Nigeria’s entertainment industry is filled with talented, famous, beautiful, endowed divas who inspire and make other folks happy, but are either divorced, unhappy, unmarried or of ‘unexplainable’ status. Patience Ivie Obhafuoso wonders what could be keeping them single . .

.Genevieve Nnaji

Genevieve Nnaji is undoubtedly one of the most successful actresses in the industry. She has come a long way from when she had a daughter while in secondary school, and has never had cause to regret it. Acclaimed to be one of Africa’s best (she was once described by Oprah Winfrey as “Africa’s Sharon Stone”), she is currently sailing the high seas of success and fame.

In 2005, she won the African Movie Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role. Genevieve began her acting career as a child actress in the then popular television soap ‘Ripples’ as an eight-year-old and joined Nollywood at the age of 19. She has gone on to feature in over 80 Nollywood movies and is considered one of Nollywood’s highest paid actresses.

She burnt her fingers when she ventured into music with the release of her debut album ‘One Logologo Line’ in 2004 and has featured in several commercials, including those for Pronto beverage and Omo detergent. In 2004, she became the Face of Lux in Nigeria. In 2008, she launched her clothing line St. Genevieve and was appointed the official Face of MUD cosmetics in Nigeria in 2010. The highpoint of her career, so far, is her famed appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Show, where she was hailed as ‘one of Africa’s best’

She has also received many awards and nominations, but inspite of her attainments, and an alleged fling with singer D’banj, the screen goddess who is still single, has continually parried questions relating to marriage and any form of romantic dalliance with anyone. She was once quoted as having said, “I don’t think I would have anything to do with anyone for some time. ‘Anyone’ being any man?). However, it is yet to be confirmed if she is presently searching.

RITA DOMINIC

Besides coming from a royal home, Rita Dominic Nwaturuocha (I can’t seem to leave out that last name), the theatre arts graduate of the University of Port Harcourt, and brand model is one hell of an outstanding actress, one of the few who has almost no scandal to her name.
She started performing when she was a child, appeared in school playlets and children television shows in Imo, her home state. Having put up sterling performances in over 100 movies, she won the City People Award in 2004 as the Most Outstanding Actress and is regarded by many as “a cultured lady”. What her fans have never stopped asking is, “What is she waiting for (to get married)?”

This beautiful actress, script-writer and producer can not be over-looked. Her first script was Ordained, produced by OJ Productions.
She started acting back in secondary school and was a member of a drama group in her church. Thanks to her role, she earned herself a scholarship. Besides acting and scriptwriting (her first script ‘Ordained’ was produced by OJ Productions), Uche also presents for the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) and is into interior decoration.The Glo Ambassador seemingly has all it takes: physique, wits, charisma . . . but no bobo, yet.

Tonto Dikeh

Rivers State-born actress, Tonto Dikeh, has been called a variety of names for her role intrepretation and her ‘unseeming’ character, but she has refused to be deterred and continued to be a regular face in current movies.Since she came into the limelight, the scandal-prone actress, she has found it difficult to convince her fans that her way-ward, on-screen personality is different from the ‘real’.

Recently, the actress was alleged to have had a roll-in-the hay with fast-rising Nigerian singer, Whiz kid. Though she denied by saying, “He is just a friend on twitter, I am not in a relationship with him. Those who follow me on twitter know that I love calling my friends on twitter romantic names like ‘honey’, ‘sweetheart’, and ‘darling’. I guess that is what people saw about some of my tweets to Whiz kid and started speculating that we are dating.” So far, the screen goddess, who is blessed with spotless skin, a perfect set of teeth, alluring lips and good ascent has not been able to hook ‘Mr. Right’ .

Constance ‘Cossy’ Orjiakor

Largely considered Nigeria’s undisputed ‘Queen of Headlights’, controversial actress Cossy Orjiakor, who holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting and a master’s degree in administration from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and University of Lagos, respectively, first became popular as one of Fuji artiste Obesere’s raunchy dancers.

She has made lots of enemies among the female folk for daring to ‘bare it all’ in many movies in which she has appeared, but she has refused to budge, claiming to be ‘a true professional’ and a ‘born again Christian’.Beautiful and well endowed, the sexy one, like the others on this list, has been unable to ‘tie’ down Mr. Right.

Nkiru Silvanus

The ‘cry baby’ of Nollywood, Nkiru Silvanus, who came into the industry in 2000 has also ventured into politics, by virtue of her recent appointment as the special adviser on Lagos affairs by Imo State governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha. The screen goddess and the ‘Face of Hope 2010’, who abandoned her medical career in her second year to go into acting, has not found love that will lead her down the aisle.

Empress Njamah

Controversial does not even come close to describe top Nollywood actress, Empress Njamah. From Timaya to her rumoured marrige and some other unsavoury things which have been written about her, she has been seemingly trailed by one controversy or the other. Many believe that Empress is a lesbian (Timaya proved all that wrong); some say she is a kleptomaniac (no proof), while others believe that she a chronic double-dater. However, the dark-skinned, sexy-eyed actress who burst onto the scene in 1995 has gone off the radar since her ugly break-up with Timaya, but has, so far, been unable to ‘tie down’ Mr. Right.

FUNKE AKINDELE

One of the actresses currently making waves in the industry, Funke ventured into acting during her secondary school days in the soap ‘I Need to Know’, a television serial drama sponsored by United Nations. A law graduate of the University of Lagos, she is one of the few scandal-free actresses in Nollywood. In spite of her natural beauty complimented by sexy eyes, all ears are pinned to the ground, waiting patiently for the wedding bells to clang.