Ego (Labgaja's former lead vocalist): I love my husband... but i can't wash his underwear

Ego Ogbaro

By Samod Biobaku

Sixthsense34@yahoo.com

From a distance, she might be mistaken for another talented singer with hopes of conquering the global music industry but up close and personal, it only takes a few minutes to realize that Nigerian-based Ego Ogbaro nĕe Iheanacho is indeed, a grand testimony to the fact that dynamites come in small packs.

Blessed with a petite physique and a voice so melodic, its echoes could truncate the whimpering of a crying child, Ogbaro has since established herself as a singer who knows her onions. Such is the enormity of musical talent Ego has at her disposal.

Prior to her emergence as Lagbaja’s lead vocalist, very little was known about Ogbaro’s musical configuration but like the caliber of spark when would expect when a truck load of gun powder is ignited, her musical profile hit the skies when she teamed up with Lagbaja as a lead vocalist. As expected, she was inducted into the growing list of Nigerian celebrities who have unarguably excelled in their chosen career paths.

Interestingly, while her relationship with Lagbaja continued to stir up comments from some who suggested that perhaps, she had something intimate with Lagbaja, she silenced her critics on November 11, 2009 when she walked down the isle with her long time sweetheart, Niyi Victor Ogbaro.

While some might expect her to have some problems merging her life as a celebrity with her relationship with husband, Ogbaro effortlessly laid the card on the table when she revealed that whenever she returns home to her husband, she always leaves her celebrity status at the door-step in order to make her the best wife she can be for her husband.

“Marriage has been fantastic. I’m very lucky to have the kind of husband I have because he fully understands. He’s actually my manager and he understands what I go through and we’ve never had any problem with the work I do.”

However, despite her unwavering love and deep affection for her husband, Ogbaro informed Simply SAMAD that there are certain things she would not get involved in; even as a married woman and one of such would be washing her husband’s underwear. “No! I don’t wash his boxers. I have a washing machine for that. I’m serious. I don’t do that but I can put it in a washing machine for him but at the end of the day, I can be very homely. My celebrity status stops at the door and I become a wife. I don’t let my work get into my head or anything like that at all. I’m very homely.”

In this interview with Simply SAMAD, she spoke about her forthcoming album, her present relationship with Lagbaja, why she decided to call it quits with Lagbaja’s band, how she met her husband and other interesting issues.

Ogbaro notes that her interest in music was stirred even before she met Lagbaja. “It started in secondary school but I didn’t take it seriously. For me, my music origin had no ties with the choir the way it is for most people. Along the line, I met Lagbaja and we worked together for some time and then at a point, I decided to go solo. Music has always been a part of me and I had friends in the music industry who I used to hang around with. I used to do back-up for these friends until I met Lagbaja and joined his band. Music is hard enough, so all I do is music and apart from music, I am a wife. I believe that the combination of the two is enough to occupy my time.”

Amidst rumours from certain quarters that perhaps her decision to break out of Lagbaja’s band to pursue a musical career was taken in bad faith by the masked one, Ogbaro told Simply SAMAD that her relationship with Lagbaja remains as great as ever. “I have a good relationship with Lagbaja. I visit Motherlan’ as often as I can and we are good. When I left the band, he had a kind of mixed reaction. He expected my exit from the band but I guess not at that time. Nevertheless, he was happy for me that I took that bold step. And that was evident in the advices, which he proffered and which I still hold on to. I take stuffs from different people, not necessarily a particular person but I look up to Lagbaja; he’s my mentor,” she said.

Speaking about how she met her husband, Ogbaro reveals that she met him even before she became a musician. “I met my husband a long time ago; before I became a musician. I met him through his brother at a party. We became friends, we dated. After a while, we parted because it wasn't a serious dating. After a while, we came back together and dated for another five years before we got married. We've known each other for long,” she said.

Still on the elements that attracted her to him, she explained that he was everything she ever wanted in a man. “The way he carried himself was also part of it. He's a very friendly person; very hardworking and very loyal. That is why I love him. What I like most about Niyi is that he is a nice person with such a unique character. I can tell you that I’ve not made the wrong choice. He is all and what I have craved for, I know him so well and our friendship is such that can’t be compared to many relationships and that alone stands him out,” she enthused.

She also shared some of the most memorable days in her life. “One of such moments was when I had a single titled ‘I Believe’ out in 2007 and heard it on the radio. That day was memorable for me. Also, when I got married was another memorable moment for me. I had lots of memorable days but those two easily stand out. The bad one was when I lost my dad. I lost my dad as far back as 1990 but my mum was very supportive.”

Have you ever wondered how Ogbaro deals with male fans who want to get intimate with her? Well, she hit the nail on the head when she said, “I just have to put them in their place. I’m really a ‘tom-boy’ so I get along with them and when they finally see that this girl is just one of the boys, we become good friends and we get along. Earlier it was disturbing, but I've always had a way to approach it without sounding harsh. But now that I'm married, I think they respect that fact. They don't come to me that way again. I still have a lot of male fans that say – “I like what you're doing”; they don't come in a sexual way. There is this respect now which I really appreciate.”

Ego, who hails from Imo State, has an Ogun State-born mother and four siblings. She attended schools in Aba and Lagos but opted out of her Public Administration course at the Lagos State University because she had a flair for French.