Popular Nollywood actor Daniel Etim-Effiong has opened up about the personal journey that led to his marriage to Toyosi, sharing how a rejection from his former girlfriend unexpectedly cleared the path for their love story to blossom.
In a candid conversation with media personality Chude Jideonwo, Etim-Effiong reflected on the moment in his life when he was ready to settle down but found himself with someone who wasn’t.
“I think two things came together to prepare me to marry my wife,” he began. “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 think I am ready to get married, but she wasn’t ready. We were in South Africa at the time; she wasn’t a Nigerian woman.”
He explained that his then-girlfriend had her sights set on academic pursuits in the United States and didn’t want to be “tied.” Her response left him disappointed and questioning what could have been.
“She said she had plans to go for 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,” he shared.
For the Before 30 actor, that rejection only sharpened his clarity. “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.”
What happened next felt almost serendipitous. Around the same period, Etim-Effiong returned to Nigeria for a project—and that’s when he reconnected with Toyosi, who was serving as the production manager.
“It coincided with coming back to Nigeria to be on a project that my wife was the production manager of. 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,” he said.
Their professional meeting quickly turned personal. “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.’”
The two have since become one of Nollywood’s admired couples, celebrated not just for their love but for their mutual respect and shared creative endeavors.
