Being A Secondary School Dropout Didn’t Derail My Dreams – Actress Biola Bayo

Biola Bayo, the Nigerian actress, has spoken up about her experience as a secondary school dropout and how it reshaped her outlook on life.

In an interview with Seun Oloketuyi on Nollywood on Radio, Biola discussed how, despite enduring financial struggles and missing out on several admissions due to a lack of funds, saying that her passion for education remained unwavering.

“For me, education has always been it for me. I was a secondary school dropout, so education was intentional for me. So it wasn’t easy for me to go to school, so it was very difficult. I had several admissions that I denied because I didn’t have money and that was years back, so it was a tussle and struggle. I just don’t stop; I feel like there is always more to get”, she said.

Bayo also revealed that she doesn’t settle for mediocrity and always strives to do better, regardless of her current position.

“My lesson is that I don’t stop at any level of mediocrity; I feel I can always do better, regardless of the position that you are in now. I don’t feel too comfortable to remain in a position, so I am that type of person who will always aspire to do better”, she said.

She also addressed the misconception that the Yoruba film industry is filled with uneducated individuals, highlighting that there have always been educated actors among them.

“Even from time, there have been a lot of educated people among us. It’s probably because we had more people who were not so educated at that time, so it made it look like the industry was dominated by the illiterate but there are literates among us; there have always been.

"Way back, it was filled with school certificates and not university degrees and those schools’ certs know how to speak better, their English was so polished than what we have now”, she concluded.