At a point when singer, Eedris Abdulkareem, thought nothing of sowing his wild oats, he got some wise words from none other than his one-time label boss, Kenny Ogungbe.
Although a lot has been heard about the controversial singer, not much is known about his family life. In a chat with Saturday Beats, the singer opened up on how Kenny Ogungbe, fondly called Baba Keke, helped to shape his life.
He said,
“My wedding day was a very lavish one and Baba Keke was my best man. I chose Baba Keke to be my best man because he has always been like the father I never had. I lost my father when I was only three years old. When I was still at Kennis Music, I went to collect my royalties when I met Baba Keke and he called me aside to give me a piece of advice.
“He told me that he really loved me and that was why he was advising me. He told me that I should make sure I got married as soon as possible. He advised me to ensure that I married only one woman and I should not let any woman other than my wife bear children for me. I agreed with him. He further told me to make sure I did not waste my sperm on different women. He told me to settle down and be a responsible man. That advice has helped shaped my life since then. A lot of girls I dated at the time were not happy with my choice of wife but I was happy about it. In fact, I intentionally avoided throwing a bachelor party because I knew something could happen that night that would ruin my marriage. After we got married, we went on a honeymoon and my wife got pregnant a month later.”
The ‘Nigeria jaga jaga ’ singer told Saturday Beats that the instant he laid eyes on his wife, he knew she was going to be his wife. Just like a scene from a Nollywood movie, the singer said that the first time he saw her, she was a damsel in distress.
“I was on my way to the video shoot of my song, ‘Life in Yankee’ when I saw a lady trying to fix the tyre on her car. I take everything that has to do with marriage very spiritual because God says that if you want a wife we should ask him. So, I had prayed for a very long time for God to give me a wife that would compliment me. Immediately I saw her, I parked and helped her fix the tyre. Immediately I saw her, I could feel that she was my wife.
He said,
“When I parked to help her, my mind told me she was going to be my wife. The first thing I looked out for was whether there was a ring on her finger. I needed to be sure that she was not married. I also noticed that there was a child in her car.
“So, I thought she was either married or a single parent. While I was still assisting her with the tyre, her brother showed up. So, I took him aside to ask if she was married and he said she was not. I enquired about the child and her brother confirmed to me that it was his. I later got her house address from him.”
Not leaving things to chance, the singer said that he went to the house the next day and when he knocked on the door, he was confronted by her father.
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Abdulkareem said,
“Luckily, he recognised me. He said he had seen me before on television. The father asked what I was doing in his house and I explained to him that I came to see his daughter, Yetunde, and he welcomed me.
“I admitted to him that she did not invite me to the house but I came because I did not want my wife to run away. Eventually, she came to meet me but was furious because she did not invite me to her house.
“I apologised for the intrusion then explained to her that I wanted to marry her and did not care how long it would take because God told me that she was my wife.“I was not afraid to open up to her in her father’s house because I prayed and fasted for four years before I met her. She was really furious but I tried my best to apologise. When her father heard all I had said. he asked if I was truly serious and my reply was affirmative.
“I later got her number but it took me another six months to convince her that I was not fooling her and that was how it started. She felt that as a very popular musician I had women flocking to me. We are still together 16 years after.”
Emeh Achanga,the CEO of the Miss Petite Nigeria Brand is a lawyer turned blogger. She is very passionate about writing, with several publications and awards to her credit .She is currently working on publishing a collection of short stories which are basically a memoir about her exciting true experiences.
