EXCLUSIVE: Iyabo Ojo Talks On Marriage, Single Motherhood!!!!!

The Nollywood actress Iyabo Ojo has been in the movie industry for 17 years. While still a rookie in the industry, she got married and had to abandon her career. She returned to acting after the break-up of her marriage and after earning a diploma in estate management.  

 

In an interview with d9gist  Iyabo spoke on her life as a single mother and working as an actress cum producer, and finding love again.

Was it acting that made you leave you husband?
It was another thing entirely; it had nothing to do with my acting because I gave up acting immediately I found out I was pregnant. I just gave it all up because I wanted to have a home. I wasn’t known as an artist then. People would say: who is this girl? It wasn’t as if I had an established name or face. It was just the beginning of my career. The baby came and it was easy to give up everything because I was not deeply into acting then. I was just a beginner. Making up my mind to come back to acting was a result of the crash.
How have you managed as a single mother?
It is a journey that when I look up and look down all I have to say is thank you, Lord. It has not been easy. I remember when I first started that journey with my kids, even when I was married I was doing it all alone. When I came out of it I thought that Iyabo doing it all alone was temporary but now it is permanent. That kind of made me buckle up and all I kept saying to myself was that these children didn’t ask to be here, I brought them to the world, they are my responsibility and I just have to be the best mom to them. Sometime, things are difficult but that’s because I don’t do beyond my limit. I don’t copy people; I cut my coat according to my pocket and it was easy for me like that. There was a time I sold my gold jewellery. I have had to borrow from friends to pay my children’s school fees. Children have their own blessing that come with them, that is my greatest belief. Every child is a blessing. There is no perfect way of doing it, the best way is just manage it anyhow; don’t overdo it. I am always the last. They have to come first. My business have also been of a lot of help as acting alone cannot pay our bills. I started with a supermarket even before I got married but now I have two beauty shops to assisting in picking my bills as I am a breadwinner.