Actress Stella Damasus has been tutoring social media users on the correct spelling of her surname.
Tired of people calling her Damascus, which is the capital city of Syria and the oldest capital in the world, the 43-year-old attempted to set the record straight in a tweet on Sunday.
“My name is Stella Damasus, not Damascus,” she wrote.
What many do not now know, however, is that her family’s original name was Ojukwu.
The mother of two disclosed the reason behind the change of name in an interview with BBC Igbo last year.
Speaking in the Igbo language the actress explained that during the civil war, Nigerian soldiers thought her family was related to the late Odumegwu Ojukwu who led the Biafran Army, which prompted the change of name.
“My surname is Ojukwu but during the Biafran war, Nigerian soldiers thought that we are related to the family of Odumegwu Ojukwu. That is the reason for the change,” she said.
She explained that Nigerian soldiers killed many of her father’s kin in Asaba because they shared the same surname with Ojukwu.
Due to the crisis, her grandfather decided that the family should adopt his first name Damasus (a Greek name) to keep them safe.
Stella’s father was originally from Asaba in Delta State and her mother from Owerri in Imo State.
Both parents taught her different dialects of the Igbo language.
The actress’ other name is Obiageli.
