Nollywood actress Linda Osifo discusses how the impact of the racist epithets she heard while living in Canada led her to consider skin bleaching at one point.

The gifted actress, who was born in Nigeria’s Benin City and later immigrated to Canada at the age of 16, said the prejudice she experienced was particularly upsetting since it came from people she knew well.

In a recent interview with media personality Chude Jideonwo, who inquired about her plans to bleach her skin, Linda Osifo discussed this experience.

The host, Chude, asked: “You talked about wanting to bleach your skin because when you grow up people would call me a monkey (sic). [Did] this literally happen?”

In her words;

“Yeah. It happens absolutely. And it happens from your shade too, you know. So, that’s why it’s even more of a weird thing.

“I always feel that those who get bullied, don’t get bullied by outsiders. It’s from within. Because if somebody else says it, you may not care but if somebody who is around you, who you are always kinda seeing every other day says it, it hurts more.

“This was when I was a teenager in Canada. The positive aspect of moving [back] to Nigeria, was seeing more of individuals who look just like me.”

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