Nollywood actor, Daniel Etim-Effiong, has opened up about his past as a womaniser, admitting that while it was a short-lived phase in his life, it was a significant learning experience, one he now warns young men against repeating.
The movie star admitted to dating multiple women at the same time in his younger years.
“Maybe there was a time in my life I was a womaniser. Definitions would differ, but in that definition, maybe there was a period in my life that I was, I wouldn’t say for long periods of my life. Maybe for some certain periods that I explored. So, perhaps.”
Daniel Etim-Effiong
He described those moments as “periods of learning” but emphasised that such a lifestyle can lead to long-term consequences, especially for those looking to build stable relationships or marriages later in life.
“Yes, they were periods of learning for me. If I learned, then they were good periods. I learned that certain things don’t necessarily bring you the fulfilment that you think they would. On paper, it feels like that is the life, but in experientially maybe not.”
Daniel Etim-Effiong
He urged young people to avoid developing habits they wouldn’t want to carry into marriage, warning that commitment is a muscle that must be built.
“I tell young people a lot that it is cool to be a player, but if you develop that habit or lifestyle, you won’t automatically change overnight. So, don’t develop something you don’t want to continue for the rest of your life. If you are not able to commit to one person, if you jump from one relationship to another, that won’t automatically change when you marry.
“When you marry, that muscle hasn’t been developed, so you encounter one challenge, and you want to immediately jump or you just be like, ‘I’m talking to you; you are not listening to me, let me find somebody that would listen to me’. If you are the kind of person who, before you got married, it was easy for you to just walk away, keep different relationships, keep ladies on the string, that won’t change when you get married.”
Daniel Etim-Effiong
Daniel’s honesty stands out in an industry where image often overshadows truth.
Daniel Etim-Effiong on Marriage to Wife
The popular Nollywood actor revealed that he married his wife, Toyosi, after his ex-girlfriend declined his marriage request.
Daniel Etim-Effiong explained that he wanted to settle down, but his then-girlfriend wasn’t ready.
“I think two things came together to prepare me to marry my wife. At that time in my life, I was tired of dealing with several relationships. But I had a girlfriend at that time, and I told the girl that I thought I was ready to get married, but she wasn’t ready. We were in South Africa at the time; she wasn’t a Nigerian woman.
“So, I told her that I wanted to get married, but she wasn’t ready. She said she had plans to go to graduate school in the United States, and she didn’t want to, for lack of a better word, be tied. And I was disappointed, like, what is she talking about? We could do so many things together. At that time, I was ready for marriage. Anyone who was with me at that time had to answer the question, ‘Do you want to get married?’ Like I did ask my girlfriend that time, and she declined.”
Daniel Etim-Effiong
He stated that he then left South Africa for Nigeria, where he met his wife, who was the production manager of a project he was also working on.
“We had been talking before that time, but we met when we both came to Nigeria. It was her first job in Nigeria when she came back from New York. And then we met, and we started to talk. I had a long conversation with her. I told her that I really want to get married, and she said, ‘Let’s do it.’”
Daniel Etim-Effiong
READ ALSO: Economist Backs Mahama’s Fiscal Discipline Moves Amid IMF Exit Plan
