Veteran singer, Salawa Abeni, popularly known as the ‘Queen of Waka Music’, a crown bestowed on her by the late Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi III, in 1992, has opened up about some of the difficult moments in her decade-long music career, claiming that jealousy and diabolical (spiritual) acts by senior colleagues who felt threatened by her early rise nearly brought her journey to an end.

Speaking on Channels Television’s ‘Rubbin’ Minds’ recently, the 65-year-old singer, who began her professional career in 1976 with the release of her debut album, Late General Murtala Ramat Mohammed, is widely recognised as one of the prominent voices in Nigerian waka music, said she faced challenges that went beyond the usual struggles associated with the entertainment industry.

According to Abeni, some people were uncomfortable with her success and allegedly worked against her career because of jealousy. She claimed that she experienced what she described as spiritual or diabolical attacks, which at some point threatened her ability to continue making music.

Recalling a childhood shaped by an early passion for music, the Gentle Lady, Kadara, Mo Tun De, among others, said she developed an interest in music performance at the age of nine, and often joined older musicians on stage whenever they invited her along. That early exposure, however, came with its own difficulties.

The renowned singer noted that rather than facing mere professional rivalry, she encountered sinister plots orchestrated to sabotage her health, voice, and livelihood. She recounted how, because of her small stature, she needed a stool just to reach the microphone whenever it was her turn to sing.

“So, they (the elderly ones) would sing before I got there. But when it was time for me, they would give me a stool to stand on so my mouth could reach the microphone. So when it was time for me to sing, my brother, my voice would go. I couldn’t sing,” she recalled.

Further Speaking, Abeni attributed the repeated physical breakdowns during the period not to ordinary stage fright, but to something more deliberate. “Sometimes, I would even vomit blood. But what could I do? It’s a long journey. There are a lot of obstacles. You know, how do I say it in Yoruba… in English. Like, ‘You, this small girl, who are your parents? Where do you come from?”

She rejected the suggestion that the incidents were mere superstition and insisted the attacks were both real and intentional. “In English, it is known as jealousy,” the Iba Omode Iba Agba, Iroyin Mecca, Ija O Dara, and Ikilo crooner said, as she recounted an occasion when technical equipment allegedly prevented her voice from being heard during a performance.

“Diabolical is not superstition,” Abeni said as she illustrated her point with two specific memories. “Let me take you back to one experience, at a venue another artiste/band was performing; we were made to wait backstage until they had finished performing. They were singing before I arrived, but my band was there too.

“So we decided to wait. I sat down, and we watched. When it was my turn to sing, the equipment linking the microphones —the amplifier— to bring out our voices and tone mysteriously failed, So nobody could hear me and listen to me.”

In another instance, she recalled sitting close to a fellow performer before a show when rain suddenly began falling directly over the spot where she was due to sing, scattering the crowd that had gathered to watch her.

“Another time, we went together to play; when it was my turn, as you were sitting here and I was sitting here…as we sat beside each other, very close like this, rain suddenly started falling right where I was standing. People who wanted to watch me perform ran away. It is tough,” Abeni stated.

Her latest revelation offers another glimpse into the personal battles behind a career that has survived for decades. For her, what could have been the end of her musical journey ultimately became another chapter in a career defined by resilience.