I grew up in Oke-Ara which is under Ile Ife and I had a very wonderful childhood. My father was the Baale of the village. Today, that same village has a king instead of a Baale and they call their king Alara of Oke-Ara. My father had eight wives and numerous children but with the way we were raised, you would think we were all from the same mother and this made my childhood more fun. One thing our parents instilled in us was the fear of God. We were told to always tell the truth no matter the circumstance. I learnt about contentment from my parents and we were encouraged to always follow our passion. Till today, these virtues are a part of me.
As for my father who had many wives, it was for a reason and they were all helpful to him. They were all helping him in the farm. Likewise my bosses; they all had many wives because of their theatre company. Back then, no parent wanted their child to be an entertainer, so our bosses employed their wives and children. Those that were into polygamy back then did not do it because they loved women or they could not control themselves. They did it because of the nature of their job.
My story may sound funny to people, so I always try not to share it. I was the most pampered child among my siblings and it is all thanks to my albinism. My father really took care of me but I never really knew the reason till I became an adult. My mother told me that she became sad when she saw me after giving birth to me. It appeared strange to her how I could be fair in complexion while both my parents were dark skinned. Because my father was a cocoa farmer who interacted with foreigners and also the presence of foreigners in the hospital where I was born in Ibadan, people began to speculate that probably my mother had an affair with a foreigner. She said that made her cry a lot. They later sent for my father but to her surprise, when my father saw me, he was very happy and he began to dance joyously. She said that she was shocked that my father was that elated. He left her to buy all the required items. I was told that my christening was a very elaborate one as well. Whenever my father was going out, some of us his kids would go with him but because I was different, it made me feel inferior. But once my father noticed this, he made sure that I was the only one to follow him. My father so much loved me that he never allowed anyone to beat me or maltreat me in anyway. I was later told my father loved me so much because I had the same skin colour as his mother.