Award-winning Nigerian makeup artist Hakeem Onilogbo, popularly known as Hakeem Effect, has opened up about the emotional and societal pressure his wife faced over their delay in having children.
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In a heartfelt interview with actress Biola Bayo on her show Talk to B, Hakeem revealed that people often messaged his employees, urging them to tell his wife to conceive. The pressure became so intense that some people started calling her his mother, while others accused him of using her womb for rituals due to his sudden success after marrying her.
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“People would say, ‘Tell your boss’s wife to go and conceive. A woman’s pride in marriage is her children, not following him around,’” he said. It got to a stage people used to call her Akeem’s mother and a lot of people started saying I have used her womb because immediately she came into my life, everything changed.
So, we had to go for surrogacy. By the time our surrogate was six months pregnant, my wife was already pregnant”.
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Speaking on his personal life, Hakeem shared that he had previously been in a nearly decade-long relationship but never married his ex-partner. While he acknowledged that his former partner was “a good and better wife,” he described his current wife as “the best,” attributing much of his success and peace to her.
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“There is a saying that behind every successful man is a woman. I was married for about 10 years before meeting her. My ex-wife was a good and better wife, but God gave me the best,“ he added.
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He also recounted how the late actor Murphy Afolabi played a pivotal role in his career by bringing him into the industry and giving him the nickname “Hakeem Effect.”
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Additionally, Hakeem shared a disturbing experience with an elderly gay man who, during a project visit, unexpectedly kissed him and made inappropriate advances. “We were taken to a place, one old man put me on his lap and started kissing me. He said, ‘Can I take it from the back?’”. he recalled.
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