His name is James Ikechukwu but many know
him as Jim Iyke. He talks about his personality
and career
With kidnap cases being a common trend, do
you entertain fears that you could be a victim?
There is a certain way I live and I believe people
only attract what they feel and what they love.
So, if I have fears, what I would attract would be
fears and misgivings. I am completely fearless
about these things because it is a law of
attraction. I have no fear of gunmen or
kidnappers because I have not wronged
anybody for them to want to harm me. I drive
out at 2am and go back to my house at 4am. I
just believe that every morning when I get on my
knees and pray, God knows my intention. He
knows that I am going for my daily bread and I
am not in anybody’s way. Though, I have made
my mistakes, I have repented from them and
go about my business. There are basic laws of
existence which people should not violate. If you
have the fear of the unknown all the time, you
will attract negative things to yourself. I don’t
live like that. I am a typical Lagos boy and I
have been around all kinds of crimes and none
ever got to me.
Now that you have joined the league of
celebrities running reality shows, what aspect
of your personality will you portray?
I don’t know if I should call it shocking, but I
like moving around my house naked. I feel I am
always dressed in public, so when I am inside
my house, I should enjoy the freedom that
comes from not being tied down with clothes.
So, you will see me moving around with parts of
my body blurred by the camera.
There is an impression you are an arrogant and
unfriendly person?
One of the reasons I am running the show is to
allow people see and understand a lot of things
about the real me. I deal with people on a daily
basis and they do not understand that certain
pressures can make somebody appear rude or
arrogant. Shyness can make someone appear
rude and unfriendly. But the show will feature
the pressure I go through daily and the way I
cope with that pressure.
What kind of pressure are you talking about?
There are so many. It is not easy to have your
life constantly scrutinised. This is Lagos, there is
so much pressure coupled with lack of basic
human amenities. These factors can contribute
to the pressure a man has to cope with.
Why did you go into fashion?
Yes. I realised that since I don’t shoot as many
movies as I did in the past, I can do other
things. I have made that point clear-it is not
about quantity anymore, it is about quality and I
am very careful about what I do now. The last
movie I featured in, ‘last flight to Abuja’ was
what ushered in this project I am doing now.
In this business, you are as good as your last job.
In fashion, one can either be an admirer or an
investor. My lifestyle as a fashion admirer and
consumer has cost me a lot of money. I made an
inventory of how much I have spent on fashion
and cars as well as the houses I have lived in. I
reasoned that it was time to turn my passion
into an enterprise. Since I like fashion, I
decided to go into boutique management, now I
can buy clothes for myself and others. I can
make money from it instead of just spending.
Do labels influence your choice of clothes?
I am not brand crazy, but it happens that the
best clothes are made by the big brands, take it
or leave it. The designer labels cost a lot of
money but there is a healthy competition; which
is why I find the fashion market very
interesting. I have discovered that everybody is
heading towards the same direction. I have been
to factories that make goods for Gucci. There
are people working on a smaller scale and these
are the ones I hire to make my clothes and they
give me what I want. However, I always buy
what I know I would look good in.
You are a sunglasses freak too?
I have about 125 pairs. My personal assistants
and people who come to my house keep stealing
them. Also, I have been a collector of all kinds
of stuff-shoes and sneakers. I think I own about
200 pairs; it is not something to brag about, this
is a form of art for me, just like the way people
collect stamps. I like shoes and I collect them. I
keep the ones my mother owned in the 60s and
the ones my aunts owned in the 70s. I get shoes
that are much branded and are limited edition.
For me it is not just about fashion statement
anymore, it is art.
Do you indulge in any kind of food?
I am a sweet tooth and a junk food junkie. I
have gained weight at some point and no matter
how hard I trained, I was gaining weight! I
knew what the problem was so I had to cut
down. I barely eat breakfast but I eat one solid
meal a day. This could be lunch or dinner. Once
I indulge, I make sure I eat everything I want to
eat.
How do you relax?
I watch movies. I have to watch movies to sleep
and I don’t just watch them for pleasure, I
watch them critically to learn about new things.
What is a typical day like for you?
I sleep around 3am every day, no matter the
time zone or the country. I wake up fairly early,
depending on the amount of activities I am
involved in but I think I have some sort of in-
built clock, I wake up at the same time every day
which is 6 am. When I wake up, I pray because
God is the central part of my life and I give it all
to Him. My father always said the best exercise
of the day is prayers. As soon as I am done with
prayers, I do an exercise which is a fusion of
yoga and martial arts. It is a process where the
body, soul and mind have to be in sync. I do it
to purge my mind and body, relieve the
pressures of the day and make decisions about
the kind of people I would let into my life for
that day. I have not been to the hospital in over
12 years of doing the exercise.
His name is James Ikechukwu but many know
him as Jim Iyke. He talks about his personality
and career
With kidnap cases being a common trend, do
you entertain fears that you could be a victim?
There is a certain way I live and I believe people
only attract what they feel and what they love.
So, if I have fears, what I would attract would be
fears and misgivings. I am completely fearless
about these things because it is a law of
attraction. I have no fear of gunmen or
kidnappers because I have not wronged
anybody for them to want to harm me. I drive
out at 2am and go back to my house at 4am. I
just believe that every morning when I get on my
knees and pray, God knows my intention. He
knows that I am going for my daily bread and I
am not in anybody’s way. Though, I have made
my mistakes, I have repented from them and
go about my business. There are basic laws of
existence which people should not violate. If you
have the fear of the unknown all the time, you
will attract negative things to yourself. I don’t
live like that. I am a typical Lagos boy and I
have been around all kinds of crimes and none
ever got to me.
Now that you have joined the league of
celebrities running reality shows, what aspect
of your personality will you portray?
I don’t know if I should call it shocking, but I
like moving around my house naked. I feel I am
always dressed in public, so when I am inside
my house, I should enjoy the freedom that
comes from not being tied down with clothes.
So, you will see me moving around with parts of
my body blurred by the camera.
There is an impression you are an arrogant and
unfriendly person?
One of the reasons I am running the show is to
allow people see and understand a lot of things
about the real me. I deal with people on a daily
basis and they do not understand that certain
pressures can make somebody appear rude or
arrogant. Shyness can make someone appear
rude and unfriendly. But the show will feature
the pressure I go through daily and the way I
cope with that pressure.
What kind of pressure are you talking about?
There are so many. It is not easy to have your
life constantly scrutinised. This is Lagos, there is
so much pressure coupled with lack of basic
human amenities. These factors can contribute
to the pressure a man has to cope with.
Why did you go into fashion?
Yes. I realised that since I don’t shoot as many
movies as I did in the past, I can do other
things. I have made that point clear-it is not
about quantity anymore, it is about quality and I
am very careful about what I do now. The last
movie I featured in, ‘last flight to Abuja’ was
what ushered in this project I am doing now.
In this business, you are as good as your last job.
In fashion, one can either be an admirer or an
investor. My lifestyle as a fashion admirer and
consumer has cost me a lot of money. I made an
inventory of how much I have spent on fashion
and cars as well as the houses I have lived in. I
reasoned that it was time to turn my passion
into an enterprise. Since I like fashion, I
decided to go into boutique management, now I
can buy clothes for myself and others. I can
make money from it instead of just spending.
Do labels influence your choice of clothes?
I am not brand crazy, but it happens that the
best clothes are made by the big brands, take it
or leave it. The designer labels cost a lot of
money but there is a healthy competition; which
is why I find the fashion market very
interesting. I have discovered that everybody is
heading towards the same direction. I have been
to factories that make goods for Gucci. There
are people working on a smaller scale and these
are the ones I hire to make my clothes and they
give me what I want. However, I always buy
what I know I would look good in.
You are a sunglasses freak too?
I have about 125 pairs. My personal assistants
and people who come to my house keep stealing
them. Also, I have been a collector of all kinds
of stuff-shoes and sneakers. I think I own about
200 pairs; it is not something to brag about, this
is a form of art for me, just like the way people
collect stamps. I like shoes and I collect them. I
keep the ones my mother owned in the 60s and
the ones my aunts owned in the 70s. I get shoes
that are much branded and are limited edition.
For me it is not just about fashion statement
anymore, it is art.
Do you indulge in any kind of food?
I am a sweet tooth and a junk food junkie. I
have gained weight at some point and no matter
how hard I trained, I was gaining weight! I
knew what the problem was so I had to cut
down. I barely eat breakfast but I eat one solid
meal a day. This could be lunch or dinner. Once
I indulge, I make sure I eat everything I want to
eat.
How do you relax?
I watch movies. I have to watch movies to sleep
and I don’t just watch them for pleasure, I
watch them critically to learn about new things.
What is a typical day like for you?
I sleep around 3am every day, no matter the
time zone or the country. I wake up fairly early,
depending on the amount of activities I am
involved in but I think I have some sort of in-
built clock, I wake up at the same time every day
which is 6 am. When I wake up, I pray because
God is the central part of my life and I give it all
to Him. My father always said the best exercise
of the day is prayers. As soon as I am done with
prayers, I do an exercise which is a fusion of
yoga and martial arts. It is a process where the
body, soul and mind have to be in sync. I do it
to purge my mind and body, relieve the
pressures of the day and make decisions about
the kind of people I would let into my life for
that day. I have not been to the hospital in over
12 years of doing the exercise.
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