You cannot miss her voice in a crowd. Known as the Waka Queen, her
career as a teenage songstress shot her into limelight in 1976. The
name, Salawa Abeni became a household name in the South Western part of
Nigeria. Her success grew and the name reverberated in other parts of
the country. Then, her fame spread abroad and she embraced the
klieglights from teenage years into adulthood.
Now a mum and grandmum, 56-year-old Queen Salawa Abeni is a bag of
stories—the good, the bad and the ugly. For one who was on the brink of
collapse and back to her glorious career after a six-year sudden halt,
here is celebrating her victory, her recovery and her restoration. In
this interview with Kemi Ashefon for LOVEHAVEN magazine December Bumper
edition, QSA bares it all
Why were you off the entertainment scene for some years?
I was ill for like five or six years. It started in 2008 and I didn’t
recover until six years after. I was not performing on stage and other
social events. Suddenly, I became terribly ill and couldn’t go out. I
could not think of work because I could not walk—I was paralysed. All I
thought of then was getting back on my feet. I kept praying to Allah to
help me catch up with the lost years.
What was the nature of the illness?
I cannot really explain what happened but it was paralysis and was
extremely bad. I could neither walk nor do anything. I thank Almighty
Allah because not everyone could go through what I went through and
still survive. Thank God for my siblings, my children, my band boys,
Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, former Governor Fashola and now Governor
Ambode, who later took the responsibilities upon him after my recovery.
To be out of work as an entertainer for six years is no joke. My band
boys stood by me and they didn’t go! It’s not easy to hold down band
boys for five/six years and think they would still work for you.
To Be continued..