Chocolate City boss Audu Maikori is someone who tries to keep his private life out of the media as much as possible.
In this interview with Sunday Punch however,
he opens up about his wife and how their marriage has been able to
work. He also talks about the fact that a number of people had
reservations about his marriage because of the different tribes.
Read excerpts from his interview below:
On leaving his job for music:
They laughed at me especially when I signed my first artiste, Jeremiah
Gyang. A friend of mine actually asked me how I could leave my job as a
legal consultant and be following artistes and not even a very big
artist but a Hausa singer. They laughed and laughed at me. But all that
has changed and God has been good to all of us. I had faith that God
would do what He said He would do. The more people said it wasn’t going
to happen the more determined I was to make it happen. I just felt
people were not seeing what I was seeing and I persevered.
On his wife coping with his job:
One of the greatest blessings I have is my wife. There is no doubt
about it, without my wife I wouldn’t be here. When I made the decision
to quit my job and start this, I was just about to get married. I called
her and told her I wanted to quit my job; I told her I didn’t wasn’t to
continue working for people. I told her I needed her support and in
fact, the decision was hers to make. She said I should go ahead and
start my business. She assured me of her support if things didn’t work
out well. She is a medical doctor. And when I eventually started, she
was very supportive; she understood everything. She has seen the growth
and she has been part of it. She has had to put money at the beginning
and she knows what I do. She understands what I do. I have tried to make
sure my family is carried along at all times in the decisions I make.
At the end of it all, what I have is my family. It is not easy. People
will call your phone all the time. But that is where trust comes in. But
trust has to be earned.
On being in an inter-tribal marriage:
If somebody had told me I would marry an Igbo girl, I wouldn’t have
believed it. I grew up in Lagos and all my babes were Yoruba girls. I
thought I would likely marry a Yoruba girl. But you grow up and you
become detribalized. I don’t care where you are from. I was trained like
that. Some members of the family expressed their reservations. They
asked me if I considered the huge amount of money I would pay as dowry.
But when I went and met her family for the first time, I was at total
peace. She comes from a prmonent family and they are very simple and
unassuming. People also told her stuff about marrying a Hausa man. But
when she and her people met us they also made up their minds.
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