did though. I don’t think there was a dry eye in that screening room. I made sure to tell the cast when I met them. And being the 419-er that I am, I tried to use that as an opportunity to cash in. How? You ask…
Well, I have my ways.

This isn’t the first time I used this trick though…it’s recyclable. It can be used as many times as you want. I just tell them I need money for therapy sessions to deal with the “emotional distress” the movie caused me. I was nice enough to give them another option…to pay for my makeup for a pretty decent price.
I say decent, some might say cheap, but truth is I can be cheap.

Of course these celebs can afford to pay a higher price, but the lower I go, the higher the chance of them giving me the money, so I aim low.

One last thing about this interview; I almost missed doing my one on one with Michael Fassbender
He finished his other interviews early and had to leave..they kept calling to ask me where I was
I told them I’m in a cab in NYC traffic. I can’t control that (I wasn’t late; they were just ahead of schedule) They said he might not be able to wait for me and I said if he can’t, it’s okay.
It really wasn’t. I really really really wanted to interview him because he’s cute, but I had to put my selfish reasons aside. He may have played the meanest role in this movie but that didn’t affect his cuteness to me at all (the truth shall set us free)
Speaking of the truth, the only reason I wasn’t freaking out about the situation was because I just figured if it’s meant to be, it’ll be.

And it was meant to be. He waited for me….okay, maybe not because of me; I’m sure he was just being professional. But he didn’t leave and I kept thanking him and apologizing and he said it was okay
We did the usual chat about the movie, it was fun, and he laughed at my jokes.
The End.
No, really, he did.

I have to edit these pieces to a certain length for air, but you still see him laughing at my jokes
I’m not sure why I’m surprised.
I am pretty funny.
I make myself laugh…what else could a girl ask for.

Not just myself…but Michael Fassbender too and Lupita!
No, really, I did…take a look: the serious parts play out first, before my jokes… okay, bye

Watch here: