Nigerians fell in love with Dakore all over again when she played Tola in Mo Abudu’s 2015 film, Fifty, and we can’t wait to see more of this screen darling who stole the hearts of Nollywood fans in the late 90s. Here are 10 interesting things about the delightful actress:
1. Her name, Dakore, means “Daddy’s girl”.
2. Her father wanted her to study medicine, but she opted for a diploma in Mass Communication at UNILAG instead.
3. Her first acting opportunity —in the TV series Heritage — came in 1998 while she was working with a public relations and advertising company after her diploma.
4. She was already known to her classmates as the “TV girl” thanks to various sports programmes she anchored, but she has Emem Isong to thank for her Nollywood break in 2000. Her first movie was Silent Tears.
5. She once tried her hand at photography while her school was on strike, learning from her uncle, renowned photographer Don Barber for six months (TY Bello also trained with him). Unfortunately, she couldn’t go on with it.
6. Dakore is a musician. We first got a glimpse of this in the early 2000s where she did a bit of singing in the movie Emotional Crack. She also sang in Shattered Illusions where her character was a reggae singer; it was the first time that I, barely out of my teens then, paid attention to Bob Marley’s Redemption Song.
7. She’s a first child. She has a sister and three brothers —one of whom is the charming actor Timini Egbuson.
8. Her favourite colour is white.
9. She has a Yoruba name, Omobola.
10. She’s a humanitarian; an ambassador for Amnesty International and Oxfam of America. She is also the current Ambassador for ActionAid Nigeria, helping to increase public awareness of the plight of the poor and disadvantaged in Nigeria.