Daniel Etim-Effiong Opens Up on How Rejection from Ex-Girlfriend Led Him to Meet His Wife”
Popular Nollywood actor, Daniel Etim-Effiong has shared a deeply personal and inspiring story about how a past heartbreak ultimately led him to find true love. In a candid conversation with media personality Chude Jideonwo, the actor opened up about the unexpected turn of events that brought him together with his wife, Toyosi.
According to Etim-Effiong, he was ready for marriage while living in South Africa and in a committed relationship with a woman who wasn’t Nigerian. Feeling that it was time to settle down, he proposed the idea of marriage to his then-girlfriend. However, her response was not what he had hoped for.
I told her that I wanted to get married, but she wasn’t ready, he said. She had plans to go for graduate school in the United States and didn’t want to be tied down. I was disappointed. I thought, ‘What is she talking about? We could do so many things together.’
Disheartened but undeterred, Etim-Effiong returned to Nigeria to work on a new project. It was on this project that fate intervened. His future wife, Toyosi, had just returned from New York and was working as the production manager on the same set.
While they had been in touch before, this was the first time they met in person. The connection between them was immediate and profound.
We had a long conversation,” he recalled. “I told her that I really want to get married, and she said, ‘Let’s do it.’
Their shared values and readiness for commitment laid the foundation for a blossoming relationship. Just a year after they met, Daniel and Toyosi tied the knot in November 2017. Their union was further blessed with the birth of their first child, a baby girl, in January 2019.
Today, Daniel Etim-Effiong and Toyosi stand as one of Nollywood’s admired couples, known for their love, partnership, and support for one another. The actor’s story serves as a powerful reminder that sometimes rejection is simply redirection a path that leads us to where we truly belong.