As waka singer, Queen Salawa Abeni,
plans to release another album, she speaks on the nature of a sickness that has
kept her off the musical arena in the past few years.
About four years ago when Waka Queen,
Salawa Abeni, was still very sick, fuji creator, Sikiru Ayinde Barrister, went
to see her in her house. As soon as the woman who was in a deep pain saw him,
she struggled to say, "Alhaji, am I going to die now?"
Trust Barrister. In his
characteristic life-is-good inspiring candour, he tried to rekindle her hope
and assured her that she still had many beautiful years ahead of her.
But just imagine how nature can play
a fast game on any mortal. Today, the Barrister that was prophesying longevity
into Abeni's life is no more. The waka singer recalled this encounter in Lagos
on Friday when she was narrating the difficult experience she went through in
the past five years when she went from one hospital to the other, trying to get
healing for a sickness that started as a general weakness of the body.
She says, "Yes, my one and only
daddy Barrister! I paid a tribute to him in this album. May his gentle soul
rest in perfect peace. Dr. Barrister used to call me Omo baba e - daughter of
his father. He asked me to send my house address and he came with five members
of his band. He talked to me and made a strong statement, saying, Omo to maa
sin Alhaji oni ku loju wa. (The child who will bury Alhaji will not die young.)
It is unfortunate that he could not witness my recovery," she says.
Enthusiastically noting that the
tough days are over, she is now returning with a new album which, although she
declined to give its title, can best be called 'Testimony', based on its
contents.
She says, "I just finished work
on the album. I was out of the scene for some time due to the sickness but I'm
telling you that I'm fully back on stage. I just finished work on the album
last week Saturday. In the album, I first sang about my sickness. People have
said a lot of things like, 'She has a stroke', 'She is now paralysed 'and all
sorts of things. Instead of answering them one after the other, I have decided
to put everything in the album to let people know that I am a human being. It
is true that I fell sick, but God has taken control. I thank God I have
survived."
But there are indications that she
still needs some time to fully recuperate. According to her, during the five
days she recorded the songs, she only went to the studio in the morning. The
reason, according her, is that once it was afternoon, she got stressed up. She
adds that she recorded with all the members of her band.
On how the ordeal started, she
explains that in the first week of her sickness, she felt a bit of tiredness
and she called her doctor to check her blood pressure.
"The doctor said my BP was up
and I needed some rest. After four days, I was discharged from the hospital
and, two days after, the headache persisted. After some days, I went for
another check-heck up in England. Although the doctors discovered nothing, I
was still very weak. I later went to Paris, France and stayed there for two
weeks. When they did not discover anything major, other than the fact that I
was weak, I returned to Nigeria."
She adds that the doctors eventually
told her that the stress she suffered had developed into hypertension.
Acknowledging that Lagos State
Government supported her when the she was sick, she gave kudos to her
96-year-old mum who, she notes, took care of her. She had lost her father in
1990, when she was 23.
Salawa assures her fans that she will
not disappoint them now that she is back on her feet.
She notes, "My sickness pushed
me a little backward but by the special grace of God, I will re-gain all I have
lost. My lovely fans at home and abroad have been calling me and contacting me
on Facebook and Twitter asking, 'Alhaja what happened?' I am using this
opportunity to thank them and urge them to continue to support me."
Born in 1961, Salawa started singing
very early, when she was in the primary school - which she never started until
she was 13.
Although the contemporary waka music
was created by Batili Alake, it was the exploits of Salawa that popularised it,
especially beyond Nigerian shores. While she has had her own share of some of
the tell-tales that trail celebrities - including marital ones - she has proved
that talent is a big thing when discovered and put to proper use.
Her fans will always remember some of
her hits that include Indian Waka and Experience.
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