Business
‘Real reasons i love my Mother than my Father’ – Legendary Musician, Evang. Ebenezer Obey reveals
Evangelist Ebenezer Obey, who turned 75 years on Sunday has revealed that before he and his sister were born, his mother, a hardworking cloth seller was married to her first husband for 20 years and never got pregnant.
In the exclusive interview published by The Guardian, titled “Ebenezer Obey marks 75th birthday with music, foundation and training Institute” he narrated the story of his birth, growing up in Idogo, a farming settlement in Ogun State, spoke glowingly about his mother, whom he love more than his father, among other issues.
So, the family of the man called my mother’s family and spoke to them.
‘Well, they have both tried for 20 years, no issue. While we love Iyawo, we want both of them to go their separate ways and try their luck’. They want their son to marry another woman and they want my mother to go. So for a woman who loves her husband, it was a shock, and that was too much for my mother to bear. And when my mother’s relations saw her situation, she was crying, all the time, they told her to go to Idogo and hide her head. Her two elders brothers were living in Idogo then. That was what took my mother to Idogo.
“On getting to Idogo, my father proposed to marry my mother and God answered their prayers. The woman, who never got pregnant before became pregnant with my late sister, then myself. My father later left Idogo. He wanted my mother to go with him but my mother said, ‘no, Idogo is a place where God covered my nakedness, when they said I couldn’t have an issue.’ So, she stayed there. But the fact is that my mother was coming to Lagos for maternity care (while pregnant with me) because at the time, there was no hospital in Idogo. And that was why I was born in Lagos at Mercy Street Hospital. By birth I am a Lagosian and immediately, my mother took me back to Idogo. I grew up in Idogo, schooled in Idogo; my everything, music everything, career, started there. That is why I say that I am a Nigerian. God has given me the whole world as my territory. My parents are from Ogun State, both of them from Abeokuta. I was born in Lagos, taken back to Idogo and grew up in Idogo. That is my story.
On why he tends to love his mother more than his father, Obey revealed
“Let me say this, I love my father and I love my mother. But I love my mother more. The reason is this. When my father was leaving Idogo, he left my sister and I with my mother as babies. He had two other wives; so, he came to Lagos to meet his other two wives. He never came back a day to say, let me go and see my two children and my wife. I didn’t know my father until I was seven years old. But yet, I love my father, I did everything for my father. I built a house for him. I made him happy. And I equally made my mother happy. But I cannot forget the women who paid my school fees, the caring and all that she did was something that I can never forget.
“The woman came to this world just to live for her children. I don’t think I have ever seen any woman like that. Her everything was for her children. I saw that, I knew that, I cherish that, I appreciate that. I gave my father every good thing of life, took good care of him and we joked about it: ‘Daddy, why did you do that?’ And he said he knew my mother was very industrious, that anything she laid her hand upon succeeded. He knew that my mother would take care of us because he knew my mother’s interest was about her children. But we joked about it that that was not enough.
Read the full interview below:
I wonder which name you are most comfortable with, Chief Commander or Evangelist Ebenezer Obey?
They are both valid.
Congratulations on your 75th birthday What shape is the celebration going to take?
To clock 75 on earth is a thing of joy. It is by the mercy of God to attain this stage and it calls for thanking God and appreciating His goodness in one’s life. So, it calls for celebration and we kick-started the birthday activities with a police post that I built in Idogo, in Yewa South Local Government, Ogun State, where I grew up, where everything about me started. We started it last Thursday, March 23 and the main event comes up tomorrow, Monday, April 3, which happens to be my birthday, in Abeokuta. The church service will be starting by 10am to 12noon. King Sunny Ade will perform among many other artistes. Immediately after that, we are going to have the reception and launching of the Ebenezer Obey Music Foundation and Training Institute. It will be affiliated to Olabisi Onabanjo University in Ogun State. It is a youth empowerment and training institute. That is how we are going to celebrate.
The foundation will be endowing a chair in the university?
Yes.
Will it involve all kinds of music since you are mostly gospel?
It is not going to be restricted to gospel music, but music generally because if it is limited to gospel music it will be limited to a few people. I want people to benefit from the institute. Whatever they gain or after the training, people who want to specialise in gospel music can adapt to that. We don’t want it to be limited to gospel music so that others can benefit.
Because it is an endowment, does it mean that anybody who gets in will study for free?
No, the board of trustees is working out the best way for the training institute. It is something that I want to be sustained even after I might have gone. I am looking for something that will last long.
Like leaving a legacy?
Yes; so, that is why the board of trustees is putting everything together. The one that is going to be in Abeokuta will not stop us from having endowments in other universities as well. That may be specific scholarships. It is to spread my good gesture and my intention to such lives.
Just now you mentioned building a police post in Idogo. One would have expected you would say something like a hospital or school. Why a police post?
Well, it depends on circumstances. I do other things in the community there but I host the police post in my house in the town. I gave them an apartment that they were using for the police post free of charge. But the police asked for a place of their own not attached to a house. Idogo happens to be very close to the border. Left to the people of Idogo, they are not troublesome people; they are peaceful people. But notwithstanding, the security of our property and people is important. So, they don’t want the police post to continue in my house and if there is no police post, they want to move the police from Idogo back to Ilaro. Then the police would be coming from Ilaro to see to the security of that place. I know that that also is not good. It would have been okay if a police post had never been there before. For that reason, I saw it as a need and because there was a need, I provided that.
What is the true story of your birth? Where were you born and where did you grow up?
The true story of my life is this: I am a Nigerian (laughter). Number one. And as a Nigerian, God has given me the whole territory of performances where my message has been accepted. I operate from Nigeria, then go international. I have been to almost of every part of the world, and even in Nigeria. My music is all over the four corners of Nigeria. But I am more frequent in the South West. I go on tour in the north, and South East. Like I said, the entire world is my territory. Still on my origin, both my parents, my mother and my father, are from Abeokuta. My father is an Egba man and my mother is an Owu woman, but they left Abeokuta to Idogo. My father was a carpenter and my mother was a cloth seller, very industrious. So, it took my mother several years, almost 20 years in her first husband’s house and she was never pregnant.
So, the family of the man called my mother’s family and spoke to them. ‘Well, they have both tried for 20 years, no issue. While we love Iyawo, we want both of them to go their separate ways and try their luck’. They want their son to marry another woman and they want my mother to go. So for a woman who loves her husband, it was a shock, and that was too much for my mother to bear. And when my mother’s relations saw her situation, she was crying, all the time, they told her to go to Idogo and hide her head. Her two elders brothers were living in Idogo then. That was what took my mother to Idogo.
On getting to Idogo, my father proposed to marry my mother and God answered their prayers. The woman, who never got pregnant before became pregnant with my late sister, then myself. My father later left Idogo. He wanted my mother to go with him but my mother said, ‘no, Idogo is a place where God covered my nakedness, when they said I couldn’t have an issue.’ So, she stayed there. But the fact is that my mother was coming to Lagos for maternity care (while pregnant with me) because at the time, there was no hospital in Idogo. And that was why I was born in Lagos at Mercy Street Hospital. By birth I am a Lagosian and immediately, my mother took me back to Idogo. I grew up in Idogo, schooled in Idogo; my everything, music everything, career, started there. That is why I say that I am a Nigerian. God has given me the whole world as my territory. My parents are from Ogun State, both of them from Abeokuta. I was born in Lagos, taken back to Idogo and grew up in Idogo. That is my story.
You tend to mention your mum more; you want to tell us why?
Let me say this, I love my father and I love my mother. But I love my mother more. The reason is this. When my father was leaving Idogo, he left my sister and I with my mother as babies. He had two other wives; so, he came to Lagos to meet his other two wives. He never came back a day to say, let me go and see my two children and my wife. I didn’t know my father until I was seven years old. But yet, I love my father, I did everything for my father. I built a house for him. I made him happy. And I equally made my mother happy. But I cannot forget the women who paid my school fees, the caring and all that she did was something that I can never forget.
The woman came to this world just to live for her children. I don’t think I have ever seen any woman like that. Her everything was for her children. I saw that, I knew that, I cherish that, I appreciate that. I gave my father every good thing of life, took good care of him and we joked about it: ‘Daddy, why did you do that?’ And he said he knew my mother was very industrious, that anything she laid her hand upon succeeded. He knew that my mother would take care of us because he knew my mother’s interest was about her children. But we joked about it that that was not enough…
So, I saw the woman struggling, trying everything. I knew all she went through and I appreciate that. Before she died, she told me things. You know, mothers call their children my husband. I built a house for my mother in Abeokuta. I built a house for my father in Abeokuta. I have my own buildings there also. My mother called me and told me ‘Aremu, ma fi Idogo le’. That is, ‘don’t leave Idogo. She said, ‘Idogo, ilu ti olorun bo asiri mi’. That is, ‘that is where God covered my nakedness when they said I couldn’t have an issue and I came here, I had both male and female.’ There is no third one, it is either male or female. And when my father didn’t come for four years, when my mother didn’t see my father, she became pregnant and gave birth to my junior brother. That was how she was able to have three children. But like I said, I love my father; I loved him, but the way he saw it was that my mother was industrious. But I appreciate the woman. If she didn’t do all she did, I wouldn’t be what I am today. The care was so much. We never had any lack. Because she was a cloth seller our uniform in those days, the khaki was velvet; that was the colour of the khaki – that was what my mother sewed for us in school. We were different, and we looked different and well-taken care of and everybody could see and attest to that. That is enough for anyone to continue to love one’s dear mother.
You said you grew up in Idogo and also schooled there. So, did your music career also start in Idogo?
Yes, it did. Immediately I was born, my mother started taking me to church. My mother loved God so much and I grew up to see myself in the church. So, I was introduced to music from the church. I became a member of the choir, a member of the school band and later the school’s band leader. And when we had Idogo Boys and Girls Club, I became one of them. When they formed an orchestra, I was one of them and actually, I was holding a very prominent position in the choir, the school band and the boys and girls youth club, and in the band that was formed from the boys and girls youth club. I was the vocal lead, though I was the youngest and I was the star of the band.
I formed my first band in the year 1957, called Royal Mambo Orchestra. That was how it all started. I moved to Lagos and continued my music with two elderly men Akinyomi Savage and Bamgbose Jumoda, alias Abengo Mayana. It was through them that I met Fatai Rolling Dollar, who was my band leader for about six years. I was his second in command before I started my own band.
Did you leave Fatai Rolling Dollars to form The International Brothers or what was the sequence of your progression?
Yes, Inter-Reformers Band.
How did that movement go, how did that transition take place?
International Brothers Band became known in the world and I just decided to change the name of the band to International Reformers Band, which became Inter-Reformers Band from International Reformed Band.
What was the need for the change?
I lost one of my members, Oke Aminu, with whom I actually grew up in Idogo and went to school together. He was my junior in school. When I even formed my band, Royal Mambo Orchestra, he was my second-in-command. I was the one who initiated his coming to Lagos. Because I was progressing and I wanted to do a reformation that is why International Reformed Band was abbreviated to Inter-Reformer Band
Recapitalisation Without Transformation is a Risk Nigeria Cannot Afford
BY BLAISE UDUNZE
In barely two weeks, Nigeria’s banking sector will once again be at a historic turning point. As the deadline for the latest recapitalisation exercise approaches on March 31, 2026, with no fewer than 31 banks having met the new capital rule, leaving out two that are reportedly awaiting verification. As exercise progresses and draws to an end, policymakers are optimistic that stronger banks will anchor financial stability and support the country’s ambition of building a $1 trillion economy.
The reform, driven by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) under Governor Olayemi Cardoso, requires banks to significantly raise their capital thresholds, which are set at N500 billion for international banks, N200 billion for national banks, and N50 billion for regional lenders. According to the apex bank, 33 banks have already tapped the capital market through rights issues and public offerings; collectively, the total verified and approved capital raised by the banks amounts to N4.05 trillion.
No doubt, at first glance, the strategy definitely appears straightforward with the idea that bigger capital means stronger banks, and stronger banks should finance economic growth. But history offers a cautionary reminder that capital alone does not guarantee resilience, as it would be recalled that Nigeria has travelled this road before.
During the 2004-2005 consolidation led by former CBN Governor Charles Soludo, the number of banks in the country shrank dramatically from 89 to 25. The reform created larger institutions that were celebrated as national champions. The truth is that Nigeria has been here before because, despite all said and done, barely five years later, the banking system plunged into crisis, forcing regulatory intervention, bailouts, and the creation of the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) to absorb toxic assets.
The lesson from that experience is simple in the sense that recapitalisation without structural reform only postpones deeper problems.
Today, as banks race to meet the new capital thresholds, the real question is not how much capital has been raised but whether the reform will transform the fundamentals of Nigerian banking. The underlying fact is that if the exercise merely inflates balance sheets without addressing deeper vulnerabilities, Nigeria risks repeating a familiar cycle of apparent stability followed by systemic stress, as the resultant effect will be distressed banks less capable of bringing the economy out of the woods.
The real measure of success is far simpler. That is to say, stronger banks must stimulate economic productivity, stabilise the financial system, and expand access to credit for businesses and households. Anything less will amount to a missed opportunity.
One of the most critical issues surrounding the recapitalisation drive is the quality of the capital being raised.
Nigeria’s banking sector has reportedly secured more than N4.5 trillion in new capital commitments across different categories of banks. No doubt, on paper, these numbers may appear impressive. Going by the trends of events in Nigeria’s economy, numbers alone can be deceptive.
Past recapitalisation cycles revealed troubling practices, whereby funds raised through related-party transactions, borrowed money disguised as equity, or complex financial arrangements that recycled risks back into the banking system. If such practices resurface, recapitalisation becomes little more than an accounting exercise.
To avert a repeat of failure, the CBN must therefore ensure that every naira raised represents genuine, loss-absorbing capital. Transparency around capital sources, ownership structures, and funding arrangements must be non-negotiable. Without credible capital, balance sheet strength becomes an illusion that will make every recapitalization exercise futile.
In financial systems, credibility is itself a form of capital. If there is one recurring factor behind banking crises in Nigeria, it is corporate governance failure.
Many past collapses were not triggered by global shocks but by insider lending, weak board oversight, excessive executive power, and poor risk culture. Recapitalisation provides regulators with a rare opportunity to reset governance standards across the industry.
Boards must be independent not only in structure but also in substance. Risk committees must be empowered to challenge executive decisions. Insider lending rules must be enforced without compromise because, over the years, they have proven to be an anathema against the stability of the financial sector. The stakes are high.
When governance fails, fresh capital can quickly become fresh fuel for old excesses. Without governance reform, recapitalisation risks reinforcing the very weaknesses it seeks to eliminate.
Another structural vulnerability lies in Nigeria’s increasing amount of non-performing loans (NPLs), which recently caused the CBN to raise concerns, as Nigeria experiences a rise in bad loans threatening banking stability.
Industry data suggests that the banking sector’s NPL ratio has climbed above the prudential benchmark of 5 percent, reaching roughly 7 percent in recent assessments. Many of these troubled loans are concentrated in sectors such as oil and gas, power, and government-linked infrastructure projects, alongside other factors such as FX instability, high interest rates, and the withdrawal of Covid-era forbearance, which threaten bank stability.
While regulatory forbearance has helped maintain short-term stability, it has also obscured deeper asset-quality concerns. A credible recapitalisation process must confront this reality directly.
Loan classification standards must reflect economic truth rather than regulatory convenience. Banks should not carry impaired assets indefinitely while presenting healthy balance sheets to investors and depositors.
Transparency about asset quality strengthens trust. Concealment destroys it. Few forces have disrupted Nigerian bank balance sheets in recent years as severely as exchange-rate volatility.
Many banks still operate with significant foreign exchange mismatches, borrowing short-term in foreign currencies while lending long-term to clients earning revenues in naira. When the naira depreciates sharply, these mismatches can erode capital faster than any credit loss.
Recapitalisation must therefore be accompanied by stricter supervision of foreign exchange exposure, as this part calls for the regulator to heighten its supervision. Banks should be required to disclose currency risks more transparently and undergo rigorous stress testing at intervals that assume adverse currency scenarios rather than best-case outcomes. In a structurally import-dependent economy, ignoring FX risk is no longer an option.
Nigeria’s banking system has long been characterised by excessive concentration in a few sectors and corporate clients, which calls for adequate monitoring and the need to be addressed quickly for the recapitalization drive to yield maximum results.
Growth in most advanced economies comes from the small and medium-sized enterprises that are well-funded. Anything short of this undermines it, since the concentration of huge loans to large oil and gas companies, government-related entities, and major conglomerates absorbs a disproportionate share of bank lending. This has continued to pose a major threat to the system, as the case is with small and medium-sized enterprises, the backbone of job creation, which remain chronically underfinanced. This imbalance weakens the economy.
Recapitalisation should therefore be tied to policies that encourage credit diversification and risk-sharing mechanisms that allow banks to lend more confidently to productive sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing, and technology rather than investing their funds into the government’s securities. Bigger banks that remain narrowly exposed do not strengthen the economy. They amplify its fragilities.
Nigeria’s macroeconomic conditions, which are its broad economic settings, are defined by frequent and sometimes sharp changes or instability rather than stability.
Inflation shocks, interest-rate swings, fiscal pressures, and currency adjustments are not rare disruptions; but they have now become a normal part of the economic environment. Despite all these adverse factors, many banks still operate risk models that assume relative stability. Perhaps unbeknownst to the stakeholders, this disconnect is dangerous.
Owing to possible shocks, and when banks increase their capital (recapitalization), it is required that banks adopt more sophisticated risk-management frameworks capable of withstanding severe economic scenarios, with the expectation that stronger banks should also have stronger systems to manage risks and survive economic crises. In Nigeria today, every financial institution’s stress testing must be performed in the face of the economy facing severe shocks like currency depreciation, sovereign debt pressures, and sudden interest-rate spikes.
Risk management should evolve from a compliance obligation into a strategic discipline embedded in every lending decision.
Public confidence in the banking system depends heavily on credible financial reporting.
Investors, analysts, and depositors need to be able to understand banks’ true financial positions without navigating non-transparent disclosures or creative accounting practices, which means the industry must be liberated to an extent that gives room for access to information.
Recapitalisation provides an opportunity to strengthen the enforcement of international financial reporting standards, enhance audit quality, and require clearer disclosure of capital adequacy, asset quality, and related-party transactions. Transparency should not be feared. It is the foundation of trust.
One thing that must be corrected is that while recapitalisation often focuses on financial metrics, the banking sector ultimately runs on human capital.
Another fearful aspect of this exercise for the economy is that consolidation and mergers triggered by the reform could lead to workforce disruptions if not carefully managed. Job losses, casualisation, and declining staff morale can weaken institutional culture and productivity. Strong banks are built by strong people.
If recapitalisation strengthens balance sheets while destabilising the workforce that powers the system, the reform risks undermining its own economic objectives. Human capital stability must therefore form part of the broader reform strategy.
Doubtless, another emerging shift in Nigeria’s financial landscape is the rise of digital financial platforms that are increasingly changing how people access and use money in Nigeria.
Millions of Nigerians are increasingly relying on fintech platforms for payments, microloans, and everyday financial transactions. One of the advantages it offers, is that these services often deliver faster and more user-friendly experiences than traditional banks. While innovation is welcome, it raises important questions about the future structure of financial intermediation.
The point here is that the moment traditional banks retreat from retail banking while fintech platforms dominate customer interactions, systemic liquidity and regulatory oversight could become fragmented.
The CBN must see to it that the recapitalised banks must therefore invest aggressively in digital infrastructure, cybersecurity, and customer experience, while cutting down costs on all less critical areas in the industry.
Nigerians should feel the benefits of recapitalisation not only in stronger balance sheets but also in faster apps, reliable payment systems, and responsive customer service.
As banks grow larger through recapitalisation and consolidation, a new challenge emerges via systemic concentration.
Nigeria’s largest banks already control a significant share of industry assets. Further consolidation could deepen the divide between dominant institutions and smaller players. This creates the risk of “too-big-to-fail” banks whose collapse could threaten the entire financial system.
To address this risk, regulators must strengthen resolution frameworks that allow distressed banks to fail without triggering systemic panic, their collapse does not damage the whole financial system, and do not require taxpayer-funded bailouts to forestall similar mistakes that occurred with the liquidation of Heritage Bank. Market discipline depends on credible failure mechanisms.
It must be understood that Nigeria’s banking recapitalisation is not merely a financial exercise or, better still, increasing banks’ capital. It is a rare opportunity to rebuild trust, strengthen governance, and reposition the financial system as a true engine of economic development.
One fact is that if the reform focuses only on capital numbers, the country risks repeating a familiar pattern of churning out impressive balance sheets followed by another cycle of crisis.
But the actors in this exercise must ensure that the recapitalisation addresses governance failures, asset quality concerns, risk management weaknesses, and transparency gaps; and the moment this is done, the banking sector could emerge stronger and more resilient.
Nigeria does not simply need bigger banks. It needs better banks, institutions capable of financing innovation, supporting entrepreneurs, and building economic opportunity for millions of citizens.
The true capital of any banking system is not just money. It is trust. And whether this recapitalisation ultimately succeeds will depend on whether Nigerians see that trust reflected not only in financial statements but in the everyday experience of saving, borrowing, and investing in the economy. Only then will bigger banks translate into a stronger nation.
Blaise, a journalist and PR professional, writes from Lagos and can be reached via: [email protected]
FirstBank Makes Home Ownership Possible for Nigerians with Single-Digit Interest Rate Loan
For millions of Nigerians, homeownership has long felt like an ambition deferred. Squeezed by rising property prices, persistent double-digit inflation and high commercial lending rates, the dream of owning a home has remained just that – a dream.
But that narrative is quietly changing. Thanks to FirstBank.
The N1 Trillion Intervention Reshaping Access
In partnership with the Ministry of Finance Incorporated Real Estate Investment Fund (MREIF), FirstBank has unveiled a mortgage opportunity that could redefine access to housing finance in Nigeria.
Backed by the Federal Government’s N1trillion mortgage fund, the initiative is designed to empower Nigerians with affordable, long-term credit to own their homes.
9.75% Interest Rate in a 30% Lending Environment
MREIF is priced at 9.75% per annum, dramatically lower than prevailing commercial loan rates. Eligible Nigerians can access up to N100 million and repay within 20 years. This translates into significantly more manageable monthly repayments and greater long-term financial stability.
Built for Salary Earners, Entrepreneurs and the Diaspora
The MREIF mortgage facility has been structured to be inclusive. It is available to salary account holders, business owners and diaspora customers. Whether you are a young professional aiming to exit the rent cycle, an entrepreneur building generational stability, or you’re a Nigerian abroad looking to secure assets locally, the product opens a pathway that has historically been out of reach for many.
Taking the First Step
For those who have been waiting for the right time, this is definitely it. The question is no longer whether homeownership is possible. The real question is: will you act before the window narrows?
Visit https://www.firstbanknigeria.com/personal/loans/mreif-home-loan/ and in no time you could be the latest homeowner in town.
Alpha Morgan Bank Deepens Presence in Abuja with New Branch in Utako
Marking another milestone in its expansion drive, Alpha Morgan Bank has opened a new branch in Utako, Abuja, reinforcing its strategy of building closer institutional ties within key business communities and bringing its financial expertise closer to individuals, and enterprises driving the city’s growth.
The new branch, located at Plot 1121 Obafemi Awolowo Way, Utako, Abuja is strategically positioned to serve individuals, entrepreneurs, and corporate clients within Utako and surrounding districts.
The expansion follows the Bank’s recently concluded Economic Review Webinar held in February 2026, as the bank continues to position as a thought-leader in the financial services industry.
Speaking on the opening, Ade Buraimo, Managing Director of Alpha Morgan Bank, said the move underscores the Bank’s commitment to accessibility and service excellence.
“Proximity matters in banking. As communities grow and commercial activity expands, financial institutions also evolve to meet customers where they are. The Utako Branch allows us to deliver our services to people in that community efficiently while maintaining the high standards our customers expect,”
The Utako location will provide a full suite of retail and corporate banking services, including account opening, deposits, transfers, business banking solutions, and financial advisory support.
Customers and members of the public are invited to visit the new Utako Branch to experience the Bank’s approach to satisfying banking.
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