By Oratokhai Jesusemen
Nigerian singer Spryro recently opened up about his upbringing as the child of a pastor and its impact on his life and career. Speaking during an interview with media personality Chude Jideonwo on the Just Chude podcast, the singer described his childhood experiences.
“My dad is a pastor, and it was difficult growing up with a pastor,” Spryro began, laughing. “You’re going to have to be in church whether or not you want to be in church, you must love God by force. He made us study the Bible from cover to cover, whether you like it or not,” he added.
Spryro humorously recalled the rigorous upbringing he had, highlighting the compulsory Bible study sessions and morning devotions, which were scheduled during the most inconvenient times. “The annoying thing was the morning devotion; it was when sleep was getting deepest that they would wake you up. What the thing does is that it makes you hate God instead of loving him because it’d be like, ‘This God wey wan ruin my life’.”
The singer confessed that his upbringing was so rigorous that when he gained admission to university, he saw it as an escape from the routine at home. “It was crazy, trust me, it was a crazy experience. When I got into uni, I saw it as my freedom and I never returned home for about four years. I was like, ‘Thank you Jesus for this open door,’ you know? I was waiting for it and I took it, then I didn’t even turn back.”
However, Spryro also recognized the positive side of his strict religious upbringing, noting that his parents’ teachings and the fear of God have not left him to this day. “The good thing about having pastor parents is that even though I don’t like the approach and everything, that fear of God is still in me. So all through my university, I was saved; I didn’t do it for my parents; I just had the fear of God. That has worked for me until now; to this date, I don’t smoke, drink, or carry women. All that attests to the fear of God because my dad and mum aren’t here, but God is seeing me,” he explained.
