Popular Nigerian singer, Ikuforiji Olaitan Abdulrahman, better known as Oxlade, has disclosed that he had to do menial jobs to make ends meet after he ran away from home to pursue his music career.
He said at one point he sold bus tickets—a job of motor park touts, popularly called “agbero.”
In a recent interview, the music star disclosed that he had to leave home because his lecturer dad didn’t initially support his decision to be a musician. Oxlade said:
“Honestly, he [my dad] was indifferent at first. But my stubbornness and consistency paid off [laughs].
I ran away from the house at some point in my life to pursue music personally. And I had to do all sorts of stuff to survive. Selling bus tickets and selling foods at parties.”
Stressing that he is from the ‘streets of Surulere’ in Lagos, Oxlade avowed that “if you can survive in Surulere, you can survive anywhere.”
He added that the experience he had in the ghetto helped him make better decisions. Watch him speak below: