Glamsquad reports that there are many popular celebrities of Igbo descent in the United States of America who are making the country proud while also honoring their roots.
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This has proven the adage that Igbos are dispersed all over the world and in a variety of professional fields. Others are making waves in the American entertainment industry, while some are making a name for themselves in sports.
Lets have a look at top American celebrities of Igbo origin.
Chukwuemeka Ndubuisi Okafor
Chukwuemeka Ndubuisi Emeka Okafor, a popular American basketballer, was born on September 28, 1982. He went to the University of Connecticut after graduating from Bellaire High School in Bellaire, Texas. Okafor was born in the Texas city of Houston. Emeka happens to be the first member of his family to be born in America. Pius Okafor, his father, is of the Igbo ethnic group.
Chiwetel Ejiofor
Chiwetel Umeadi Ejiofor is a Nigerian-born American actor. He is best known for his role as Darryl Peabody in the 2010 American action thriller film Salt, for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as Solomon Northup in the 2013 film 12 Years a Slave.
Ogonna Nneka Nnamani
On July 29, 1983, she was born. Nnamani is a retired American indoor volleyball player who was a member of the US National and Olympic teams. She took part in two Olympic games, in 2004 and 2008. In 2004, she became the second woman in history to be named to the United States Olympic team.
Her parents emigrated from Nigeria to the United States in search of better educational opportunities. Chika Nnamani, her father, is an adjunct professor of Politics and Government, and Uzo, her mother, is an artist and teacher.
Tyler The Creator
Tyler Gregory Okonma was born in California on March 6, 1991, to a Nigerian father of Igbo ancestry and an American mother of mixed African-American and European-Canadian ancestry. Okonma is a rapper and record producer who rose to prominence in the early 2010s as one of the co-founders of the hip hop group Odd Future.
T.D. Jakes
Pastor, author, and filmmaker from the United States. He is the bishop of The Potter’s House, a non-denominational American megachurch with 30,000 members, according to reports. Following a DNA test in 2020, the clergyman revealed in an interview that he traced his ancestry back to the Igbo tribe.
Nnamdi Asomugha
He is a former American football cornerback who was born in Louisiana, USA to Igbo parents. He attended the University of California and played football there. Nnamdi also spent time with the Philadelphia Eagles and the San Francisco 49ers. On July 6, 1981, he was born.
Nonso Anozie
He is a well-known American actor. He is best known for his roles as Sergeant Dap in Ender’s Game, a 2013 American military science-fiction action film, and as Xaro Xhoan Daxos in Game of Thrones, an American fantasy drama television series. The 43-year-old talented actor is from the Eastern part of Nigeria and was born and raised in London, England.
Annie Ilonzeh
She is an actress from the United States. She starred as Maya Ward in the American daytime television soap opera General Hospital from 2010 to 2011, and later as Kate Prince in Charlie’s Angels, an American action crime drama television series. She also appeared in a number of American television shows, including Arrow, Drop Dead Diva, and Empire.