Popular gospel singer, Tope Alabi has recounted her childhood struggles.The sonorous singer known for her melodious voice said when she was young, she hawked egg and other things to make ends meet.
Alabi made this known during her “Praise the Almighty 2020” concert.
“I know some people are here who cannot point to any meaningful thing they have achieved in life. I know some people are here, even the worst slippers on their leg right now was borrowed. That was exactly my story years back. I went through hell in Oshodi. Even before I can buy second hand cloth under Oshodi Bridge, I will have saved for months.I hawked raw eggs. I must hawk rice and stew before going to school in Ewutu.
“It was in Ibadan that I sold boiled eggs. There were so many temptations while I was growing up as well, but I thank God for my mother who kept me on the right path. I would like to advise parents as well to instil discipline into their children so that they would be able to flee from temptation. My mother did a wonderful job on me because the fear of what my mother would do to me if I was caught doing the wrong thing was always there to deter me from doing anything silly. If at all you tried anything stupid and you got caught, just consider yourself dead. We need parents to take care of these children because temptations come in different forms”, she said.
Recounting her near rape experience, Alabi said: ”There was a time my mother sent me on an errand around 7.30pm and I was almost ambushed by some boys who wanted to rape me. Immediately I sighted them, I began to shout because I remembered my mother’s advice about situations like that. I thank God because as I began to scream, those boys ran away and that was what saved me. If it were another girl, they would have had their way with her”.