Christy Anyanwu
Omotunde Adebowale David is the lady with the elegant voice on Wazobia FM known as Lolo 1, her on-air name. She is a lawyer, broadcaster, motivational speaker, content developer and celebrity compere of A-List events. She hosts the popular pidgin programme, Oga Madam, on Wazobia FM 94.1 and also features in the series, ‘Jennifer Diary’. She hails from Ijebu igbo in Ogun State. In this interview, she talks about her mother.
What advice did your mum give you while growing up and which you still hold dear?
My mum has always been the one to tell me to be kind to all people because she believes I will reap the fruits in future. My mum would insist that we calm ourselves down. Maybe because she was the first wife and my father had other wives. So, she was like the mother to the whole house. She has been like a grandmother to all of us for a long time. She learnt to care for more than her own children. So, for me, it’s become a part of my life. I can nurture people that are not even related to me. They can even live with me. It’s part of what I have learnt from my mum.
What advice did she give you about boys?
Till when I started seeing my period, I remember my mum always telling me ‘if a boy touches you ‘pere’ (slightly) you will get pregnant.’ My hostel was mixed (boys and girls) and I suffered during my periods because I did not take the school bus, but instead walked, just to avoid physical contact with boys in the bus, so that I would not get pregnant. Maybe because I was bigger than my peers, I attained puberty early. My mum would always tell me ‘Don’t look at boys ooh; they destroy peoples lives.’ She said it as if I could be damaged morally by just looking at boys.
What do you cherish most about your mother?
I cherish her for her simplicity; she’s not complicated at all. She hardly gets sick. If she’s sick, she’s just having cough and catarrh. Also, she’s one of the most balanced eaters I have ever seen. For as long as I can remember, my mum eats very little, and she must eat fruits. In my mother’s eye, I’m still that her young beautiful child. Till date, she still treats me like I’m a baby. My mum will be in the kitchen to cook when she’s in my house and whenever I come back from work she would ask me if she should carry my bag upstairs. And I would just look at her laugh.
How many children does she have?
My mum has four girls, and the youngest of the four. I wouldn’t say I’m her favourite, I always think my elder sister is her favourite, but most of the time she just changes. She has favourites for different seasons. She loves all of us in different seasons. I think that whoever she’s talking to at that time is her favourite child. If she’s talking to my elder sister, my elder sister would think I’m her favourite child. If she’s talking to me about my elder sister I would think my elder sister is her favourite child. I think that is the trick my mum uses.
What is her kind of fashion?
I wouldn’t call my mum a fashionista. She’s just a basic ‘iya ijebu’. She loves to wear traditional iro and buba. And when she wears skirts and blouse she doesn’t want it to be tight. She likes a dress she could just put over her head. When you make skirt and blouse for my mum she just want the blouse to be big enough to just enter her without unzipping because she’s very short and she always feels nobody will be there always to help her zip up her dress and she cannot even tie her gele well. My mum would just tie her gele jagajaga. That is part of the things I like about her and I love her unique jagajaga gele. I just love it.
What is her favourite fashion item?
I think her makeup. My mum would never leave the house without putting her red lipstick. If it’s not red, it has to be purple. I have never seen my mum leave the house without her eyebrow lid and lipstick.
Her favourite food
My mum can drink garri in winter. She would use warm water to drink garri if everywhere is cold. That is how much she loves garri.
Can you tell us when last she beat you?
My mother hardly beat me, maybe because I’m her last born. But on this particular day, my father just bought a new VCR (videocassette recorder) and we were told not to touch it but when they were not home, I called one of my sister’s friends to come and help me play the VCR. She played it and something happened to the VCR. I lied that it wasn’t me. By the time she found out I was responsible, she beat thoroughly and after she begged me. That beating was one in town. After that beating, I have never lied to my mum again.
Which of her dishes do you love the most?
There’s this beautiful thing she makes with overripe plantain. She would fry the overripe plantain with palm oil, then put garri and mash the garri into the unripe plantain and make it into balls. Aah, I have never seen anybody make it as fine as my mum. It’s a sweet delicacy. That’s her best delicacy for her children. I don’t even know the name for it.
When is her birthday?
My mum’s birthday is May 29. For many years she never told us until when she turned 60. That was when I got to know her birthday. She turned 77 this year and she’s still a beautiful mum.
What wishes do you have for your mum?
I wish that God would keep her strong, keep her happy, and God should give her the desires of her heart. She always prays for her children to become all that they dream of. I pray that in her lifetime all her children will achieve greatness in Jesus name.