Nigerian gospel singer Tope Alabi has opened up about the controversy surrounding her previous relationship with the father of her first child.
According to reports, she was once involved with Lekan Olaoye, and the couple had a daughter named Ayomikun. After parting ways, Tope Alabi married Soji Alabi in November 2000, with whom she has two children.
The singer had faced criticism recently for not inviting her former partner to Ayomikun’s wedding and for changing their daughter’s surname to match her current husband’s.
In a video shared on her Facebook page, Tope Alabi revealed that her ex never introduced his family to hers or completed the customary marriage rites.
She explained: “I started living with him, feeling there was no point going back to where my family was pressuring me to marry at all costs. Little did I know I had moved from the frying pan to the fire. Whenever I visited home, my father would express his concern.
“You know, he couldn’t tell me not to live with the man. [He’d say] that he hadn’t met the man I was living with nor any of his family members. It took repeated insistence before my so-called partner finally came one night, bringing along work friends.
“My family asked when his family would come for the introduction, and all he said was, ‘Okay’.
“If that ‘okay’ was ever going to come to pass, perhaps it would have been tomorrow. But tomorrow never came. Now, I don’t even need his ‘okay’ anymore. My dear father, who once longed for it, is no longer here. While here, he received a far better ‘okay’ from a good family. Ladies, please listen to me, when a man sees that you are gullible or vulnerable, he can take advantage of you”.