SMIK PROFESSIONAL ARTIST BIOGRAPHY

STEPHANIE MINIKA

Stage Name: SMIK 

Stephanie Minika (Stephanie Ukorebi Ukorebi), professionally known as SMIK, is a Nigerian-born Canadian-based African Gospel and inspirational recording artist from Odukpani Local Government Area, Cross River State, Nigeria.

SMIK is a versatile artist whose musical identity is built around the fusion of African Folk, AfroGospel, Afrobeat, Contemporary Gospel, Soul, Christian Music, African Gospel, Worship, Praise, Inspirational Music, and indigenous African musical traditions.

Her music reflects a powerful connection between faith, African culture, spirituality, identity, and contemporary global sounds. Drawing inspiration from her African roots and Christian faith, SMIK creates music that seeks to inspire, uplift, encourage, and connect with audiences across generations, cultures, and continents.

Her distinctive artistic style incorporates African rhythms, soulful melodies, contemporary gospel production, Afrobeat influences, worship elements, indigenous sounds, and African-language expressions. Through this unique blend, she creates music that remains culturally authentic while embracing the sound and production standards of the modern international music industry.

ARTISTIC VISION

SMIK believes music is more than entertainment—it is a powerful tool for worship, inspiration, storytelling, cultural preservation, encouragement, and positive transformation.

Her songs explore themes including faith, hope, love, worship, gratitude, perseverance, purpose, spirituality, family, relationships, personal growth, and the realities of everyday life.

As an African artist based in Canada, SMIK represents a growing connection between Africa and the global African diaspora. Her international base gives her the opportunity to introduce African-rooted Gospel and inspirational music to diverse audiences while remaining connected to the cultural heritage that shaped her artistic identity.

MUSICAL GENRES & KEYWORDS

SMIK’s musical catalogue and artistic direction encompass:

African Gospel • AfroGospel • Contemporary Gospel • Afrobeat • African Folk • Afro-Soul • Gospel Soul • Christian Music • Worship Music • Praise & Worship • Inspirational Music • African Music • African Traditional Music • Indigenous African Sounds • African Language Songs • Gospel Fusion • Christian Afrobeat • Gospel Afrobeats • Soul Music • Spiritual Music • Faith-Based Music • Inspirational Songs • Gospel Music Videos • African Gospel Music • Contemporary African Music.

GLOBAL MISSION

SMIK’s mission is to use her voice and music to inspire hearts, strengthen faith, celebrate African heritage, and communicate messages of hope and purpose.

Her long-term vision is to establish a respected international music brand that bridges African culture and contemporary Christian music, reaching listeners throughout Nigeria, Africa, Canada, Europe, North America, the Caribbean, and the wider global African diaspora.

With her roots in Odukpani, Cross River State, Nigeria, and her present base in Canada, SMIK carries a distinctly African identity while pursuing a global artistic direction.

Beyond her music career, SMIK is a wife and is married to Mr. Ifeanyichukwu Orji.

As she continues to develop her artistry, SMIK remains committed to creating authentic, meaningful, spiritually uplifting, and culturally inspired music that leaves a lasting impact on her audience.

SMIK

African Roots. Gospel Faith. Global Sound.

DAVID EFFANGA – The Phenomenal Compere | Efik Balladeer | Public Speaker | Creative

David Effanga is a dynamic and deeply rooted Efik Balladeer, professional compere, public speaker, creative practitioner, and student of Linguistics and Nigerian Languages at the University of Calabar (UNICAL). His work is situated at the intersection of language, culture, performance, communication, and identity, with a particular interest in the preservation and contemporary expression of Efik cultural heritage.

His relationship with public speaking began in childhood. Long before the professional stage, David was already fascinated by the power of words-the ability to command attention, communicate ideas, evoke emotion, and bring people together. What began as an instinctive gift gradually became a conscious discipline, refined through years of observation, practice, performance, and engagement with diverse audiences.

As an Efik Balladeer, David occupies a distinctive space within contemporary cultural expression. His balladry draws from the rich traditions of Efik oral literature, historical narration, poetry, music, praise-singing, and communal memory. For him, the ballad is not simply entertainment; it is a vehicle for transmitting knowledge, preserving history, celebrating identity, and keeping cultural memory alive.

His academic journey as a student of Linguistics and Nigerian Languages at the University of Calabar has further deepened this commitment. His study of language has strengthened his appreciation of the relationship between language and society, particularly the ways in which language encodes a people’s worldview, values, history, experiences, and understanding of themselves.

This academic and cultural grounding informs his approach to performance. David does not merely seek to reproduce tradition; he seeks to understand it, interpret it, and present it in forms that remain meaningful within contemporary society. His work reflects a conviction that cultural heritage must not be confined to archives or remembered only through nostalgia. It must remain a living and evolving expression of identity.

As “The Phenomenal Compere,” David brings this same philosophy of communication to the event industry. He is known for his commanding presence, versatility, spontaneity, audience consciousness, intellectual agility, and ability to create an atmosphere in which people feel genuinely involved. Whether anchoring weddings, award ceremonies, corporate gatherings, dinners, cultural events, church programmes, or major social celebrations, he approaches the microphone not simply as a presenter, but as a communicator responsible for shaping the experience of an entire audience.

Beyond performance, David is also a creative entrepreneur and fashion designer, continually exploring the relationship between aesthetics, culture, communication, and self-expression. His diverse interests are united by a common thread: the desire to create, communicate, and leave an enduring impression.

David’s story is one of purpose, cultural consciousness, resilience, and continuous evolution. He represents a generation of young Africans who are increasingly recognising that modernity does not require the abandonment of heritage, and that one’s cultural identity can serve not as a limitation, but as a foundation for relevance in a global world.

His ambition extends beyond becoming a recognised entertainer. He seeks to contribute meaningfully to the preservation and advancement of Efik culture, the study and appreciation of Nigerian languages, and the broader conversation on the place of indigenous identity in contemporary society.

David Effanga is, at once, a communicator and a custodian of culture; a performer and a student of language; a creative and an emerging voice in the contemporary representation of Efik identity.

The Phenomenal Compere.

Efik Balladeer.

A voice rooted in culture, refined by language, and driven by purpose.

Mofetoluwa Fasanya is a young Nigerian poet, spoken-word artist and youth leader based in the UK. She discovered a love for poetry through performing and writing, and has continued to use it as a way to share her thoughts, experiences and perspectives.

Proud of her Nigerian heritage, Mofetoluwa is particularly interested in identity, culture, young people and the experiences that shape us as we grow. Her work reflects the things she sees, feels and thinks about, while allowing her to connect with audiences in a way that feels honest and personal.

She has performed spoken word at events including the Yorkshire Black Business Awards , Bradford African Festival of Arts (BAFA), and has also been involved in a range of youth leadership and community projects.

Outside of poetry, Mofetoluwa is passionate about education, leadership and creating opportunities for young people. She is always looking for new spaces to learn, create, perform and meet people who share her love for creativity.

As she continues to develop her voice as a young writer and performer, Mofetoluwa hopes her work will encourage other young people to be confident in sharing their own stories too.

PRINCESS ADA NNENNA — FROM CORPORATE TECHNOLOGY TO SOVEREIGN WELLNESS

Princess Ada Nnenna is a Certified Holistic Nutrition and Wellness Coach, Perimenopause
and Menopause Coach, Weight Management Coach, Fitness Coach and GLP1–Informed
Nutrition Coach. She is also the founder of Sovereign Wellness Architect, a holistic wellness
brand created to help ambitious women build healthier, stronger and more fulfilling lives.
Before entering the health and wellness industry,

Ada spent approximately 20 years working in the demanding corporate worlds of Information Technology and Audio-Visual technology.
Although she built a successful professional career, prolonged workplace stress and burnout
eventually contributed to a serious decline in her physical, mental and emotional health. She
subsequently lost her job and home, experienced homelessness and spent several months
in hospital, followed by a long period of recovery.

Rather than allowing these experiences to define the rest of her life, Ada Nnenna
transformed adversity into purpose.

Her personal journey back to health taught her that true wellbeing requires more than treating isolated symptoms. It involves nourishing the body, supporting the mind, creating sustainable habits and reconnecting with one’s sense of identity, purpose and personal power.

Inspired by her recovery, Ada retrained in holistic nutrition, wellness, weight management,
fitness, perimenopause and menopause support.

She is also a Reiki practitioner and incorporates a mind–body–soul perspective into her work.
Today, through Sovereign Wellness Architect,

Ada supports ambitious professional women, particularly those navigating midlife, chronic stress, hormonal changes, low energy, weight concerns and burnout.

Her work encompasses nutrition and lifestyle coaching, menopause and GLP-1 nutrition support, fitness, mindset, digital wellness resources and wholefood nutritional supplementation.

Ada’s mission is to help women stop merely surviving and begin taking sovereign ownership
of their health. She believes that women should not have to sacrifice their wellbeing in order
to succeed, and that it is possible to rebuild after life-changing adversity and create a life
rooted in vitality, confidence, freedom and purpose.

Her own story is living proof that a breakdown does not have to become the end of the story.
It can become the foundation for an entirely new one.

Ada is available for coaching, wellness collaborations, speaking engagements, interviews
and community health initiatives.
Connect with Princess Ada Nnenna:
Instagram: @adannennao
Facebook: Ada Nnenna Okonkwo
Brand: Sovereign Wellness Architect

Shanaz is a retired Occupational Therapist with over 15 years of professional experience, following earlier roles in customer service, housing and advisory services. She holds a Postgraduate Certificate in Leadership and has spent much of her life supporting others to build confidence, independence and wellbeing.

But Shanaz’s understanding of wellbeing is not just professional — it is deeply personal. Living with fibromyalgia has brought challenges that have affected both her physical and emotional wellbeing. For Shanaz, the impact has extended beyond living with pain and fatigue to experiencing the loss of aspects of a career she valued, changes to her independence and routine, and a sense of losing part of the identity she had built through her working life.

Alongside this came periods of isolation, loneliness, anxiety and depression. At times, Shanaz felt cut off from the world around her and longed to feel connected again. She also experienced the stigma and misunderstanding that can surround invisible illness and mental health, highlighting how difficult it can be to ask for help when you feel that others may not understand what you are going through.

Shanaz is passionate about challenging these stigmas and creating honest conversations about the emotional impact of health, career loss, loneliness and major life changes. She believes that losing aspects of the life you once had can affect your sense of identity and purpose — but that it is possible to find new meaning, rebuild confidence and reconnect with yourself and others.

She continues to contribute to her community as an Expert by Experience with the University of Bradford and is passionate about young people’s mental health, women’s wellbeing, menopause, healthy living and WRAP (Wellness Recovery Action Plan). She also facilitates WRAP courses within the community, adapting her involvement around her own health needs.

Through sharing her story, Shanaz hopes to remind others that they are more than their illness, their circumstances or the things they have lost. Her message is one of hope, connection and resilience: sometimes life changes in ways we never expected, but we can still find purpose, rebuild our sense of self and discover a different way forward.

Chelsea Agbasiere is a Nigerian lawyer, policy expert and community-centred practitioner,
working at the intersection of human rights, sustainable development, women’s health,
climate justice, and environmental justice.

She holds an LLM in International Human Rights
Law and Development with Distinction from the University of Bradford and is the Founder
and CEO of Real Hope Initiative CIC (RHI CIC), UK, where she leads community-led
programmes designed to translate policy and research into meaningful action.

Chelsea’s policy record precedes her UK work. In Nigeria, she was instrumental in advancing
the National Social Investment Programmes Agency Bill to enactment, and served as Legal
and Policy Assistant at the Minister’s office, where she drafted and reviewed sections of the
policy underpinning the National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme, subsequently
adopted by the Federal Executive Council. She previously served as Legal Expert to Human
Right 2 Water, conducting legal research on international and regional frameworks
concerning the human rights to a healthy environment, water, sanitation and menstrual
hygiene.
In the UK, Chelsea has pioneered Breaking the Silence on Fibroids & Women’s Health,
addressing stigma, health inequalities and the barriers experienced by women, particularly
Black and Asian women. The programme has reached over 500 women through awareness
walks, an international webinar spanning eight countries, and a multi-stakeholder
conference convening clinicians, researchers and policymakers. Through her Unmuted in
Nature Women’s Health & Wellbeing and Unmuted Arts and Healing Gathering strands, she
has built spaces combining health education, peer support, arts for healing, mindfulness and
nature-based wellbeing, generating original community-level data on the intersection of
ethnicity, environment and reproductive health, a critically underrepresented area in UK
clinical research.

Her climate leadership includes EducateHer Climate Initiative, a girls’ climate leadership and
education programme for young women from Bradford’s BME communities, for which she
secured funding from Voice 4 Change England, and Roots4Climate, a community-owned
climate education, research and policy programme delivered with GenCGov and the
University of Bradford.
Her work builds on earlier leadership in Nigeria through Real Hope Foundation, where she
led on women’s and girls’ rights, WeForShe initiatives addressing violence against women
and girls, menstrual health and hygiene, and community development.

Chelsea’s leadership is defined by building replicable, evidence-generating models:
translating grassroots community trust into structured research, policy engagement and
measurable outcomes. She works closely with GenCGov, the University of Bradford, Voice 4
Change England, STEMinism and TRO Initiative CIC to ensure her programmes contribute
directly to the evidence base on health inequalities and climate justice affecting minoritised
communities.