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HER voice always rings a bell and especially in that melodious track, Love Me Jeje, Love Me Tender. Having spent some time in the United States of America , she has decided to return home and pursue her passion . Aside being an actress and singer, Shaffy Bello is also a wife and mother of two teenagers who are based in the USA. In this interview with Sunday Sun in Lagos, she spoke about her career, staying away from her family and lots more.
Could you tell us other movies you have featured in?
I have so done many including Taste of love, When love happens, The third party and also in Tinsel.
Tell us about your music career, you featured in Love me jeje love me tender…
That’s the 20-year-old song that keeps trailing me. I’m the one that sang it with my cousin, Seyi Shodimu. People think we are lovers but we are cousins. I think I have been bitten by the acting bug and that has caught me for now, but I’m still much into music but I’m not going there yet.
How lucrative was Love me jeje?
It was awesome. It was beyond what we thought. We knew it was a good song but we didn’t know it was going to stand a whole generation up mixing English and Yoruba. It started an era really. We didn’t know it would be a hit but we thank God for it. The remix is out and doing great.
What’s your experience abroad and in Nigeria like?
When I was there I did a lot of little jobs here and there. I did stage, I did community stage plays , I did church stage plays, which people loved. I did a show called Shaffy your block, which is a musical blog. As we all know, this is where we are more acceptable, this is where we got a lot work done and internationally, we are getting there. I can’t compare, I came here to spread my wings and spreading my wings I have.
My being here is being positive. I have made a lot of sacrifice. My husband and children are back in the United States and I do a lot of back and forth but it’s been worth it. Now in this industry, people want quality, it’s not about quantity anymore. Those who are really great at what they do, keep excelling and I thank God for that. It’s the grace of God. I have done a lot of stage plays, I have done movies, I have done TV shows, it’s been an awesome time for me.
With your family abroad, how do you cope?
It’s been very challenging. My last born is 18 years old and in college. He was in high school and my daughter was in high school before getting into college and in all that transition, I had to keep going back and forth to make sure everything went well. For my husband, it’s not been easy. I tell you, when the grace of God is upon you and you have your spouse’s support as well as your children’s and your family’s everything is okay.
My sisters and brothers are all in the United States, my whole family. I have some here too but majority of them are in the United States . They help in making sure the kids are fine and my husband is well taken care of. It takes a village to raise a child and the family is everything. I will drop anything here just to go to them. There were times I couldn’t take any job, because I had to be back with my children. Now, they are in college and I can stay five, six months without going to the United States. Things are a lot better now that the kids are grown-ups.
When did you first come back?
That was in 2009. I have been gone since 1987. It’s been a long time but I do come back once in a while but 2009 was when my husband and I decided I came to Nigeria.
You have a good voice, have you waxed an album?
I did have one in 2007. I toured Europe and Nigeria and it’s titled Give Him the praise. There was a video too but when I returned to Nigeria, acting was where the Lord led me. I’m not done with music and right now, I’m still nurturing that.
What is style to you?
The thing is this, I have been like this forever. I have been a girly girl. I grew up with five other girls and with two brothers. My sisters are very fashionable. My mum was very fashionable before she died. It’s in the family but I’m just me.
Your husband is abroad and you are here. Are you not afraid American girls can snatch your husband?
We have been together for 25 years and at this stage and age in my marriage, if I’m still worried about my husband, and he’s worried about his wife in Nigeria then something is wrong. At this stage in my life I have to trust him. We have built something together, we have built an empire together with two children, a life time of marital bliss. I trust him, he’s a good man. When you have a good man, you have a good man. There’s no reason to doubt him. Will a man always be a man? Sure. Will a woman always be a woman ? Sure, but we respect each other, we know we have a good thing going on and we don’t want to do anything bad.
Did you grow up in Lagos? What was your childhood like?
Very different. Very calm, there was honour in growing up then. Africans say it takes a village to raise a child. It takes a village to raise each and everyone of us. You will go out and somebody that doesn’t even know your parents reprimands you if you did something wrong. You always have to be on your best behavior. There were bad boys and bad girls then too. Our upbringing was good and exciting and I wouldn’t forget that and I try as much as possible to inculcate that in my children. I believe I have done that. Raising kids abroad or here doesn’t really make a difference, it depends on their parents. It depends on who you are, your culture, your beliefs and you inculcate these in your children and trust God.
