By Frank Opara
Then fledgling Kate
Henshaw, today the five star Nollywood actress, mother, the face of Onga, the
quality food product of Promasidor, GLO ambassador, etc., was once made to believe
she was a failure by the authorities of the University of Calabar. She was
removed from school by the bestial withdrawal policy of UNICAL.
Down, but not out,
she left UNICAL feeling embarrassed and humiliated after becoming so popular
within the short time she had been in the school through her latent skill in
singing (miming) and dancing. She and her two beautiful friends belonged to a
group of campus stage performers.
At the University’s
New Arts Theater called NAT, the trio never failed to keep their student
audience spell bound with their stellar performances each time they were given
the opportunity to do so on the superb colorfully lightened stage of NAT.
The social wing of
the Student’s Union government then ensured there was no dull moment for the
students with series of social events, the most popular of such event being the
“Talentica”.
It was a show every student
looked forward to at the beginning of a new session; a platform for discovering
talents on campus. This was the gong, the town crier so to say that first announced
Kate Henshaw to the relatively small university audience as a star in the
making. Like a triple jumper, this was her first leap to stardom.
With the right
attitude and uncommon determination to “fail forward” as the saying goes, and
an enthusiasm of one who is about to make new discoveries, she found herself in
Lagos, where she continued her search for an opportunity to prove herself once
again.
It was there that this
beauty and brain found her way to fame. That opportunity was a turning point in
her young life. She was made the face of a popular body cream in a
scintillating advert that equally became so popular with the teeming Nigerian
television viewers.
In the advert, Kate regaled
in a mauve colored bath gown, gradually cascading down her feet, revealing some
part of her smooth spotless body and her beautiful long legs. That was it! Kate
Henshaw had arrived! And she has never looked back ever since! Truly, in every
crisis, there lie opportunities.
I still remember with
nostalgia the very first day I saw this advert on television and had to share
the touchy story with one of my sisters. In a flustering hush tone, unwittingly
assuming I was still under the watch of the tense ambience of the university
campus, where such topics are nothing but euphemisms for failure and
irresponsibility and so should not be discussed openly, I narrated the story to
my sister with so much enthusiasm and the curiosity of a reporter.
The story of Offiong
(that was her name in UNICAL) Kate Henshaw reminds me of a timeless saying that
every successful person is someone who failed yet never regarded himself or
herself as a failure. Albert Einstein, one of the greatest thinkers of our time
comes to mind.
We were told that
young Albert’s schoolmaster once told him that he would never “amount to much”.
The same goes for the legendary classical music composer, Wolfgang Mozart who
was reminded that one of his famous opera was far too noisy and had too many
notes.
Interestingly, like
the greats mentioned above, Kate never believed what UNICAL authorities told
her. She knew herself more than they and anyone else could tell her. She had an
image of an achiever and defiantly grew to her potentials to match that image.
Put differently, she
tried to be the image she envisioned. She felt challenged and sought to prove
herself and so moved on with her life in Lagos, a competitive city in
comparison from she was coming from.
Sometimes, I wish
Kate could tell her story more often for the benefit of our young ladies, the
social butterflies and, of course, the rest of us who still believe in free
rides. Each time I come across the face of Kate Henshaw anywhere, I get a smug
feeling of inspiration.
And I have never
hesitated to tell Kate’s story to young girls, some of whom are her admirers,
who have found it difficult to differentiate between a mistake and failure each
time they are faced with challenges.
Regrettably, the average
Nigerian mind has been eclipsed by religion in a scientific age. Our young
ladies seem to be the worst culprits. They crisscross all manner of worship
centres in the land searching for signs and wonders and “sharp-sharp” remedies
to life challenges.
They worship their
pastors more than they worship God. In their well-groomed outfits on top of
their stilettos and, of course, their God-given brains to think and develop,
they prefer to “claim it”.
God has planted a
spark in each and every one of us. It is left for us to discover and apply it
whenever we encounter problems. “Claiming it” and “it is well” has so much
ruined our people that we no longer think rationally. We “claim” even negative
situations we can change and apply the “it is well” slogan to apparent
avoidable adversities.
Kate Henshaw is a shining
example of what most of our young ladies lack today in the long and arduous
journey to success. She is a classical example of what perseverance means. She
never gave up. She believed in her ability and trudged on because she saw where
she is today the very day she refused to see her mistake as a failure.
She never internalized
it but rather as Shakespeare would say, “bore it as our Roman actors do, with
untired spirit and formal constancy”. Above
all, she remained positive and maintained the right attitude. These are the
trademarks of an achiever!
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