By Benjamin Njoku

Rising Nollywood actor, Cyril Chukwuemeka  recently shocked his fans when he renounced his surname, “Pharaoh”, claiming that the name is associated with evil and something that is totally against his new faith.

Cyril Chukwuemeka

The bearded actor, whose foray into the movie industry started in 2011, after he starred alongside Kenneth Okonkwo and Clem Ohameze in the movies, “Born Again Billionaire” and Kingdom Billionaires claims that before  now, he never knew that ‘name’ has  a strong influence on a person’s lifestyle.

Revealing why he decided to renounce his surname, Cyril said,  “while I was growing up, I used to think and believe that name is nothing more than the grouping of several letters of an alphabet or other symbols, which represents the identification of a person or an object. I really did not believe that name has an influence on a person’s character.”

“The fact that our former President, Goodluck Jonathan was an epitome of greatness does mean that any child born and named Goodluck will be great in life. As a child I thought as a child, but now  that  I am a man, I’m thinking like a man. Then I thought that names were just meant for identification. But now, I know better.”

The Anambra State-born actor who has since given his life to Christ revealed that he decided to renounce the name, Pharaoh, after he listened to the  teachings of His Lordship, Bishop Sylvanus Ofili, of the Christian Liberation Ministry International on the topic, “What is in a Name.”

After the sermon, he said, “ I came to understand the reason Jacob’s name which means supplanter was changed to Israel after he had an encounter with the angel of God at Bethel. I also understand why Jesus Christ personally changed the name of his apostle from Simon to Peter which means “rock.”

“Saul was a persecutor of Christ, and when he had an encounter with God, his name was changed from Saul to Paul. Having gone through these theological teachings, I was meant to understand that my ancestral name, Pharaoh, which is given to every first male child or only son from my maternal lineage following our ancient affiliations with the Egyptian Dynasty.

That name is against my religious beliefs and stands as an enemy of God. I have accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savour. It means that I’m now Born-Again, old things are passed away and behold all things are made new through Christ who strengthens me,” he said.

Cyril has featured in many Nolkywood flicks including, Tears of A Billionaire, Burning City, Demonic Call, Living Christ, Princess Ifeoma, Indian Queen, among others.