Popular Nigerian singer Oludipe David, better known as Spyro, has opened up about painful childhood experiences and the difficult relationship he shared with his father while growing up.
Spyro reveals how his father’s beatings from more than 20 years ago still affect him
The singer recalls how his father accused him of stealing money and rarely believed the things he said as a child
Spyro stated that the painful childhood experience almost changed him, if not for his mother’s love
The singer spoke about the lasting impact of his father’s treatment of him as a child, revealing that some of the beatings he received more than two decades ago remain vivid in his memory.
“My dad would beat you to kill you. I’ll have marks from twenty-something years ago. When you try to bring up the conversation, there are things still very clear in my head, and he acts like it’s nothing.”
Spyro said his childhood experiences often trigger anger whenever he finds himself around his father, adding that there is still much for him to process.
“You know when you are in the presence of your dad, and there’s this anger that just comes, and you can’t explain it. It is a lot to unpack, but I had to heal on my own. To sort it out, we have to talk about the experience. I can’t just ignore it as if none of these pains happened.”
The singer also recalled how his father allegedly portrayed him negatively to other people, including accusing him of stealing.
“My dad would go and tell outsiders that I am a thief, and my dad’s brother had to ask, what did I do to him? Because the way he just paints me sometimes and just tells people about me. He was a pastor, and once his money was missing like this, na me.”
Spyro said his father would sometimes embarrass him publicly, only to later offer him gifts after discovering that the item he had accused him of taking was not stolen.
“He will embarrass me, and when he eventually finds what he is looking for, he will buy you milk. What is milk supposed to do to the damage that has been done?”
The singer then shared what he described as one of the most painful experiences of his childhood.
“There is a particular thing that I talk about, and anytime I talk about it, I just get teary, you know. There is this woman in my primary school, Iya Romoke. She was a cleaner at the school, and one day she called me. She placed her hands on my head, and she had a long nail that was peeling my skin, and because I was a child, I couldn’t do anything.
“I went back home with an injury, and my dad asked who did that to me, and when I told him, he said it was a lie. He didn’t believe me. But I kept saying this woman did it, and he said we would go to school the next morning.
“When we went to school, I started pulling back because I was afraid that this person was elderly and seemed to have more power back then.
“I started pulling back, and my dad said I was pulling back because I lied, and we went to the woman, and she said she didn’t do it, and when I got home, my dad flogged me to stupor, and that thing till date broke me and almost turned me into something else if not for the love from my mom and how she was able to balance things up constantly.”
The discovery may come as a surprise to many of Spyro’s fans, particularly because of the calm and composed way the singer often carries himself in public.
Singer Spyro opens up about unhealed childhood trauma
