At the time you were really down, what was going through your mind? Did it ever cross your mind that you will bounce back big?

To be honest, I had lost hope at some point. I was so frustrated that on one particular day, I nearly jumped from the Carter Bridge into the lagoon. It was a good Samaritan who saved my life. Then, I was living somewhere at Moshalahi, Yaba, just three houses from the late Fela Anikulapo Kuti’s house. During the time of the ‘Unknown Soldier’ saga, I was attacked and all my musical equipments were destroyed. My car, a Peugeot 405, was also set ablaze. With no other source of livelihood, I settled for a job as a security man from 1980 till 1999. Sometime that year, I was attacked by robbers, but as a former boxer, I engaged them in a fight and overpowered two of them, but I was injured in the eyes and taken to the hospital. When I got back home, I got this feeling that I should not resume my job as a security guard. Then, I got a job at a church to play instruments for them. The salary was small, but I needed a job to survive.

So, you converted to Christianity?

I never did! But while I was working in the church, I changed my name to Francis Olayiwola Olagunju but I left the church after I was accused of not closing my eyes during prayer sessions. I told the pastor I would never close my eyes, because I want to be the first person to see Jesus Christ and receive blessings when He comes. They also accused me of smoking and I replied that, that should not be their business.

Do you still smoke?

I was once a chain smoker, but now, I smoke once in a blue moon.

When exactly did you experience a turnaround in your life and did you have a premonition?

As I said earlier, I had lost hope, but I got closer to God and I kept praying that he should lift me out of poverty. And God did it when I waxed an album "The Return" in 1999. Thereafter, I released another album "Won kere si number", which became a national anthem. From this point, things changed for the better and I started travelling abroad since 2006 at the age of 76. Before then, I never got inside an aircraft. My first trip was to Morocco sponsored by the French Cultural Centre. Now, I have been to Holland, United States, Germany, Sweden and so on. God is marvelous because I never believed I could ever interact with white people and also entertain them.

What lesson did you learn from all of the things you experienced while things were tough?

One lesson I learnt is that you must only rely on God and no one else. When life was okay for me, I had many friends, but as soon things became really bad, they all deserted me. Also, I would never forget how I lost three children within three months. They only had minor ailments and before I knew it, they died one after another. When the second one died, I took him to the cemetery and when the attendants insisted on collecting money from me, I dumped the corpse with them and told them to do whatever they liked with it. But God later took control and has multiplied my blessings.