Funmilayo Ugoh, a renowned motivational speaker and singer, shares with ROTIMI IGE, her story on how she rose from an impoverished past to become an inspiration to many people today.
My testimony
I will like to give glory to God for this privilege that He has given me to share this testimony. I had a very rough background; growing up was not anything sweet for me and my siblings, but still, all glory belongs to God. This testimony is mainly to encourage people who are going through some sort of difficulty, that God never lets a man down or forsake anyone.
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Challenging growing up years
Growing up, I lost my father at very early age and my mum had to take care of four children. Life was very difficult for us. My mother sold pepper in the market. I hawked pepper like I would die; it was a must for my elder sister and I to hawk. If we don’t, we would not have enough to eat at home. We never had the luxury of extra lessons after school, because we had to hawk before going to school in the morning and after school hours inside Jakande Estate in Lagos. This continued until life became very difficult because at some point, our mother could no longer handle our expenses. My sister and I started going to refuse dumps to go look for metals to sell to those who recycle such materials, but we still could not handle the situation, so our younger brother had to join us to pick plastic and metal for sale.     Together, we would also go to the open market to buy oranges to hawk by the road side.
How things changed
I was a practising Christian then and my pastor noticed. His family decided to take me into their home. That was how I started living with them, helping them at home with domestic chores. At some point, my pastor’s daughter wanted to go to Europe, and the pastor’s wife told her husband that, ‘Funmilayo can also escort her to Europe o,’ and that was how they processed my papers alongside their daughter’s. Since that fateful day, God has been faithful to me and my family. Also, I knew God had given me a voice and message for my generation. I have been recording songs and also ministering everywhere God has taken me all over the world. My first album was launched in 2016, titled ‘Chuwku Ebube’. The second one is coming out in July 2018 with the title ‘Covenant keeping God’. I might not have an idea about what you are going through, I don’t even need to, but all I have to tell you is that God will never owes anyone. Be faithful, committed, dedicated and see what God will do in your life. I will also like to add that I met my husband in Europe and together we are blessed with adorable children.
and then