Shaffy Bello on japa: ‘America trained me, but Nigeria made me’

Nollywood actress Shaffy Bello says she has no plan to join the japa wave. Speaking at the Real Talk With Kike anniversary event at Eko Hotels and Suites, Lagos, on Saturday, 10 October 2026, she told the room she prays never to get the chance to leave Nigeria.

“America trained me, but Nigeria made me,” she said, according to Vanguard. She added: “I pray I never get the opportunity, as they call it, to go back.”

The words carry weight because of who said them. Shaffy Bello grew up in the United States and finished her schooling there before building the career Nigerians know her for, and she turned 56 only two days before the event.

What did Shaffy Bello say about japa?

Shaffy Bello said Nigeria is home and she has no desire to relocate abroad. “This is home, this is where it is,” she said, as reported by Vanguard and Blueprint on Saturday, 10 October.

She did not pretend things are easy. Vanguard reports that she acknowledged the frustrations many Nigerians face with electricity, education and healthcare. Her answer to them was personal. She told young people to ask what they have in their hands, study it and prove themselves worthy of it. She also put her long run in the industry down to being honest about who she is, adding: “If you lie, you keep having to remember the lies.”

Where did she say it?

She spoke at “20+ Years in the Media: Real Talk with Kike @7”, the Lagos event marking seven years of broadcaster Kikelomo Atanda-Owo Abati’s show Real Talk With Kike and her two decades in media. The Guardian Nigeria said the event opened at noon on Saturday under the theme “The Future of Nigeria: Where Leadership, Innovation, Culture and Media Converge to Shape Nation Building”.

It was a heavy room for a showbiz moment. QED.NG lists Shaffy Bello with Eugenia Abu and Chude Jideonwo as the voices from media and entertainment, alongside Minister of Art, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy Hannatu Musawa and NiDCOM chief Abike Dabiri-Erewa, whose agency deals with Nigerians abroad. ThisDay reports that Kike and her husband, Reuben Abati, also launched a joint podcast, Reuben and Kike Abati, at the event.

How did Shaffy Bello get here?

Her career has run for almost three decades, most of it in Lagos. The key steps, from her filmography:

• 1997: her vocals on Seyi Sodimu’s hit “Love Me Jeje” make her a known voice.
• 2012: she plays Joanne Lawson in the TV soap Tinsel. The same year, she is nominated for best lead actress in an English movie at the Best of Nollywood Awards.
• 2017–18: she plays Adaora Bhadmus in the series Battleground.
• 2018 and 2022: she plays Nike Williams in Chief Daddy and Chief Daddy 2: Going for Broke.
• 2022: she plays Iyaloja in Elesin Oba, The King’s Horseman.
• 10 October 2026: two days after her 56th birthday, she tells a Lagos audience she will not japa.

What happens next

GistMatrix will update this story with her full answer if video of the panel is posted. Her most recent film credits include Gingerrr and The Party, both released in 2025.

FAQ

Is Shaffy Bello relocating abroad?
No. On Saturday, 10 October 2026, she said Nigeria is home and she prays she never gets the “opportunity” to leave.

Where did Shaffy Bello grow up?
She grew up and was educated in the United States, which is why she says “America trained me, but Nigeria made me”.

How old is Shaffy Bello?
She was born on 8 October 1970, so she turned 56 on Thursday, 8 October 2026.

Would you stay or japa? Tell us in the comments.

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