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It was a crazy experience – Spyro on his upbringing as a pastor’s child
Nigerian artist Spyro opened up about his upbringing as the child of a pastor and the impact it has had on his life and career during an interview with media personality Chude Jideonwo on the Just Chude podcast.
Spyro described his childhood experience, noting the challenges and strictness of being raised by a pastor. “My dad is a pastor, and it was difficult growing up with a pastor,” he 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 humorously recalled the rigorous routine, highlighting compulsory Bible study sessions and morning devotions scheduled at the most inconvenient times. “The annoying thing was the morning devotion, it was when sleep was getting deepest that they would wake you up for morning devotion. 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,'” he shared.
Spyro confessed that when he gained admission to the 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.”
Despite the strict upbringing, Spyro acknowledged the positive side, noting that his parents’ teachings and the fear of God have stayed with him. “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.