Omoni Oboli

Oboli was born in Benin City, Edo State. She is a descendant of Mosogar, a small village in Delta State.^[1] Oboli completed her primary and secondary education in Benin City and later earned a Bachelor of Arts in French (Second Class Upper Division) from the University of Benin.^[6] After completing her degree, Oboli attended a four-week digital editing workshop at the New York Film Academy.^[7]

Oboli began her film career in Bitter Encounter (1996),^[8] where she played a secretary. Her next film role was in Shame.^[9] She played the lead roles in Not My Will,^[10] Destined To Die,^[11] and Another Campus Tale.^[12] After a brief early career in 1996, Oboli left the film industry to complete her university education. She got married immediately after school and returned to the industry a decade later in 2009, where she began producing her own films.^[13]

Oboli has several screenplays to her credit, including Wives On Strike as well as The Rivals, a film she co-produced with her friend that won Best International Drama at the New York International Independent Film & Video Festival.^[6] It was the first Nigerian film to premiere at the festival since its inception in 2003.^[14] The film received 3/4 stars from the festival's judges.^[14][15] Oboli has played lead roles in films, including The Figurine (2009), Anchor Baby (2010), Being Mrs Elliott, and Fifty (2015). In 2010, she became the first actress from Nollywood to win Best Actress at two international festivals,^[16] not organized by Nigerians or Africans. She received the accolades at the Harlem International Film Festival and the Los Angeles Movie Awards for her role in Anchor Baby.^[16]

In 2010, Oboli won the award for Best Actress Narrative Feature at the Los Angeles Movie Awards and the award for Best Actress at the Harlem International Film Festival.^[17] She was nominated for the Best Actress in a Leading Role at the 2011 Africa Movie Academy Awards.^[18]

In 2014, she won the Big Screen Actress of the Year award, at the 2014 ELOY Awards, for Being Mrs Elliott,^[19] and was nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role (English) at the 2014 Best of Nollywood Awards for the same film.

In 2015, Oboli was awarded The Sun Nollywood Personality of the Year.^[20] She has directed films including Being Mrs Elliott, The First Lady, Wives on Strike, and Okafor's Law.

On 14 August 2017, Oboli announced on Instagram that she had become a brand ambassador of LandWey Investment Limited.^[21]

Oboli starred in the film Okafor's Law, which premiered on 24 March 2017. However, the film could not be screened at the premiere due to a court injunction. Oboli was accused of copyright infringement by Jude Idada,^[22][23][24] who claimed to have written part of the script for Okafor's Law.^[25] The film was released on 31 March 2017.^[26]

Oboli set up a charity organization, The Omoni Oboli Foundation, to support less privileged women and children in Nigeria. The foundation has carried out several projects, including feeding street children in Lagos.^[27]

• List of Nigerian actors
• List of Nigerian film producers