Award-winning Nollywood makeup artist Hakeem Onilogbo, popularly known as Hakeem Effect, has opened up on his struggles with childbearing.
In an interview with Biola Bayo, Hakeem revealed that the couple faced intense pressure from people who would send messages to his staff, urging his wife to conceive.
The situation became so dire that some individuals began calling his wife his mother, while others maliciously accused him of using her womb.
The constant bullying and scrutiny took a toll on the couple, prompting them to explore surrogacy but miraculously, just as their surrogate was six months pregnant, Hakeem’s wife discovered she was expecting a child.
He said: ‘Tell your boss’s wife to go and conceive. A woman’s pride in marriage is her children, not following him around. It got to a stage people used to call her Hakeem’s mother and a lot of people started saying I have used her womb because immediately she came into my life, everything changed.
So, we had to go for surrogacy. By the time our surrogate was six months pregnant, my wife was already pregnant’.
Hakeem also reflected on his past relationship, which lasted nearly a decade without marriage.
Although his ex-partner was a wonderful person, he believes his current wife is the best thing that’s happened to him.
He said: ‘There is a saying that behind every successful man is a woman. I was married for about 10 years before meeting her. My ex-wife was a good and better wife, but God gave me the best’.
In addition to his personal life, Hakeem shared insights into his career, crediting the late Murphy Afolabi with introducing him to the industry and giving him the nickname ‘Hakeem Effect’.
‘Osumare by late Murphy Afolabi brought me into the limelight, and he was the one who gave me the name Akeem Effect’, he said.
He also recounted a disturbing encounter with an elderly man who made unwanted advances.
‘We were taken to a place, one old man put me on his lap and started kissing me. He said, ‘Can I take it from the back?’, he added.
