New York – Regina Askia the sexy, multi-talented actress made her debut in the early 90’s starring in several Nigerian home movies where she held movie watchers spellbound with her skillful acting and great interpretations of roles. Born Imaobong Regina Askia Usoro in Lagos in 1967, Regina left her acting career to settle in the United States spending the last few years raising her children for husband; Rudy Williams. She has a 10 year old daughter; Teesa and an eight year old son; Rudy Jnr. Her first daughter (a complete look alike of her mum) is in France studying at a University.
She took up a job in the medical field as a registered nurse and healthcare provider-which was what she studied in the university. However, as an educational activist, television producer, writer, and public speaker she still keeps close ties with the world of entertainment.
Regina Askia was also a former Miss UNILAG-University of Lagos, Most Beautiful Girl In Nigeria (she succeeded Bianca Onoh-Ojukwu) and face of Visine eye drop. In 1990, Askia-Williams represented Nigeria at Miss Charm International held in Leningrad, Russia, and came second.
She recently went back to School and qualified as a Registered Nurse. We can authoritatively reveal that Askia-Williams is living a quiet happy life with her family in Staten Island, New York.
Regina made history by becoming the first Nigerian to participate at the Miss International in Japan, where she made an impact with the most outstanding traditional costume.
As a model, the beautiful hazel-eyed Askia appeared in several Nigerian print and television commercials including Kessingsheen Hair Care, boutique chain Collectibles, and most famously, Visine. She also worked on several runway shows. In 2007, she modeled for the 2000-N-Six face cleansing range.
In 2005 she hosted a fashion show at the Nigerian Embassy in New York City to create awareness for the plight of children’s social amenities in Nigeria, and in 2006, she hosted a charity fashion show at Lehman College in the Bronx, New York, which displayed the creations of top African designers including her own label; Regine Fashions.
Tokunbo Johnson, the sassy gold-digger in the Nigerian soap opera on NTA called Fortunes (later Mega Fortunes) was a role Askia played so well and gave her the acting break she needed in 1993. The role, which earned her critical acclaim, saw her climbing up the ladder of her acting career, getting choicest roles in Nollywood movies.
Askia starred in several “Nollywood” films during the 1990s and early 2000s, most of which were filmed to be released directly to video, reaching a wide audience in Nigeria and other parts of Africa such as Tanzania and Ghana. She became one of Nigeria’s biggest acting celebrities. She has compared with Elizabeth Taylor for her fame, and was paid around N300,000 (800,000 naira present day value) for a starring role, at par with other top Nigerian actresses.
Askia also maintained an active interest in supporting medical outreach in Nigeria. The project is an Afro-American project titled, Renaissance Network Africa which involves three respectable African doctors on board with an aim to bring back Africa’s glory by paving way for the black Americans that believe Africa is their root, in order to have good relationships with Africans in the Diaspora and to help rebuild the image of the Nigerian home-front. Askia co-hosts an Internet broadcast discussion program, African Health Dialogues. The programme covers such topics as the effectiveness of mobile medical clinics in Africa. Her written articles have also appeared online, and in the “Saturday Clinic” series in the Nigerian newspaper This Day.
Askia survived the attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. She escaped from the building, where she worked at the time, only three months after relocating to New York City with her family.
In 2007, She was among several African women honoured by the Celebrating African Motherhood Organization (CAM) at a gala event in Washington, D.C.
As an actress, Askia-Williams starred in the following films:
Slave Warrior: The Beginning (video) (2007)
Veno (video) (2004)
Dangerous Babe (2003)
Man Snatcher (video) (2003)
Festival of Fire (2002)
Vuga (video) (2000)
Vuga 2 (video) (2000)
Dirty Game (video) (1998)
Highway to the Grave
Juliet Must Die
Maximum Risk
Mena
The President’s Daughter.
by Tosan Aduayi in New York. A Trendy Africa Media Production.
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