Mercy Eke, the first female winner of Big Brother Naija reality show has lamented that she was accused of engaging in money laundering by those who refused to understand the efforts she has put into the successes she has achieved in the entertainment industry.
Eke was a guest of Chude Jideonwo, host of the TV show, #WithChude where she discussed accusations the media peddle against her and life after Big Brother Naija.
She said the allegations that she was involved in money laundering was typical of the stigma successful women have to deal with in Nigeria.
Mercy Eke, however, said such speculations are very offensive as it failed to acknowledge efforts, the sleepless night and the hard work we women put to get to where they are.
“They will just take away all effort and tag it as someone is behind you. I am not saying it is bad to have someone behind, if you have a rich boyfriend, some people’s love language might be taking care of you, buying you nice things, and giving you money. However, you will still work hard. They said I do money laundering; they have dealt with me in this industry. I came into this industry without no advice, just myself and my team and I started building brand.”
On her motivation to be in the Big Brother house, she said, “I auditioned four times. I just have that voice in me that says, ‘this is where you will make it’. So, each year when they say, ‘‘try again next year’. I still have that thing in my head that, ‘Okay, I will try’. Back then it was just to be famous”.
On her choice to respond to the blogger who claimed she slept with IVD, Mercy Eke said, “This blogger has been on my case since forever. This person has tarnished my image more than anything, and I have never responded. This started when I was in the house. When this whole thing started, I saw that one of my fans released something where this blogger asked for 200,000 naira, and they did not give the person.
And the blogger vowed that he or she will deal with me. But now, I am not in the house, you can’t deal with me based on whoever was handling my page. I didn’t even know about it because, they cleaned it up. When they handed over my phone to me, I didn’t see a lot of things, so I couldn’t pay for what I did not know. And since then, I have not rested. There is no story that this blogger has not involved me, till that one, I won’t respond.
But this one, someone just died, there is a case of domestic violence, and I know this woman, we are friends. Then something that I know nothing about, you just brought my name out of nowhere and say that I am sleeping with this person”.
“That is the first and last time, I am going to respond to something, but I needed to respond to that one, she added.
Mercy also shared her thoughts about Phyna being the second woman to win the reality TV show. “Honestly speaking, I have been waiting on someone to take on that role, let that pressure move, I want to rest. I want another person to come and take it, let the blogs focus on this person. Because I know when someone comes, at least I will rest.
