Nollywood actress, Chika Ike, has recounted how she was constantly bullied while growing up because of her body size and height.
She said she was called, “Agric fowl,” by her schoolmates.
The actress, in an Instagram post, said she ate all manner of things to gain weight then, but to no avail.
She wrote, “I never liked my body growing up and was constantly bullied about it. I was so skinny and was the tallest in my class.
“I never looked forward to morning assembly because I’ll have to stand at the back of the class or class presentations to talk about “your best friend “ because I’ll be described as the thin girl.
”I can remember eating all sorts of things to gain weight but nothing worked, I really craved to have some flesh on me.
“I was called all sorts of names like Lepa, thin girl and Agric chicken because I was so skinny and tall.
“So I started modelling as soon as I graduated from secondary school because modelling agents thought I had ‘the look.’
“Today the reverse is the case, I’m on all sorts of diet programs and exercising every other day to keep the weight…in check, I feel bad after licking ice cream or eating anything with high-calorie content because I’ll have to suffer in the gym.
“Growing up, slim wasn’t cool, now it’s cool. The truth is you have to constantly love you, you can’t be cool to everyone, the world will always have a standard of what you should be, who you should be and how you should live your life.
“If you want to make changes or improvements, let it not be because of pressure or people’s unconscious bias about you. Do it for you.
“You should hold your pen and draw your life plan… Do you… Mind your business…..Run your race.
“Do not let anyone define you or rush you with their timeline. We all have different stories, journeys, and different clocks. You are you and that is your power!”
I was called ‘agric chicken’ in school – Actress Chika Ike
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