The Nation Newspaper

Tag: marry

  • She forced me to marry her, says man

    A middle-aged man, Owodunni Rilwan, has sought the dissolution of his four-year-old marriage to Zainab, at an Agege Customary Court in Lagos, claiming that she is troublesome.

    Rilwan said he met his wife where he worked in their compound.

    He added: “I never proposed marriage to her. She forced herself on me. During one festive period, she came to my father’s house without invitation. She cooked and assisted my siblings in everything they partook in. My friends who were present thought she was my fiancée because she behaved like a wife. That same day, she refused to return to her house until we landed in bed.

    “She never mentioned children from her previous marriage. Even when I asked who the child I always saw with her was, she said she was her mother’s last child. As I speak, the girl lives with me. There was a day she publicly called me a thief because I accused her of maltreating her child. Sadly, people really mistook me for a thief and dealt with me mercilessly.”

    In her defence, Mrs Rilwan said she doesn’t want a divorce, accusing her husband of damaging her womb.

    She said: “When he proposed marriage, I told him I had two children. He told me not to worry and promised to cater for my children’s responsibility.

    “He asked me to vacate where I lived that he had a piece of land in Sango he wanted to build a structure on. I assisted him with N500, 000. Few months after, we relocated. I thought it was the house he built. It was later I know the house was his father’s. My husband abandoned me there on the pretext that the shop was far from the house. Even when I complained he was meant to be with me during pregnancy, he ignored me.

    “At the period of delivery, my husband and his mother took me to a quack nurse. The nurse said my unborn child wasn’t in a normal position that it was something she could do without bisecting my stomach. In the process of turning the child with her hands, my womb was tampered with. When I wasn’t feeling too well, I went to another hospital where a doctor’s report revealed I won’t be able to conceive anymore that my womb had been damaged. I am not ready for a divorce.”

    The petitioner interrupted, saying: “I never collected a kobo from her and nothing is wrong with her womb, she is troublesome. It has been eight months since I left home. I don’t want this union anymore.”

    The court’s President, Pa Adekunle Williams, said a test will be carried out on Mrs Rilwan and he ordered the parties to bring two relations each for mediation.

    He adjourned the case till April 2.

  • Chris Attoh, Damilola Adegbite marry on Valentine’s Day

    Chris Attoh, Damilola Adegbite marry on Valentine’s Day

    The much awaited matrimony between actors Chris Attoh and DamilolaAdegbite has finally taken place. The couple signed the dotted lines in a private ceremony in Accra, Ghana.

    It will be recalled that the couple who are blessed with a child named Brian, met on the set of MNET Series, Tinsel, and since become an item.

    While many people were expecting them to walk down the aisle, Damilola surprised them with a baby bump. However, their love continued to be the envy of friends as they freely showed each other love on social media.

    After a year of their sizzling romance, the two actors finally got married on February 14.

    Ghanaian actor Majid Michel,Ovation Magazine publisher, Dele Momodu and other close friends and family graced the ceremony.

  • I didn’t marry my ex-wife’s cousin, says Zaaki Azzay

    I didn’t marry my ex-wife’s cousin, says Zaaki Azzay

    Two years after popular Nigerian singer Zaaki Azzay and his ex-wife, Hadiza Yadoo, parted ways after irreconcilable differences, he has married a new wife, Hembadoon Ugema.

    The wedding took place at the bride’s family home in Ushongo in Makurdi, Benue State about three weeks ago.

    Reports, however, claimed that Hembadoon’s mum is married to Hadiza’s father’s younger brother.

    But in an exclusive interview with The Nation, the artiste described as untrue the allegation that his present wife and his ex-wife are cousins. He said: “There is no way two families, knowing full well that they are related, will give out their daughters to the same man.  That the two women are from the same local government doesn’t mean they are related. Whoever is sponsoring that rumour knows why he or she is doing so.

    “As a public figure, everybody knows my story. It is on the Internet. My present wife’s family has looked into the matter critically and found out that most of what was said about me was not true.  Apart from this, Hembadoon is not someone who doesn’t know her right from her left. She is a graduate of Benue State University. There is no way I could have married from the same local government, where my ex-wife comes from. I mean I couldn’t have married from my ex-wife’s village, if I wasn’t innocent of all that my ex-wife accused me of. With time, the truth will be revealed.”

    When asked why he married another wife from the same village where his ex comes from, he said: “When I started dating my present wife, I didn’t know that she was from the same community with my former wife. I had vowed never to touch anybody who doesn’t love me sincerely because I didn’t want to fall into the wrong hands again. But when I eventually fell in love seriously, I knew. I have met a lot of women who are finer, richer and more educated than she is, but I know that they are just after me for one thing or the other. So, it is love that actually joined us. In fact, when I found out that she is from that community, I almost ran away. But eventually, I decided that I won’t maltreat another woman because one woman has wronged me. You shouldn’t let your past influence your future. I didn’t marry secretly. Radio Benue was there and I gave Hip TV exclusivity to cover it.”

  • Why I won’t marry again -Femi Kuti

    Why I won’t marry again -Femi Kuti

    Femi Kuti, first son of the late Afro beat King, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, has come of age as a respected musician/songwriter and composer, many years after he cut his musical teeth playing on stage with his father as a young boy. In this interview with PAUL UPKABIO and VIVIAN OKORIE, he bares his mind on life as Fela’s son, the challenges he faced in his career, coping with bad press, views on marriage, joy of fatherhood, the Nigerian music scene and other issues. Excerpts

    How will you say that your background has influenced the person that you are today?

    It has most definitely shaped a lot of things in me

    What memories do you recall of your early beginnings?

    What part are you talking about?

    Your early childhood, things that you recall that now influence the person that you are today

    I have a lot of memories about my father; so that has definitely shaped my career and what I am doing now.

    Who will you say influenced you most, your mum or your dad?

    It is hard to say. I am very much like my mother, I like my privacy. But then my father was always in the limelight, and his music, his political views. But I will say 50-50.  I will not say one has more influence over me. People don’t know my mother but I have a lot of my mother in me.

    Was your mum a quiet woman and how much of her did you see?

    I saw her probably every day, I lived with her for a very long time. I grew up with her, and so I do have a lot of my mother in me.

    Was your mother a music-loving person too? Did she play any instrument? What kind of person was she?

    She studied a bit of piano but nothing too serious. But in our family, our father was a trombonist, a band leader in England. In our family, our mother too played a bit but nobody is as big as my father.

    At which point did you decide that music is what you wanted to do?

    I have always known; it is just a question of when and how. When I was very young, I decided to leave school and join my father’s band in 1979.

    Understudying your dad at that early time, did you think at that point in time that you would continue the legacy after he might have gone?

    It was about continuing the legacy. It was about, will I be able to live up to what he was doing? He was a magnificent, big person in front of me. To play in the band for me was already a big deal for me. I knew all the composition. My challenge then was, will I be able to live up to the big heritage in front of me? That was more of my worry. Then I told myself that I won’t be here forever. At that point, I knew I had to break off from the shell, get my life, feel my pain and experience my own down fall, lift myself up again.  I suddenly knew that I had to live my life, not his life. So I left.

    What were the challenges of breaking out?

    Probably the biggest challenge of my life was that everybody was totally against me, everybody, including journalists, criticised me.  Just one or two journalists were in support of me. And they were the ones who told the others to give the young man the chance to express himself. I decided to make my name more in Europe and in America before I broke into Nigeria. So I was touring with my own band from 1988 extensively outside Nigeria and I was already making a big name for myself outside Nigeria. This is because people outside Nigeria liked the fact that I wasn’t copying my father totally and I was trying to express myself and find my identity. That gave me an edge and they probably wanted to see what will become of me.  So, they gave me more of the chance.

    Here in Nigeria, it was like, you must be like your father, nothing less; we don’t want to hear anything. If you are not going to be a carbon copy of your father, forget it. There wasn’t room to express myself. So, I decided to make my name outside there. It wasn’t until ‘Wonder wonder wonder’ in 1994 that people started hearing my music here.

    That means there were earlier achievements before Wonder wonder wonder outside.

    Yes, because I was touring the biggest festivals. I was playing in big club I had already made a name outside before here.

    It was not just the burden of fitting into his large shoes, but also the burden of taking over the administration and also his women. How did you overcome all that?

    Well, it was something that I already knew as a child, people were already telling me from childhood that I would take over. So psychologically, at the back of my mind, I had already known. So I will say that I was mentally prepared for it. It wasn’t much of a big deal. I didn’t change to please people. That is because I knew that if I fail, I will not have the people to blame for my failure and if I succeed, I will not blame people. I will have to take the praise. Therefore, I do not allow people to influence me or decide for me, a way for me to go. I will rather fail on my own than have somebody make me succeed because of their own wish. I am not that kind of person. What I am doing now is no big deal for me. I knew what I wanted to do, how I was going to do it, and what it will do for me. So till today, you will still see me practise.

    You may not have chosen everything about your father. But you definitely chose some things like his style of songs, part of his stagecraft and even his dance steps…

    I didn’t take his dance steps o, but even if once in a while I dance like him, I believe it is okay. I mean if I don’t look, talk, sing sometimes like him, then you will have to ask my mother some questions about who my real father is. So whether I like it or not, I have to do some things like him. I think every son wants to be like their father. You grow up wanting to be like your father. If something happens in your family and you branch out, and decide not to go the way of your father, it is understandable. But a child grows up admiring the father. And this is just human trait. It is a culture in Africa. A son understudies the father. There was no exception in my case. I wanted to be like my father. I wanted to play music because my father was playing music.

    Three things that you admire about your dad till today?

    His courage, his honesty, and sincerity. When he believed in something even if he was supporting what was wrong, just because of his pride, he would stick to it till his death. There, I am a bit like him. If he gave you his word, even if both of you were wrong, he would defend you. That is because he had agreed to defend you. And he would protect you because of the love he has for the person. If he had given you his word, even if death comes, he would stick by you. He was very honest and sincere.

    Your dad had many wives. But you chose to have one. Why did you do that?

    I am divorced now. I won’t tell you that I don’t like women. I like women but I do not believe in marriage. I got married but I do not believe in marriage. I know that in Nigeria, many people are against my views but that is their business. It does not stop what I believe. I still do not believe in marriage. People have a right to believe in what they choose to believe. I believe that if two people want to be together, they should live together. And if they do not want to do so any longer, they should just agree within them. If they want to involve their family in their relationship, that is their wahala. But they should know that the more people they put in their relationship, the more problems they will have. I love a very peaceful, quiet life. When you start getting involved with family, then you won’t rest. There are some families, they won’t let you rest. I am not saying that of my ex-wife’s family, but I don’t like the idea of somebody saying to me, I pronounce you husband and wife. I don’t like it. Who is the person to pronounce me husband? Maybe it is my upbringing.

    Then again, when you are married, the problems that you get into when you don’t want the marriage again is so complicated. The family will come, everybody will talk, they will discourage you. Meanwhile, both of you know that you are tired. Then again both of you will continue and become very unhappy again. If the two of you are tired and decide to go your separate ways, it is easier, but it is another wahala again because you have to go to court, sign papers upon papers, everybody puts their mouth into the matter and the wahala over it is so much. The more popular you are, the more complicated it is.

    So, all that discourages me from that institution. Like I said, I have a little of my mother in me. I like peace and quiet. I hate to be disturbed. I do not like it when people bring their problems all over me. That is because I already have my problems too. So I mind my business and face my problems squarely. My relationships are already complicated, so if I get married to all the women in my life, it will be a total mess. Most of my children are from different mothers. They all play together. We all have an understanding that I take care of the children; they see their children and they go about their own businesses. The children are here enjoying their lives and I try as much as I can as a father to make them happy. My children mean the world to me.

    But are you looking forward to marriage again?

    No, I don’t believe in marriage. I will never marry again. I never believed in it. When I got married, I was not sure it would work. I wanted to give it a try. I knew that being in showbiz, to have a wife that will be like my mother, is probably impossible; someone who will tolerate women hanging around you even when you do not have anything to do with them emotionally. It is difficult for women to be tolerant and understand at such points. It doesn’t mean that a man always agrees to every woman who wants him. But a wife will not hold her jealousy and let you be. It is very hard to find such women who will hold themselves, comport themselves and not complicate your life.

    It is the same way with a man who marries Madonna in the US, for instance, or Beyonce and you think that men will not be flirting with her, then you have a problem. It is not a matter of a masculine saying, it is the nature of that business. So to find a partner that understands is very difficult, so why starting that kind of relationship that will even complicate your life that is already complicated? Because when your are in the music business, you have to keep writing songs, you are selling your talent and people must admire your talent and you are trying not to sell your lifestyle. So it is very complicated because then, many people put your lifestyle ahead of your talent, and Nigerians have not fully developed into a position where they accept your talent over your lifestyle or they marry the two or they put your lifestyle ahead of your talent.

    Most times when they put your lifestyle ahead of you, they give you a very bad name, they forget your talent and your career can come to a close. When you are dealing with this kind of business, you have to be very observant of the industry you are relating with, and I knew this because of my father’s lifestyle. Everybody might be talking of Fela today, but I tell you Fela did not have it easy in the press and even in many homes. Even us as Fela’s children, we were kicked out of the house if they heard we were Fela’s children, my sisters had the same problem with their boyfriends. ‘You want to marry Fela’s children? No, don’t come here again!’

    Growing up, we knew in many circles in this country that we were not loved because we were Fela’s children. So all this is part of my upbringing, all these made me come to a lot of decisions in my life that ‘When I’m independent, this is what I am going to do’, this is what I am going to ignore’. And I can still assure you there are still many homes that, if they hear Femi Kuti, they don’t like my name. Even if am popular in the street and in many areas, they will still say he is too much like his father. But if I as an artist starts to put my mind in that, I will never progress because my objective is to write as many good songs as possible in my life. I am selling my talent, I am not selling my life.

    How do you manage with those things you read about yourself in the media?

    We live in a quite terrible society, if I let those things I read about myself bother me, I will not attend to you. I will judge every journalist that comes here as a bad journalist, I will generalise. In my life, I don’t generalise. Nigeria is a difficult and sometimes bad country, but we are not all that bad. There are good Nigerians but they are not even in the limelight. And there are honest Nigerians too. It’s just that some people are bad heads and they generalise that Nigerians are bad. I don’t fall into that category.

    If you go with what they said about me, you will totally misjudge me but when you see me, you will see a different person altogether. In the beginning of my career, they first lambasted me that why will I leave my father? When I started to be successful, they say you are only successful because of your father. They gave every excuse not to give me honour for my hard work, and I’m hardly praised; only in a few quarters that I have been praised for my own hard work. By the time I built the shrine I thought it was a good deal, they said, oh he built a shrine, he has gone mad, he is smoking igbo (hemp). I was in the toilet one day, I was reading. Femi was seen in Ojuelegba walking stark naked holding a big igbo and I said, ‘Am I mad?’ as I checked the mirror.

    I left here for five months.I was even thinking of moving to Paris. I was seeking political asylum in Holland. I had a lot of diplomatic friends who were willing to help because they all knew me and they were wondering that how can your people be so nasty to you? Don’t they see all the things you are doing to your country? Don’t they see how you put your country in the world scene? They even came to me, I don’t want to mention their names, they blackmailed me, if I don’t pay them a lot of money they will keep on writing bad stories, and I said, ‘Ha in this Nigeria! It has gotten to this point?’

    I remember winning the Kora award. There was a time they said I brought in N27million; armed robbers came to meet me. When did Kora ever give me N27 million? I have never had N27 million. If I had N27 million, I don’t think they would have even been able to talk to me. I was still struggling to pay N35,000 rent in Omole then because I was not getting the kind of shows. I was travelling with a 15, 16/17 piece band at different times. Then, it was N5,000 to travel out, it was a lot of money to travel out of Nigeria then. Now, we are paying N250,000 as ticket, it is still a huge amount of money. They never thought that I was struggling then as a young man. These journalists just hated me for no good reason. There are maybe two or three of them who are very friendly to me. If you go by what you have read about me, there is no way you can love me, there is no way you will even want to listen to my music. It has been a battle front between me and this group of people for my career.

    I’m a very consecutive, private and peaceful person. I understand the entertainment world. Even in my younger days, I could take off my shirt when I would be doing one hundred press ups and sit up which was part of selling my talent at that time. Now at 50 I don’t see why I want to be showing that, I don’t even have the muscles to do press ups again. Don’t see why I should suffer at this stage and be doing press ups, is it a young girl that I want to attract? My conception of selling my talent now has changed. Now I sell more of my music, the intelligent part of me and not the physical aspect of me. I got a phone call from South Africa saying that they have been reading many bad stories concerning me and wondered why. This just happened last week. She said she seems to be talking with a very intelligent person, so why is this?

    And I had to explain the same thing to you. It was a time when in the social media, you cannot defend yourself, now you can defend yourself on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, you can say your own side of the story and people might listen to you. Then, it was the journalist that had a say, if they put a bad story on you on front page, you are in trouble. You owe your life to the journalist. You have no say, instead you will go begging. They could manipulate and say all kinds of things about you, so you owe them your career, so it was me that now said, ‘ok I have had enough of Nigerians and the press, go to hell. And I just decided to concentrate on the shrine, my business and just live a quiet life and I have been doing that. But in doing so, I have never decided that every journalist is bad or every Nigerian is bad because then I will be generalising myself too, saying am bad. And I have a lot of friends that are good. A lot of friends too in the media that are good.

    What about the Grammy award?

    If it is not about Nigeria, I will not even think about it. I didn’t start my career based on awards, I thought I will have  a very quiet smooth life. Which was my wish, just to play music to the best of my ability and die. I am somebody that knows and have accepted that death would come one day, so I have decided this is what I want. I know I would die, so I wanted peace. Unfortunately, maybe because I’m Fela’s son, I have had trauma upon trauma, problems upon problems but I’m thankful that I have been able to overcome most of these problems.

    If I was thinking of awards, I know that I would get more awards now. If I had wanted the Grammy so badly, so many times I would have moved to America to play the game, I would have won the Grammy. I don’t know how to play; I don’t know how to hustle; I don’t know how to hustle for you to like me or love my music, but the fact that my album four times consecutively have being nominated means I’m doing well whether I won or not. It takes a lot to win the Grammy, you must be in America, you must be promoted on the radio stations, going from city to city, town to town, I can’t do that.

    How do you feel about doing music with wizkid?

    I have done music with most misicians, Olu Maintain, the girl Eva, Weird MC, JJC. I have done over 10 collaborations, the last one with Dbanj and others

    How do you feel about the growing music industry and what the younger generation of musicians are doing?

    The only problem I have with them is that I wish most of them play musical instruments. What they are doing is good. I think you should be thankful that they all want to progress in their lives. And they are finding a way in this very difficult situation we find ourselves in Nigeria. What if they were drug addicts or peddling guns or doing terrorism? We will not sleep. It shows that there is a lot of energy, and young people want to do things, it’s for the government to want to set up avenues for young people to excel. Unfortunately, the country is not like that. The only problem I have which is not their fault because they want to play music is just they never have the means to study it. Or the means to learn an instrument. I always tell them it is never too late to pick up an instrument, it is for their own good. The kind of music they are playing is for a young audience.

    One day they will be 50, what will they do? In music, if you don’t have anything to offer at any point in your life, you will just fade away. And it is such a very terrible profession, it’s not like a doctor, with the more experience you have, people will say that man has an experience, he’s a heart surgeon. So you will get more customers, or lawyer, you will get SAN. The day you don’t have anything to offer, the world will bring you so down. If you don’t have any savings or other avenues to make money, it is the same people that would say, now look at his life, useless bobo. He was popular before, now he drinks and smokes.

    So I can only prepare them like I would prepare my children. Take it and do these for the rainy day; there would always be a rainy day in everybody’s life and if you are not prepared for it, that would be your end. End does not mean death. You will see some people, they live very old, they pray every day to die and God won’t take them. I even think death is a very easy way out of this life. The worst is to be alive and be suffering. Won’t it be better to be dead than be alive and suffer? I will rather be dead than suffer. So I will rather prepare the young people because they all want to do this, nobody wants to pick up and study the musical instruments. If I am relevant after nearly four decades of my career, it’s because I have something to always offer musically, so whether the world critics like it or not they cannot toy with my achievements musically, I may not have won the Grammy but whether they like it or not, I have been nominated four times and they just have to bring one Nigerian that has achieved the same.

  • I’ll marry again if……..KENNY SAINT BEST

    I’ll marry again if……..KENNY SAINT BEST

    Kenny Saint Best has obviously had her topsy-turvy times as a gospel artiste and a single parent. Despite the fact that gospel music has been relegated to the background, she has been able to lend her voice to the less vibrant genre of gospel music. She opens up on her evolution, her TV show, her yet-to- be launched book and other sundry issues in this ,interview with AHMED BOULOR.

     

    WHAT necessitated your change from doing contemporary gospel music to urban gospel music?

    I would say that it was God’s divine plan which I found out by being inquisitive and also trying to come out from the low ends of my life. It was also borne out of the need to search for a way forward; it was also meant to be a search light into why gospel music is being relegated to the background in that it is not being played on radio.

    I sometimes find it hard to realise why people enjoy gospel music for the beauty of it. These are some of the things that necessitated my change from doing contemporary gospel music to urban gospel music. I also found out that I was getting bored because there was a whole lot of recycling going around and I am also partaker in that aspect too. I felt we limited God because we tend to want to praise Him only with recycled songs.

    What have you been up to in the last six months?

    I have been involved in a whole lot in recent past; aside promoting my latest single Bragado which is the 5th single after my evolution into being an urban gospel artiste, after collaborations with Terry G, Eldee, Dagrin and LKT. I have been building on that brand so that when people think of that brand of music they readily think of me. We are also working on the new song titled No Jonzing which will be followed by a video. Also, as part of celebrations for my 15th year on stage, I am also working on launching my book titled ‘My Turnaround Story’. It is about my story from zero to hero; that is in the pipeline. I am also working on a TV production; I have come to realise that I have too much energy and creativity in me. Music alone is not my niche, I have something else to offer and that’s why I am veering into TV production. I am also branching into mentoring and giving kids some kind of positive direction in life. The teenage age is the habit-picking age and you need to positively guide youngsters in their everyday dealings so they don’t mix with the wrong set of people.

    What have been your frustrations in the last 15 years?

    There have been a lot of frustrations in the last 15 years; there was a time we staged a Kennis Music Easter Fiesta and I was billed out of the show because they said I could not perform because I am a gospel artiste. It was our own show but the sponsors didn’t want me to perform simply because I am a gospel artiste. This was a show that was organised by my brother but I was billed out of the show because of the fact that I am a gospel artiste. That was one of my biggest frustrations; but I realised it wasn’t peculiar to Kennis Music alone, it was everywhere. The more I wanted to push the more they told me to forget about the idea simply because I do gospel music.

    Now that you have evolved into an urban gospel artiste, what do you think your chances are?

    My chances are amazing and it is not just amazing, it has been established as a genre. So you can now say there are categories because I have been getting awards and recognition. The Turn Around track alone got me nomination for the Channel O Music Awards for The Best Female Act in Africa. I have also been getting main stream jobs too simply because I have switched. The genre has been established and there has been a sudden demand which has been kind of healthy.

    How are your fans reacting to your latest single Bragado?

    The response has been commendable and they have been playing it on air and that shows that there has been some kind of acceptance. The song came out in December and they are still playing it up till this moment. The song has had well over one million downloads and I have never experienced that before. One of the reasons I feel people connected with the music more is that it has the street language coupled with the fact that the song features LKT who has a whole lot of street fans. The kind of gospel music I do too is that which represents God on the streets, in a way that the people on the street can accept him. Fans cannot wait for the video anymore and the song trended for four days on Twitter and people were happy to identify with the song.

    Were your recent collaborations with LKT, Terry G and Eldee geared towards making you more urban in outlook as a gospel artiste?

    I would say yes; it was a deliberate attempt and the DJ’s also encouraged me to collaborate with contemporary hip hop artistes because they know who is trending. It was a move made in order for me to tap into their fan base. The secular artistes have the fans. What is the gospel, if I may ask? The gospel is spreading the word to the people and the people on the streets are the ones that need the gospel for redemption. It was a deliberate effort to ensure that my songs get the needed listenership that it deserves and also to let my listeners know that I am a diverse artiste.

    Let’s talk about your book titled ‘My Turnaround Story’?

    It is an inspirational story, it is a story of my turnaround; it is a reflection of my pit-to-palace experience – from zero to hero. After the relative success and the storm I went through in the past, people expected me to still remain in my ruins. But I am still relevant on the scene despite the challenges I encountered later on in my career. It is also a story of how I got the calling to spread the word through my songs as a contemporary gospel artiste and now as an urban gospel artiste. The fact that there is a recessional phase in one’s life does not mean it is the end. It took a long journey for me to get here and I need to share with people my experience in the last 15 years.

    Was Kenny influential in making you to veer into TV productions?

    Yes! That definitely has my brother’s influence; funny enough, he gave me that advice 10 years ago. If it was an idea that was originally mine, I would have hatched it. My brother chipped in the idea sometime ago and it was not until I had to go into my own processing that I decided to do something about it. My experience from zero to hero has definitely given me something to talk about and I feel I am prepared well enough to tell the story as it were. People are excited about Light House With KSB and the TV show is already airing on TV.

    What has changed about you when you first ventured onto the scene and now 15 years later?

    The difference is the experience; the experience has given birth to a new me. It is a chain-like reaction because my experience has improved me and it has rubbed off on other people in the sense that I now offer motivational talk to many people around me who have turned out to be successes themselves.

    I hear you are also into catering consultancy?

    Yes, I am into catering consultancy; it is something I do in my spare time.

    How good a cook are you?

    I am a very good cook and I implore you not to eat my food because you may get hooked on it. I don’t boast, but when it comes to cooking, I will gladly blow my trumpet. It breaks my heart when I see food that is not well prepared.

    How do you balance being a gospel artiste, a mentor, a TV host and a mother?

    Being a mother is my first job; I have time for my kids. I Iove and enjoy being with them every minute of the day. I have come to understand that most parents have missed it when it comes to bonding with their kids. I take care of their schooling, cooking, shopping and laundry.

    Has it been a tough job being a single mother?

    I am not a single mother; I am a single parent. A single mother gets the bill taken care of while a single parent plays the role of a father and a mother while still picking up the bills. It has been a tough job anyway. I enjoy it, as I said earlier, and it is really a lovely experience being a mother because it is just the three of us.

    Has the thought of remarrying ever crossed your mind?

    Yes it has! I am a cute girl and still feel cute inside. I still think of getting married.

    So you will accept marriage if the right guy comes around?

    Yes I will; most definitely…

    Did your parents ever encourage you to go into music?

    My parents encouraged us to go into whatever suits us sincerely; that is the kind of independence we had. But after I finished my MBA, my elder sister thought it was a waste of money for me to go through that kind of training and decide to be a musician. I later went to Bible school in the UK and when I returned back to Nigeria I decided to plunge headlong into gospel music. Besides all that, I would have been a top career girl making headway in the boardroom.

    Sincerely, has it been a fruitful career for you thus far?

    I would say yes to that, because a whole lot of people started when I did and they are nowhere to be found today. They have died a natural death; some have diverted and some are now general overseers of churches. It may not be as financially rewarding as it should be but it has been a wonderful experience.

  • I’ve never thought of marrying another wife —Obesere

    I’ve never thought of marrying another wife —Obesere

    AS the chairman of FUMAN, what would you say is wrong with the Fuji house?

    There’s nothing wrong with the Fuji sector. If everyone chooses to promote their works by giving themselves titles then it’s for the purpose of business and not because there are grudges. There used to be crisis but not anymore because we all are looking for the way forward, trying to move ahead each day. Creating a faction now would be to promote yourself and not for the aim of brewing trouble.

    There are rumours that the attack on Pasuma was based on internal rivalry. What are you doing to secure the fuji house as it is?

    I don’t think Wasiu Ayinde can send people to attack Pasuma. It could have been a publicity stunt on his part. Pasuma calling himself ‘Oga Nla’ is not to fight Wasiu Ayinde but to promote himself further because his former title limited him; he was even promoting Wasiu without knowing it. They don’t sing or do things the same way and they don’t even have the same fans, so revering him in his music was just free advertisement and I advised him against it.

    Advising Pasuma to stand alone seemed like stirring a feud of some sorts. Don’t you think so?

    I did not cause any crisis, advising Pasuma was just to help his career. I told him that praising someone else in his songs won’t allow him go beyond where he is because he will keep seeing the person as above him. I wanted him to let people know that he can be on his own and then he decided to call himself ‘Oga Nla’ and there is nothing wrong with that.

    Has the feud between Kwam1 and yourself been settled and will you collaborate with him?

    I love Kwam1 and I have no grudge against him. If I am being paid to collaborate with him then I must do it.

    What is FUMAN doing to encourage upcoming and budding Fuji talents?

    I haven’t thought of a simpler way than duets because that’s the best way for people to show their talents. The way we have so many talents on the HipHop scene that is the way it is in Fuji, but if nobody is willing to carry them along then how will they shine? It’s not like before when not many people wanted to sing or act, there is a lot of influx into the industry because of the opportunities that abound.

    What is your relationship with other Fuji artistes?

    I love every other Fuji artiste. I am their national chairman.

    How has becoming the chairman of FUMAN affected you and your music?

    It has not affected my music in any way. When you say you’re a professional or a good musician then you should be able to handle any situation, which is how I see it. The occasion I attend determines the type of music I sing and I believe I can handle any occasion whatsoever which is what makes me a professional. Back then when going to Mecca was the trend, people will come back and say they are not singing a certain type of music. You cannot compare my religion with my occupation because it is from the music that I get money to go to Mecca and pray and without the hand of God in my work I won’t be where I am today. In 2006, when I went for Hajj I realized that even the Arabs appreciate me, I was the only artiste that had his picture there.

    Are collaborations between old and young artistes meant to create relevance for the older ones or to help the younger ones?

    I have done that and I’m still doing it. I did a song with 9ice sometime ago and most recently on this album, I did a song with Lord of Ajasa. When you say relevance, it is not something I am looking for because I am established already. Collaborating with younger artistes is not to put me in the limelight, I love them and I only do it to assist them. Another thing is the HipHop trend which I want to get involved with in a bid to give my fans the best.

    You once attributed the problems of the industry to the unprogressive nature of the younger generation, why is that?

    For the past 5-6years there haven’t been any new Fuji stars. Artistes are born everyday but none is willing to do Fuji and we don’t know what is wrong, we don’t want it that way but that is what is happening. Maybe it’s because we haven’t been doing much duets, attaching unknown artistes to established ones, which was stopped by Music Association of Nigeria (M.A.N) because it was becoming too much and since then the ban has not been lifted. Video collaborations are allowed but not in audio.

    Is the association sticking to it guns?

    We have been working on appealing for the ban to be lifted. They are the ones that will sell whatever we do and as an association they are very strong and formidable, they can lock you out of the industry like they did to Muri Thunder for many years. There is nothing bad in what they are doing, because in everything we do, without good management all will be lost. Going against them and doing so many collaborations may even make me lose my own value but we should be allowed to do it few times in a year for us to bring out new talents.

    Your type of music attracts a lot of female attention, how do you handle it?

    God has given me the wisdom to manage them. It is only wisdom from above that a man can use to handle women.

    Fuji musicians are known for having many wives but you have just one, why is that?

    Well, God does things the way he chooses. I never purposed to have just one wife but that is how it turned out. I’ve never had a cause to think of marrying another wife. Sometimes when you do things and God is with you, people will think that it is just your wisdom but that is a wrong idea.

    If you by chance impregnate a woman, would you accept the child?

    If God says yes then who am I to say no? I cannot reject any pregnancy that I know is mine. Like I said before, wisdom is important in everything, God gave it to us and it is important that we use it.

    How many children have you been blessed with?

    As a Yoruba adage goes; A kin ka omo fun olomo (you can’t help a father count his children). All my children are abroad and they are five in number.

    Are you still in touch with Cossy Orjiakor?

    She is still a friend. I haven’t seen her in a long time but I know she’s fine.

    Are you thinking of doing anything with her soon, like you did then in Apple Juice?

    That is if she wants it. I remember back then when she came to Mr. Bayowa and told him that she wants to become a star and he told her about a job he was doing for me and he also told her that she has all that people will use to identify her.

    What type of person would you describe her to be?

    All that Cossy does is for the stage but in private she is a different person. She is the type of person that doesn’t talk too much but when she is on stage she can do anything because that is what she was paid for. She is a professional.

    What inspired the Appreciation album for Mike Adenuga?

    An English proverb says, ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover’; you have to read the book before you can say anything about it. I have been hearing good things about him and seeing his good works. He has endorsed a lot of musicians including Pasuma who is like a brother to me; changing the life of many artistes in a short period. I thought of doing this because with all he has done I haven’t seen anyone, talking for Fuji artistes, sing an appreciation song for him, though King Sunny Ade did one, but that was long ago. If Mike Adenuga has done for my colleagues then it means he has done for me.

    On the album cover, there is a picture of you shaking him, how did you meet him?

    I went for an award ceremony where we both were being awarded but in different categories and being a difficult person to see I was seeing him for the first time. When you have the opportunity of meeting him you’ll be surprised by his humility, people sing his praises and not him. Mike Adenuga made me understand the importance of humility.

    What was his reaction on seeing you?

    He was also seeing me for the first time and from the way he looked at me I knew that he also appreciates me. All he said was ‘Obesere, Oju e ree?’ (Obesere, is this your face?).

    With cost of production in mind, what do you hope to gain from making this album?

    It cost me a lot of money to record the album but I don’t need to mention it; the album is both analog and digital. I did not make this album with any ulterior motives in mind. I just did it to compliment an exemplary person.

  • 2face’s baby mama set to marry

    2face’s baby mama set to marry

    DAYS after 2face and Annie Macaulay picked February wedding date, news began to filter in about the proposed marriage of Sunmbo Ajaba, who is one of 2face’s babies’ mamas.

    2face may have broken Sumbo’s heart in February last year when he announced that she has no place in his heart anymore by proposing to Annie.

    The church choir-mistress has now found love again in her church’s General Overseer (GO), Pastor Adeoye. News also has it that the said clergyman was married before but his wife reportedly died about a year ago, which now gives Sunmbo the opportunity to become his next wife.

    Plans for Sunmbo and her new found love to be married are said to be in top gear as preparations are underway for the couple to walk down the aisle later this year.