Halima Abububakar, in this touching interview opens up on her love life, business, upbringing and many other issues.

So what are the current projects taking your time?

I have been shooting movies in Owerri and Awka but I have not been to any location in Asaba this year. I have been to Enugu three times and now I am shooting in Lagos. I am doing a documentary about bullying. You can call it my pet project. It won’t be more than 40 minutes because we don’t intend to waste anyone’s time.

Of all charitable causes, why bullying?

Because I have been bullied for most part of my childhood and adolescent years. I want to focus on this because a lot of people are scared to speak-up maybe because of threats. These things are serious, parents need to talk to their kids to find out about this especially kids in boarding schools. It is not as rosy as it seems.

I am inspired by things that has happened to me in my life to put them in writing and pictures. It is just a subject that I like. We don’t always have to do romance all the time. And whether we admit it or not, bullying is one of the reasons so many people do what they are not supposed to do. Some go into smoking weed just for self-worth among peers especially to prove a point to bullies.

Bullying must have been a traumatic experience for you to decide to make a movie out of it. Could you share some of the experience with us?

Oh yes! While I was in primary and secondary schools and all the way to my career in Nollywood, most of my friends have exploited my being quiet in a very disrespectful manner. Perhaps, because one is not a star or don’t have what they possess and because of this, they don’t think you belong to whatever class they have. I have been through this from fellow actors especially the female ones. When I look back, I can’t fathom what I have put up with in the name of friendships. But seriously shame on them for making another human being like them feel worthless.

I am surprised that you are bringing up something that happens among celebrities, which many don’t like to admit?

I have no fear about saying this, will they come and beat me for this? I am sure some of them will think that I am mentioning names but I am not here to do that. I am sure when they see the movie I am doing now, everybody will know their characters. People will never come out and say this but when I come out to talk, they would say whatever. Bullying can come in different forms.

Can you tell us what kind of bullying exists among celebrities?

For instance, some people just don’t think that you belong to their clique or class. Once a friend invited me to be a member of celebrity group on Blackberry Messenger and I accepted. Not long after, my friend told me that a certain star just queried my invitation to the group because I am a friend with people they are not friends with.

I was like are they sharing money for being a member of this group? I am so ashamed of the person. Interestingly, this is a person that calls me on the phone often. So obviously, the so called stars or whatever have their own clique and they oppress one another and I don’t want to belong to anyone.