It's untrue that I have another kid - Saidi

The Yoruba people have a proverb that says
'A kii ka omo f'olomo'. This literally means
that it is culturally wrong to say in the public
the number of children a person has.
While it may not be too difficult to
understand the sentiment the elders are
trying to play up through the adage,
modernity has since laid the wisdom in it to
rest.
Nowadays, 'modern people' do not even
wait for an outsider to count their children
for them. They do so themselves. Apart from
the fact that you have to officially declare the
number of children you have on certain
occasions, many people, following what
obtains in the western tradition, are eager
to 'broadcast live' not only the number of
kids they have, they also take to the social
media to announce to the world as soon as
they get pregnant. And seconds after the
baby is born, its picture is already
everywhere.
Popular Yoruba actor, Saidi Balogun, says he
neither grumbles with tradition nor in any
way tries to resist the influence of
civilisation. But he adds that he detests
something: the idea of people carrying
rumours about his family status. Indeed, he
is currently angry with some of Nigerian
bloggers who, he notes, are fond of
publishing false stories about celebrities.
"Recently, the bloggers said I had another
child from one woman. This is not true, and
none of them bothered to call me to verify
whether or not it was true."
The actor/producer, who recently premiered
a new movie - You or I - was spotted at
Shoprite, in Ikeja Mall on Sunday, where he
went to shop alongside his children. On
sighting the fair-complexioned actor, it was
natural for the correspondent to look out
for probably a woman - other than
Balogun's estranged wife, Fatiha - who
could be carrying a baby, based on the
rumour that filtered through the Internet
recently.
"This is me, and this is my family," he said.
"Although one cannot stop any blogger
from doing his or her work, it is also good
to respect the dignity of other people, and
to respect the rules of journalism too. How
can someone just go and hide in one corner
and say anything he likes in his or her
blog?"
He declined further comments on the
domestic end as, according to him, many
people tend to misinterpret utterances of
celebrities too easily.
On his romance with Ibadan - he is said to
have recently been seen with Governor
Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State - Balogun
explained that he only 'returned home'
because of what he has observed in Ibadan.
"There we go again o!" he said jovially. "The
fact is that I am a native of Ibadan. I am
from the Kobomoje area of the city. I am
part of the family of Chief Lekan Balogun,
who was murdered some years back. What
happened is that when I visited Ibadan
recently, I noticed that the city has changed.
Many of the major roads are now free and
the dirt that used to litter everywhere has
disappeared. Grasses and flowers have also
surfaced in different places, like you have in
parts of Lagos. So, as an indigene, I felt
somehow inspired and decided to express
this to the governor."
On the way some showbiz stars now
patronise government quarters, he noted
that what mattered was the intention, while
adding that, that one is an artiste does not
mean he does not have anything to
contribute to governance.

Source: punch