Friday 20 July 2012

‘I Almost Became Clifford Orji’s Victim’


Hello Friends!

Alhaja Monsurat Olumuyiwa, the mother of acclaimed talking drummer, Aralola, almost fell victim to convicted man-eater, Clifford Orji, because of Ara.

Some days before the lid was blown off Clifford’s activities, Olumuyiwa had typically gone in search of Ara who had made the studio around their neighbourhood her second home.

While narrating her story of sacrifices and suffering and narrow escape from Clifford Orji on this week’s edition of the Supermom Celebrity show, she says, “All her brothers are graduates; she was the only one who said she was dropping out of school to concentrate on music. I and her father could not reconcile with that because she could have acquired whatever degree she wanted but Ara chose music.”

On one of those days, Ara did not return home and there was no GSM in the country then. Out of sheer maternal instinct, Olumuyiwa hopped into the car with one of Ara’s brothers behind the wheel. She was desperate to find her only daughter. She was less concerned, though not oblivious of the danger that lurked in the eerie darkness of Oshodi in the mid 90s. Her child meant so much to her. As they inched towards Charity bus stop where Orji operated, two flashlights emerged, flagging down Olumuyiwa’s car. The time was around 1 a.m. The hosts of heaven had retired for the night and the hounds of hell had taken over. But fate had decreed that the hapless mother would not be one of Orji’s victims.

As the car slowed to a roll, two men on either side of the road ran towards it. Instinctively, Olumuyiwa knew these were not policemen and just as the assailants made to open the car, she screamed and her son stepped off the brakes and they sped off.

Still, she went in search of Ara that night. Thankfully, today, Ara, with her mermaid-like hair is the most decorated and recognised talking drummer in Africa. She has toured the world extensively, performed for the Queen of England and President Bill Clinton at different banquets. She has performed alongside global music icons like Stevie Wonder and Wyclef Jean. She is a holder of the Freedom Key to Miami-Dade County, USA.

But the colourful singer drummer who hails from Ondo town in Ondo State isn’t the only one with a supermom. On this episode also, Chico Ejiro, one of Nollywood’s most respected producers, with a repertoire of about 500 movies, says he owes his success and that of his siblings, Peter and Zeb, pre-eminent filmmakers, to their mother, Mrs. Eloho Susan Ejiro’s relentlessness.

A hard working woman who was forced to train her three boys all by herself after her separation from her husband in 1971 while in Equatorial Guinea, she went through suffering without letting her faith flag. The challenge of taking care of three boys alone plagued her so much that she engaged in all manner of trade. She sold garri, ogogoro (local gin) and even her wrappers to raise money for her children’s fees.

These and other stories will be told in this week’s edition of Supermom celebrity show which will be aired on the prime time and network belt of Africa Independent Television on Saturday, and on many other terrestrial television stations across the country.


Culled from PM News Nigeria.

xoxo
Simply Cheska...

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