Mo Abudu: I worked as a waiter, did all kinds of jobs after my dad died

Mo Abudu says she once worked as a waiter after her father died when she was 11 years old.

The movie producer, in a chat with Chude Jideonwo, media entrepreneur, said she was forced to grow up fast.

She said she had to take up a job at a restaurant to make ends meet for the family — as the eldest daughter.

“I was born in England into a working-class family. I lost my father when I was 11. So, very early on, I’ve had to be strong. I worked all kinds of jobs. I worked as a waiter because my mom was left with not very much,” Abudu said.

“I was the first daughter, it was left for me to step up.”

Recently, Abudu was the subject of media backlash over the negative reviews for ‘Chief Daddy’, her latest film.

Speaking on public criticism of her in general, Abudu said: “Over the years, I have learned to be harder.

“People throw shades, but I shared a quotation recently by Winston Churchill that I’ll paraphrase as, if you throw stones at every dog that barks at you on the street, you will never get to your destination.

“Yes, it can be painful, and one of the reasons it can be really painful is because of the young girls that look up to me. I don’t want them thinking that is what I have done.

“And if they think that, then I worry for them, because how will we do the work we have done, by supposedly doing all sorts of things they say I have done?”

Abudu spoke of her forthcoming work on the life of Hushpuppi, the embattled socialite facing criminal charges.

She also highlighted the reasons why she was part of the team that secured the right to produce the movie.

“Somebody is going to tell that story. If it is not me, it would have been another international body because it was not only us that was bidding for it,” she said.

“It is just important that the story is told by someone who understands the challenges he went through, the opportunity he must have had.

“We are not justifying what he did, but we are just saying that there are many lessons to be learned (good and bad) from our youth about the Hushpuppi story.”