Meet The Woman Who Nurtures Wande Coal To Stardom - Omolara Ojosipe (people)

For every successful man, there is always a
woman, and behind the downfall of
everyman too, there will always be the
traces of a woman. In the instance of
sensational Marvin Records superstar,
Wande Coal, there is a woman who is the
solid rock behind his musical relevance.
The woman, Mrs. Omolara Ojosipe, his
mother, recently had a brief chat with
Alonge Michael where she reluctantly
revealed how she nursed Wande Coal to
stardom.
How did you nurse Wande Coal to
stardom?
It’s God . He started in the church choir
when we were in Redeemed Christian
Church, the source of inspiration for his
career is God and I always tell him to return
all glory back to God. And whatever the
challenges that comes along, he should
just tell God, “I have not called myself, I
didn’t put myself in this position, you did
so, God see me through”. So, we have
learnt to rely and put everything in God’s
care. It’s not any human effort but God. I
am not so righteous to have such a star as
a son but God has decreed that, whosoever
He chooses to bless, He blesses.
How often do you see or when was the
last time you saw him?
Oh! That was last month, he’s always busy
as you know, he’s always engaged in his
career, I have come to realize this and I
cope with it but we talk on the phone from
time to time.
When he was growing up; was there any
trait of him becoming a star?
I am a teacher, he started from school, in
any gathering he would be singing and
people would be rejoicing, sometimes he
would crack jokes to the bewilderment of all
and sundry. But I noticed that it was
affecting his education and as a teacher, I
didn’t like that, you know, so I started to
scold him and made sure he had good
grades from secondary school. I monitored
him through the secondary school but
when he got to the university, there is little
I could do to have control on him, so that
gave him the opportunity to fully delve into
his music. Till tomorrow they still see me as
a wicked mum because I was so strict with
them about their education. When he was
younger, he was always saying that he
would want to be like Michael Jackson and I
always tell him, this is Africa, Nigeria, You
don’t expect what works for them there to
work for us here. When he started going to
dance competitions and he started
winning, then I knew he was destined for
that and I asked God in prayer to reveal to
me if music was his calling. I didn’t know it
would come that early, sometimes when he
was going out, I would asked God to reveal
to me if he was going to make headway in
music and God revealed to me that he’s
made to be popular musically. That was the
time he won the Hyundai from Hip Hop
Awards when he had not even released any
record except singles.
Briefly tell us about your name?
I’m Mrs. Omolara Ojosipe, I have been a
teacher for 26 years but now I am in the
Federal inspectorate section under the
ministry of education. I am not supposed to
grant this interview because I am in the civil
service and I don’t want my face to show.