For Femo Lancaster, whose wife delivered their first child
recently after nine years of marriage, those years of waiting came with more
than enough trauma.
Apart from the fact that fake prophets cashed in on the
situation, a rumour shook Ibadan where Lancaster, born as Femi Fadipe is based
that the musician used his manhood for rituals in exchange for fame and wealth.
It was alleged that his mentor, Yinka Ayefele that took him to the spiritualist
that did the exchange, hence his wife’s inability to have a child.
In this interview with The
Anchor’s WOLE ADEJUMO, Lancaster spoke on the manhood issue, the grueling years
of waiting as well as his closeness with Yinka Ayefele and how he feels being a
father after nine years of marriage.
How do you feel
having to wait till after nine years of marriage to have a child?
Firstly, I will say glory be to the Holy name of the Lord,
the Almighty, the I am that I am, the King of Kings. I won’t lie to you my dear
brother, it wasn’t so easy. It was a painful experience but we thank God, at
the end of the day, the Lord made our joy bountiful.
You would have
received different types of advice in those 9 years; different ideas would have
come to your mind. Ordinarily, some people would decide to try elsewhere after
3 or 4 years without a child. Did you get that type of idea?
Sure. It’s even uncountable. Even my mum once advised me to
probably have a child outside from maybe three different women and it would
just look as if I had a set of triplets, but I decided not to. Even along the
line, she once helped me look for a wife. She brought the picture to me that
this is the woman she wants me to marry. She said I should please marry the
girl for the sake of having a child.
So, how were you able
to deal with the situation?
I prayed for God’s wisdom during the challenge. I know my
mum wanted the best for me. She wanted me to be a father and I bless the name
of the Lord today that what she wanted for me eventually came to pass.
I am a person that believes so much in one man, one woman
and like my bible says that it shall be one fold and one shepherd. I don’t like
wives; I like a wife, just one wife. My father married only my mother and they
had four children. I like the legacy he left behind. He’s gone now but the
legacy he left behind is what I appreciate and I pray to be able to do better
than he did while he was alive.
And based on the kind of job I do, most people believe that we
musicians do have wives; like they say in Yoruba, obinrin kan o kun cupboard (one woman is never enough). But I want
to be a good role model for upcoming musicians and for our fans out there to
see and realize that you can actually be in this field without having wives.
You can manage your situation by the grace of God and with
the help of the Holy Spirit and I believe in putting God first in everything I
lay my hands on because I so much believe that outside God, I can never be
anything. But with God, I will always be on top. I will always shine and I will
forever remain what God wants me to be.
There were
allegations that you used your manhood for rituals to be rich and famous. I
don’t know if you heard them.
Yeah
What comes to your
mind when you hear such?
The first time I heard it, I went to one of my uncles and I
told him everything. He said “you don’t always expect good comments or positive
criticism”. He said I should always expect both the positive and the negative.
I then said but Uncle, in this kind of situation whereby people are accusing me
of using my manhood for fame, how do I defend myself? He said even the mad man
walking on the streets, people still talk about him. He said let me tell you
the truth, if nobody talks about you, see yourself as nobody. So, his advice
was what I worked on most of the time.
But each time I hear the allegation, I feel bad. Sometimes I
cry inside because it’s only God that sees my heart. How many people will I go
and tell that what they said is not true? I just kept managing every negative
news till the Lord favoured me and answered my prayers.
You know they also said Ayefele used his legs and spinal
cord for the fame he is gaining and because of our closeness, my loyalty to
him, my regard and respect for him, they said he also took Lancaster along to
where he got fame and that is the main reason two of them are so close and are
making waves in the music industry, especially in Ibadan.
And if you go round town, there are lots of artistes in
Ibadan, people talk about Lancaster and Ayefele a lot. If Ayefele had actually
done that, this baby wouldn’t have come. He didn’t take me anywhere. God
prospered my life and favoured me greatly. It is not that I am the best
musician in town. Sometimes I sit down and flash back. I question myself that
what’s the big deal about my songs? I am just God’s favourite. So, that’s it.
For years now, you
and Ayefele have been like brothers. What brought about the closeness?
It even goes beyond being brothers. I see him as a father
figure. I try to study him; I try to detect his dos and don’ts. The way I was
brought up, even if someone is older than you are by just one day, the person
deserves some respect. We’ve been enjoying a wonderfully cordial relationship.
So, that makes the journey so smooth between me and Asiwaju Olayinka Ayefele.
Most musicians find it difficult to bow. They want to rise
in a day, forgetting that Rome wasn’t built in a day. And that is the reason
behind the song “okiki gradually ni mo
fe” (I want my fame to be gradual). I don’t need to be as popular as
Michael Jackson before I can be okay. In my little way, God is always with me.
What I have been able to achieve today is by His grace. I don’t need to attack
Ayefele to be okay, neither do I need to disrespect or disregard him. I am okay
and I am contented in the Lord.
Though I am aspiring for greater glory but the one I am
endowed with, I am always full of praises and thanks to God Almighty, Jah
Jehovah. So, we have a cordial relationship. I have never seen him as a rival
and I don’t see myself as a competitor in this industry.
I am a player and I am doing my things in my own way and
till I retire or quit the game, there can never be any controversy between me
and Ayefele or other musicians and even the upcoming ones. There are some that
tried but I never allowed it to work. I ignored and kept quiet because I am a
learned person. If I allowed it, I would be the most stupid person on earth.
Close allies like you who are very good friends would be
disappointed seeing me do that kind of a thing. I always consider some
respected people like Ayefele, Bayo Adeleke Banik, Yemi Sonde and my pastor,
Pastor Orisaleye and of course, Wole Adejumo who I call the Olubadan, David
Ajiboye, Dare Adeniran and others. These are people that I always check myself
out with. If these people should hear this kind of thing about me, how would
they feel? I don’t want them a and my fans to be disappointed.
How were you able to
manage the home front in those 9 years? How did you manage to keep your wife
calm and comforted?
It wasn’t so easy; I won’t lie to you but thank God for her
and I thank God for my life too. God has been the one sustaining the marriage
and the two of us played major roles too. No matter what you tell my wife, she
will is going to call me and tell me, no matter what I hear outside too about
my wife, I do call her and tell her.
There were some people that came to tell her that look, it
is better you leave this guy because he can’t produce, he cannot impregnate
you. They advised her to move out that she will see that her prayers will be
answered. Anytime she hears such, she would call me, “Honey, can you just
imagine what so and so person just said about you?”
Are you saying people
you knew closely were the ones doing that?
It is just because my Pastor said I shouldn’t mention names
and I won’t want their names to go on air, but these are people I can tell you
their names. The best man on my wedding day was one of those people and these
are the people that will come and say Lancaster, please I am in need of this or
I am in need of that and I always try to
meet their demands in my own little way. So, what really sustained the marriage
like I said is God Almighty and my wife as well, because of her faithfulness. Even fake pastors came along the line. Yes,
fake pastors. Some accused my mum of being responsible for her barrenness, some
said I was the one, some said my wife, some mentioned my mother in-law, some
sai my father in-law, and my God doesn’t gamble. My God will be factual and
direct with you.
So, it has been God and the oneness between my wife and I in
the journey so far. And we thank God that He crowned our efforts at the end of
the day. It wasn’t so easy. It is an experience I don’t wish for my worst
enemy, especially when you know that there is nothing wrong with you. My
medical report from day one shows that there is nothing wrong with me.
There was even a time one of the Doctors we went to, accused
my wife that “Madam, you should have given birth to twins or triplets, with the
level of your husband’s results”. That was when I finally refused to go for
IVF. And when I refused to drop N 1.2 million for IVF, God answered our
prayers.
You nearly opted for
IVF, went to pastors, to what extent did you really go?
Not that I really did much but you see friends would come to
me and say Femi please lets to to so and so pastor. He’s a man of God; he’s a
man the anointing of God is flowing in his life. If he prays for you, I am very
sure the Lord will answer your prayer through him. It got to a point I refused
to go to any pastor.
In one of the churches I went to, the prophet there said
there was something I needed to do. He said I should bring some money, he would
pray on the money and return it to me that I should give 10% of it out to
beggars and spend the rest on anything I like. At first I was reluctant to
release the money but when he kept telling us that we were the ones causing
delay, I gave it a second thought. It looked plain enough; at least he didn’t say
he wanted my money. But when I gave him the money to pray on, a week passed,
two weeks and after that he would see me and say “ah, Bro Femi, I have not
forgotten you o.”
After a while, he came and said “Bro. Femi, I’m sorry o. I
will soon finish the prayers. But what happened was that I borrowed part of
that money. I will return it and pray on everything, and then I will give it to
you so you can go on and give out the 10% as discussed.” I just made up my mind
never to go to his church again.
Like I said, I believe the God I serve is everywhere. He is
not only in churches. I would be indoors but my wife never stopped going to
church. It doesn’t mean I stopped worshipping God but I stopped going to church
to avoid all these stupid and fake visions because any church I go, I easily
get noticed. The next thing you hear is “Bro. Femi, please wait. The man of God
wants to see you after the service.”
And different visions and prophecies were coming. To save my
life from fake prophecy, I decided not to worship in any church. If you see me
in any church, it is probably on invitation to come and sing for the Lord on a
commercial level.
But right now, my faith is renewed in the Lord and things
have changed now. We have a testimony. The Lord has put my enemies and critics
to shame. I think my duty is to return all the glory to God. That is why I
named my son Toluwalase (God has the final say).
When you see the
pastor that collected money from you, what comes to your mind?
Truly I still see him. I won’t call him a man of God but a
fake prophet that calls himself a man of God. Each time he sees me, probably
when driving by, he will just change his direction. And my bible says by their
fruits you shall know them. So, I leave him to his conscience and Almighty God
to judge.
Can you describe the
moment when you were called in at the hospital and you saw your son for the
first time?
I loved my wife more because this child renewed our love. I
was highly excited; overwhelmed that God has put an end to people just calling
me by my name. I will now be called Baba Toluwalase. I am grateful to God for the fulfillment of
His promise in my life.
In one of your
albums, you sang years back that the Lord has blessed you with a good child.
What prompted that song since you didn’t have a child then?
I believed that one day I would become a father and to give
myself the joy that I deserved. It was also to wave my mind away from what
people were saying then and of course for the ladies chasing Lancaster around
because in this job, if you are not guided by God and the Holy Spirit, it is
not easy to practice. I sang that song just to put them away.
I intentionally prophesied positively into my life then,
though I was still looking for the fruit of the womb. It was prophesied back in
2009 and it has come to pass. So, I believe it is good to say good things to
oneself. You know those who pray for their lives everyday still wait on God for
breakthrough not to talk of someone being cursed every day. And God hears
prayers, His ear is not heavy and His hand is not short to deliver. He is a
wonderful God.
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