“Nobody cared about investment; everybody just wanted money. Some told me their husbands had died and they needed ₦1 million. Others said they wanted…”
Nollywood star and model Ijeoma “Phyna” Otabor has opened up about the biggest mistakes she made after winning the seventh edition of the reality TV show, BBNaija.
Speaking during a recent livestream, the 28-year-old admitted that she failed to manage the prize money she won properly.
Acknowledged that she was young and naive at the time, she also blamed her immediate family in the eventual messup of the huge win.
The reality TV star noted, “The mistake I made after winning BBNaija was helping family members solve their problems. I thought I was doing the right thing because I had money, so I kept giving it out carelessly. None of the adults in my family ever called me aside to ask how much I had left or advised me to invest in a business or something meaningful.
“Nobody cared about investment; everybody just wanted money. Some told me their husbands had died and they needed ₦1 million. Others said they wanted to dig boreholes. I know how many boreholes I sponsored for family members. Some approached me, saying their children swallowed something and they urgently needed money.”
Besides, Phyna disclosed that she began experiencing difficulties after she decided to stop providing financial support for her family.
She challenged her family members to counter her claims if they believed she lied against them.
“The moment I started saying no to those requests, my problems began. The first time I refused a family request was what prompted one of them to lie about me in a national daily, claiming I said I could not afford a particular roofing material because it was too expensive.
“If I’m lying, they should come out openly and deny it. I started refusing some requests when I realised the money I had was no longer much. I told some people who asked for ₦1 million to take ₦500,000 instead, and that also caused problems for me,” said Phyna.
Phyna also said she was seen as the “black sheep” in her family before she won BBNaija, adding that no one wished her well at the time.
She further stated that her family spoke harshly to her while she was growing up and used unkind words towards her during her childhood.
She added, “I wish I could turn back the hands of time. At the moment I was announced winner on the BBNaija stage, I should have run away instead of shouting ‘my mummy, my daddy’, because I was always treated as the bad person in the family. I had been seen that way since childhood. They never saw anything good in me.
“They kept telling me I would get pregnant before reaching a certain age. They treated me like faeces when I was younger. They said my life was already ruined and that nothing good would ever come out of me. I still don’t know why I remembered them when God blessed me.”
Phyna’s outburst came barely two years after she dropped her family surname and opened up about her strained relationship with them.
This newspaper reported that she revealed deep-seated uncertainty about her origins and cited a lack of meaningful connection with her relatives.
She also expressed feeling disconnected from her roots and said she sought clarity about her background.
Phyna’s name change followed comments made by her father, Felix Otabor, in 2023, who claimed he hadn’t seen her since she won the BBNaija show.
In an interview with Vanguard, Mr Otabor said his daughter had not returned home since her victory and had not kept the promises she made.
He further lamented that she disappeared after receiving her prize money and had not returned to support or care for the family.
