Sharon Onoja (born 6 April 1991) is a

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

actress. She came into the

limelight Limelight (also known as Drummond light or calcium light)James R. Smith (2004). ''San Francisco's Lost Landmarks'', Quill Driver Books. is a type of stage lighting once used in theatres and music halls. An intense illumination is created w ...

after she played the role of "Shalewa" in the web series ''

Skinny Girl in Transit ''Skinny Girl in Transit'' is a Nigerian Comedy webseries by NdaniTV. The first episode was released on NdaniTV's YouTube page on 16 Jul 2015. The idea for the series was pitched by Temi Balogun. The series returned to NdaniTV for its fifth se ...

''.

Biography

Sharon Ooja Egwurube is from the Idoma tribe of

Benue state Benue State is one of the North Central states in Nigeria with a population of about 4,253,641 in 2006 census. The state was created in 1976 among the 7 states created at that time.The state derives its name from the Benue River which is t ...

. She was born in

Kaduna State Kaduna State ( ha, Jihar Kaduna جىِهَر كَدُنا; ff, Leydi Kaduna, script=Latn, ; kcg, Sitet Kaduna) is a state in northern Nigeria. The state capital is its namesake, the city of Kaduna which happened to be the 8th largest city in ...

and bred in

Plateau State Plateau State is the twelfth-largest Nigerian state. It is in the centre of the country includes a range of hills surrounding the Jos Plateau, its capital, and the entire plateau itself. Plateau State is described as "The Home of Peace and To ...

. She has three sisters. She attended Kings and Queens School,

Jos Jos is a city in the north central region of Nigeria. The city has a population of about 900,000 residents based on the 2006 census. Popularly called "J-Town", it is the administrative capital and largest city of Plateau State. During British ...

, for her primary education. For her secondary education, she attended two all-girls schools – Regina Pacis Secondary School, Garki II, Abuja, and St. Louis Girls’ College,

. Both were boarding schools She started her acting career when she moved to

Lagos Lagos ( Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national capital of Nigeria until December 1991 f ...

in 2013. She revealed in an interview with a Nigerian Tabloid,

Punch newspaper ''The Punch'' is a Nigerian daily newspaper founded On August 8, 1970. Punch Nigeria Limited was registered under the Companies Act of 1968 to engage in the business of publishing newspapers, magazines and other periodicals. It was designed to i ...

how she got into acting. According to Sharon, it all began when she was at a photo session for a store and

NdaniTV Ndani TV is a web-based channel owned by GTBank. History Ndani TV was established in 2012 by GTBank to offer both entertainment and informative content in order to attract a youthful customer base. It was the first online video content vehi ...

was covering the behind-the-scenes activities of the shoot. The next week, she was invited for an interview for a television show that did not happen. Shortly afterwards, she was called to play in a small role in the television series,

Gidi Up ''Gidi Up'' is a Nigerian television and web drama series starring OC Ukeje, Deyemi Okanlawon, Somkele Iyamah, and Titilope Sonuga in lead roles. The series was created by Jadesola Osiberu and executively produced by Lola Odedina. It is pro ...

. Sharon also featured in

, where she played the character Shalewa. Sharon is a graduate of

mass communication Mass communication is the process of imparting and exchanging information through mass media to large segments of the population. It is usually understood for relating to various forms of media, as its technologies are used for the dissemination o ...

from Houdegbe North American University Benin. She hosted GT Bank's Fashion week red carpet alongside

Timini Egbuson Timini Egbuson is a Nigerian actor. Biography Timini was born in Bayelsa state and is the younger brother of actress Dakore Akande. He got his primary school education from Greenspring Montessori, The Afro School and St Catherine's. He att ...

in 2017. She was listed as a top female celebrity of 2020 and a

Nollywood Nollywood is a sobriquet that originally referred to the Nigerian film industry. The origin of the term dates back to the early 2000s, traced to an article in ''The New York Times''. Due to the history of evolving meanings and contexts, there ...

actress to look forward to in 2021. Sharon Ooja was among many others selected by Netflix to represent Nigeria in the program organized titled "The Bridgerton Affair" in South Africa She fell ill during the remake of the movie Glamour Girls.

Filmography

TV shows

Movies

Awards and nominations

References

Living people 21st-century Nigerian actresses 1991 births Nigerian film actresses People from Benue State {{Nigeria-actor-stub