They have been consistent as the ‘eastern stars’. Since they took the decision to venture into acting in 1999, the ever charming and delectable Chidinma and Chidebere Aneke, aka Aneke Twins, have not looked back.

Aside from floating a charity organisation, the actress, show host, models, producers and Chief Executive Officers of Atwins Design (Aneke Twins Clothing line), Aneke Twins Foundation and Greenville Productions have not done anything outside entertainment—acting and modelling. The identical twins have continued to light up the Nollywood acting skies, appearing in some of the industry critically acclaimed productions including Desperate Twins, Jealous Friends, Lagos Girls and Broken Ambition.

Born Chidinma Peace and Chidiebere Joy into a polygamous home, Chidinma and Ebere, for short, are products of the Institute of Management Technology (IMT) Enugu. They both hold a Higher National Diploma of the Institute and they also studied acting for film at the New York Film Academy, Los Angeles.

The last of the children born to the Anekes, the twins joined the industry in 1999 and had their first feel of acting in front of the camera in the movie, Ebuka. They rode on the back of Ebuka, which as they agreed, ‘gave them an edge’ to rise steadily up the acting rung. But what turned out the big break for the twins who are unpretentiously friendly was when they featured in the 2004 movie, titled, Desperate Twins. The movie somewhat announced their grand entry into the scene and it earned them a nomination for the most promising acts to watch at an earlier edition of the African Magic Viewers Choice Award.

What inspired your incursion into acting? “We want to make a change in our society’ Chidinma snapped, continuing, Chidiebere, said, ‘we want to through storytelling and also through our craft change society. We want people to watch our movies or movies we feature in and learn something positive. Ours is not arts for just the sake of entertainment. It is to change society for the good and to touch lives. So that is majorly why we ventured into acting.”
So far, Chidiebere and Chidinma, who didn’t experience any parental objection when they ventured into acting have featured in over 80 movies and still counting. “We have featured in quite a number of jobs including, Heart of Isiaku, Onochie, Broken Ambition, and Adaora.”

Which is your most memorable work together? Chidiebere shoots: “We have had so many memorable times working together. But our last job together, Because of Jennifer, where my twin sister Chidimma refused to go to school, rather she became a nuisance (Agbero) in the society that disturbs the whole village which landed her in a police cell should count as one of our most memorable. I felt bad and hurt not knowing what to do about it, crying all the time throughout the production. Seeing her and myself interpret our characters well in this movie, and the fun we had working together as twins was indeed memorable to us.”

The twins set up the Aneke Twins Foundation to reach out to widows, motherless children in different orphanages across the country and People Living disabilities, which the twins refer to as ‘special people’, the foundation as the twins stated have been able to feed more than 50,000 widows, special people (physically challenged people) and motherless children in different orphanages across the country. In the words of Chidinma, “the foundation has also been able to help over 15,000 people replace their clutches, over 10,000-wheel chairs and more than 100,000 widows have benefitted through our care scheme.” On her part, Chidiebere said the foundation has also provided funding to take care of children education and healthcare. “We have been doing that and will continue our outreach programmes. In fact, the foundation has empowered more than 10,000 widows, the youths and the special people (physically challenged people) through their skill acquisition: Teaching them different skills and giving them materials to start business.”

Asked what they like about being celebrities, the twins agree that it has helped them in impacting in people’s lives. “Outside that, we have always preferred a quiet lifestyle in our lives. We value our privacy. We feel pressured when people are watching us, we don’t want lies circulated about us. So, we go only where we are invited and we don’t engage in anything that will draw attention to us negatively.”

What’s their career ambition and what word for younger people? Chidebere offers to answer first “our career ambition is to constantly grow and enhance our skills: And also, to make positive impact in the society through our work. We believe that by working in this field, we can contribute to making a difference in people’s lives and improving the world we live in. As for word for young people interested in becoming entertainers, I would leave that to this young woman (pointing to Chidinma) to answer.”

Chidinma answers after a loud session of laughter, “well, we would always tell them to believe in themselves, trust God to see them through, say no to pride and be humble. That’s the only way they can make it in this industry.”