British film actor Idris Elba received Sierra Leone citizenship and a diplomatic passport on Friday on his first visit to his father\u2019s native country, an AFP journalist saw.<\/p>\n
Sierra Leone President Julius\u00a0Maada Bio conferred the passport to Elba at an emotional private ceremony at his colonial-era residence in the capital Freetown.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m humbled and thankful for the opportunity to become a citizen of my father\u2019s country, it\u2019s an honour for our family,\u201d Elba said.<\/p>\n
The actor was born in London but his mother is from Ghana and his father from Sierra Leone.<\/p>\n
Speaking in mixture of standard English and British-accented Krio, Elba said he had wanted to visit the West African country earlier but \u201cit was in turmoil and I was chasing my own dreams.\u201d<\/p>\n
His father and uncle left Sierra Leone for London in the 1960s and 1970s \u201cwith only two bags and prayers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Elba\u2019s father died in 2013. But his uncle, as well as senior government ministers, attended the ceremony, an AFP journalist said.<\/p>\n
Elba, 47, is best known for his roles in Marvel franchise films such as \u201cThor\u201d and \u201cThe Avengers\u201d.<\/p>\n
However, he is also a successful rapper, and was named People magazine\u2019s \u201csexiest man alive\u201d in 2018 to boot.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy heart is what I want to bring to Sierra Leone and what my heart brings is determination,\u201d said Elba, who has expressed an interest in investing in eco-tourism in the country.<\/p>\n
President Bio said he hoped Elba would help Sierra Leone shed its image as a source of blood diamonds and Ebola virus.<\/p>\n
The diamond-rich former British colony is one of the world\u2019s poorest countries and is still recovering nearly two decades after the end of a civil war which claimed some 120,000 lives.<\/p>\n
It was also hit badly by West Africa\u2019s 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to tap into your network to be able to tell the world that the little nation they knew for only wars and Ebola and all the horrible stories is now a new Sierra Leone,\u201d Bio said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
British film actor Idris Elba received Sierra Leone citizenship and a diplomatic passport on Friday on his first visit to his father\u2019s native country, an AFP journalist saw. Sierra Leone President Julius\u00a0Maada Bio conferred the passport to Elba at an emotional private ceremony at his colonial-era residence in the capital Freetown. \u201cI\u2019m humbled and thankful […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":87,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,4,8],"tags":[53,24],"class_list":["post-86","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-culture-and-art","category-homepage-english","tag-idris-elba","tag-julius-maada-bio"],"yoast_head":"\n