Nine Nollywood stars with unfamiliar original names

1. Frank Donga: His real name is Kunle Idowu. The actor and comedian gained popularity after starring in the popular webseries ‘The Interview’ on Ndani TV. Since then, he has gone on to star in movies like Three Thieves, One Lagos Night, and She Is.

While this actor goes by Frank Donga on stage, his real name is completely different.



2. Femi Branch: His real name is David Babafemi Mauton Osunkoya. The actor started his career in 1991 and has gone on to star in a number of popular movies including Out of Luck, Love is War, Nneka The Pretty Serpent, and more. No “Branch” to be found.



3. Kanayo O. Kanayo: The actor whose real name is Anayo Modestus Onyekwere. Surprisingly, his name doesn’t correlate with the nickname that he is widely known with.



4. Saint Obi: The Star actor who ruled the screens for such a long time has his real name to be Obinna Nwafor.

The Obi evidently came from Obinna but where did Saint come from?



5. Okey Bakassi: Comedian and actor Okey Bakassi is known for his hilarious role in My Flatmates and movies such as Onye Ozi and Love is in the Hair.

His real name is Okechukwu Anthony Onyegbule.



6. Saka: Another actor and comedian that goes by a stage name is popular entertainer Saka. While many people recognize Saka’s face almost immediately, not many people actually know him by name. His actual name is Afeez Oyetoro.



7. Ken Erics: Ken Erics is a very popular actor who has starred in a number of Nigerian movies. When you hear the name Ken Erics, you immediately assume that this actor’s first name is Ken and his last name is Erics. But that is not actually the case.

His real name is Ekenedilichukwu Ugochukwu Eric Nwenweh.



8. Jim Iyke: Known for his audacious film character, his actual name is James Ikechukwu Esomugha.



9. Segun Arinze: His real name is Segun Padonou Aina.

Speaking on why he changed it, Segun told The Punch “it was music that changed my name from ‘Segun Aina’ to ‘Segun Arinze’”, because he started off doing music.