Mosunmola Abudu, better known publicly as Mo Abudu is a Nigerian Media mogul, Entrepreneur, Philanthropist and Talk show host. She was born on 11th of September, 1964 in Hammersmith, West London, United Kingdom. Both her parents are Nigerians, she hails from Ondo State in the Southwestern part of the country and she is the eldest of three sisters. Her father who was an engineer, died when Mo Abudu was just 12 years old and her mother was a caterer.
In 1971, her family relocated to Lagos, and she lived with her grandparents in Ondo state. Living with her grandparents opened her eyes to the beauty of Nigerian culture, and made her appreciate being a Nigerian. While she was in Nigeria, she attended Fiwasaye Girls’ Grammar School. However, when her father died in 1976, her mother relocated the family back to the United Kingdom, where Mo spent most of her childhood.
Relocation meant she needed to continue her education in the United Kingdom. She attended Hammersmith County secondary school, before attending Ridgeway School in Kent. While in Kent, Mo lived with a guardian in Tunbridge Wells’s town.
After her secondary education, Mo Abudu attended West Kent College and Mid Kent College, where she got her first degrees. She proceeded to University of Westminster, London where she got her master’s degree in Human Resource Management. Mo is a qualified psychologist and a member of the British Psychological Society.
During and after her time in the University of Westminster, she started her modelling career and in 1983, she was a brand ambassador for Avon Cosmetics; selected to be the face of the cosmetics company for the African market.
After her stint as a model ended, she joined Atlas Recruitment Consultancy firm, as a recruitment consultant in 1987. In 1990, she joined Starform Group and was the manager of the company’s
Corporate Credit Management Exhibition; a position she held until she left in 1993. She later worked under Arthur Andersen as the head of the Human Resources and Training unit of Esso Exploration & Production Nigeria Limited, which is an affiliate of the ExxonMobil Corporation.
After 7 years of working for Esso Exploration & Production Nigeria Limited, Mo Abudu already had enough knowledge of the corporate world, and decided to establish her own human resources management company named Vic Lawrence & Associates Limited (VLA). VLA handled so many projects, including the development of an executive training centre at the Protea Hotel in Oakwood Park, Lagos.
Mo Abudu had a mission and she needed to achieve that. Her mission was to change people’s perspective about Africa, and this led her to a complete career change from Human Resource to media and showbiz. In 2008, she became the executive producer and host of ‘Moments with Mo’, the first syndicated daily talk show in Africa. Moments with Mo covered a lot of topics including culture, entertainment, politics, lifestyle, health and tradition. The show featured an interview with renowned personalities and some guests on the show, over the years include former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo, former United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
Apart from interviewing prominent personalities, Mo uses her TV show to highlight the huge achievements of little-known Africans around the world. The show is aired on M-Net to 48 African countries, on cable network to different countries around the world and like every other modern-day show, it can be watched on YouTube. ‘Moments with Mo’ is still airing, making it one of the longest running TV shows in Nigeria.
‘Moments with Mo’ is not the only TV show created by the media boss. She is also the executive producer of ‘The Debaters’, which is sponsored by Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB), one of the top commercial banks in Nigeria. ‘The Debaters’ was launched in October 2009, and her inspiration behind the reality TV show was “giving Africa a voice through oratory”.
Most people knew Mo Abudu for being the host of ‘Moments with Mo’, but most did not know she already ventured into showbiz before she owned her own TV reality show. In 2006, she founded EbonyLife TV (also known as ELTV), which was the first global black multi-broadcast entertainment network in Africa. It features shows that changed people’s views about the African continent; targeting black audiences around the world. EbonyLife TV was not well known until June 2013, when it reached an agreement with Multichoice to air on DStv. Under just a year after its launch, EbonyLife TV became one of the most watched TV channels on DStv.
When EbonyLife TV debuted on DStv, it was watched by Africans from 49 different countries. Seeing the success of EbonyLife TV, Mo Abudu decided to make sure its contents reached a wider audience. To do this, she launched a premium, multi-screen, video-on-demand platform version of EbonyLife TV in 2015. With this, Africans and other people interested in Africa from all over the world, could easily enjoy EbonyLife TV conveniently. EbonyLife TV ended its romance with DStv in 2018 and started airing exclusively on Startimes.
EbonyLife TV is known for its wonderful content and some of its drama series include Desperate Housewives Africa (in collaboration with Disney), The Governor, Castle & Castle, On the Real and Sons of the Caliphate. These drama series were acquired by Netflix, popular streaming platform after an agreement was reached with EbonyLife TV in February 2020. That was not the end of Netflix’s business with EbonyLife TV as it also acquired The Dating Game, EbonyLife TV’s reality TV show.
In March 2018, Sony Pictures signed a deal with EbonyLife TV to co-produce a TV series named ‘The Dahomey Warriors’. This series is based on Amazon fighters from Dahomey in present day Benin Republic. EbonyLife TV’s official app ‘EbonyLife ON’, is available for download on Google Playstore and IOS App Store.
Mo Abudu added film making to her arsenal by establishing EbonyLife Films, in 2014. The following year, her first movie was released. It was a Nigerian romantic drama titled ‘Fifty’ featuring top actresses like Nse Ikpe-Etim, Ireti Doyle, Omoni Oboli, and Dakore Akande. In 2016, EbonyLife Films released another movie named ‘The Wedding Party’, directed by Kemi Adetiba. The Wedding Party is currently the highest grossing movie in Nigeria, and was followed by its sequel ‘The Wedding Party 2’ in 2017.
EbonyLife TV hit a milestone when AMC Network announced in January 2020, that it will produce an Afrofuturistic crime-drama about Nigeria named ‘Nigeria 2099,’ in partnership with EbonyLife TV. In June 2020, EbonyLife TV also signed a deal with Netflix for two original series and other movies.
Apart from being actively involved in media, Mo Abudu has also been involved in various philanthropic activities. She is the founder of The Inspire Africa Foundation, a non-profit organization that raises funds to solve problems in the society. In January 2009, The Inspire Africa partnered with the Lagos State Government and UNICEF for a charity concert themed ‘Rock with a Conscience’. Funds raised during this concert were donated to street children in Lagos. Through The Inspire Africa Foundation, she also founded The Designers Outlet for Charity, a fashion outlet that clothes the less privileged in the society.
Mo Abudu, also built a residential building for homeless people in Lekki, Lagos named ‘The Harbour’. The Harbour was completed in 2014 and it has four buildings. Two of these buildings are hostels with 50 rooms, one is a recreational center with a dining hall that can sit about 100 people, and the last building serves as the kitchen.
Notable among her businesses outside media is The EbonyLife Place in Victoria Island, Lagos. The EbonyLife Place has several features including EbonyLife Cinemas, The White Orchid Hotel, Popina, Túraká rooftop restaurant & bar, The Wrap Pool Bar & Restaurant, The Victoria Hall and VIP Lounges.
For her achievements, Mo Abudu has received a lot of recognition. In 2013, she was recognized by Forbes Media as the first woman to own a Pan-African TV station. She was also recognized by The Hollywood Reporter, in the same year as one of the 25 Most Powerful Women in Global TV.
She has been awarded two honorary doctorate degrees; one from Babcock University, Ogun State, Nigeria in 2014 and the other was given to her in 2018, by The University of Westminster where she begged her Master’s degree in Human Resource Management.
In 2018, she made it to The Power list, an annual list of 100 most influential people of African and Caribbean heritage in the United Kingdom. In 2019, she became the first African recipient of the Marche International des Programmes de Television (MIPTV)’s Médailles d’Honneur, in Cannes, France. She was also featured in a book named ‘Greatest Blacks Ever: Top 100 Blacks Who Changed the World for Peace. Progress. Prosperity. Pleasure’; written by Ambassador Elliston Rahming, and published by Dog Ear Publishing.
Mo Abudu for her achievements and hunger to help the society, has written her name in the sands of time and remains a role model for every woman.
