How I handle controversies, negative reports, pains

Nollywood actress, Tonto Dikeh, says she has learnt unique ways to handle controversies and negative reports.

Ms Dikeh spoke in a video at the TEDx Ikenegbu programme titled ‘Leveraging on Controversy’, which she posted on her official Instagram page @tontolet.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that the programme is an annual event organised by Martin Uwakwe and Co-organised by Excel Ajah, with the aim of bringing people together to share their experiences through talks, and videos.

The Nigerian actress recently parted ways with her politician lover under controversial circumstances.

Her estranged lover, Prince Kpokpogri, alleged that she cheated on him with another man during their short-lived affair.

Ms Dikeh said the negative things people said about her used to make her sad before she discovered that she could actually build on it.

“I used to be sad and broke down on what people wrote about me.

“Every time someone says something negative about me, I go home and absolve it; I let the negativity get me so much that I became what people thought I am,” Ms Dikeh said.

The actress explained that she no longer fought against those controversies or what people wrote about her but leveraged them, using them to her advantage, growth and satisfaction.

She urged her audience not to allow controversy to break them but to use it to their own advantage.

“Controversy can make or mar you but only you can break it and for years, I allowed it to break me,” she said.

She said God gave her a second chance to build on her dreams and service to humanity.

According to her, “I have since then decided to use every stone thrown on me for my personal good.

“In the past, everyone thought I would amount to nothing but today, the story is different as everyone wishes to be like Dikeh without minding the pains behind it.

“I have mastered my pain and controversy,” she said.