By Florence Alor
For Abosede Eko, life has been one of a roller-coaster. But grace has kept her strong and still going. She tells Church Times that the last 50 years have been years of trials and triumphs adding however that the Lord has taught her to fully depend on Him
“Life sometimes is up or down. But at 50, I have learnt to depend fully on God as whatever God doesn’t give cannot be achieved! The past 50 great years have been pleasant in His presence. I look forward to the best of years ahead with fulfilment in Christ Jesus”
Born at Agbor in Delta State, Eko had her early education there before she moved to Osun State and later went back to Delta State where she completed her secondary school education.
She grew up with her grandmother who was a devoted Christian at the Anglican Church Ipetu, Ijesha. She recalled vividly how she used to follow her grandmother to church and the compulsory early morning prayers “We just have to wake up by 5 am so as to meet up with that early morning prayer. That taught me a lot as a child growing up. I also belonged to the Girls Guide then.”
Eko who turned 50 on November 1, 2020, is a gospel artist, an ordained evangelist, an educationist, and a trained accountant.
Abosede Eko: How I fell in love with music
Her love for music started in secondary school. As the assembly prefect, she was in charge of the praise worship session. This gave her the opportunity to be exposed to the world of praising and worshiping God of which later formed the fulcrum of her life.
Unlike many, she did not grow up with her biological parents. That gave her the opportunity to do a lot of independent thinking. She also took decisions on critical issues by herself and had the freedom to do many things her peers would ordinarily not venture into. It was while being an active singer in school that she also developed a passion to help people.
For Eko, life has been good. “I feel fulfilled. I feel satisfied with what God has done for me. I have led different church choirs and currently singing in the choir. My album is out and I am constantly working in the studio. I’m well fulfilled because if you listen to my current album “Oba to Ga” you will find out that some tracks like “I Get One Papa”, “Kene O Kene”, “Monawo Mi Soke”, “Mama tell me Why” and in fact all the tracks, you will find out that they are passing out messages of hope, joy and many more. I’m fulfilled in that area and all-round and I thank God.”
Recalling how she fully surrendered her life to Christ in 1997, she said it was the mercy of God that brought her to Christ “Looking at what God has done for me at that particular period after my marriage and education was settled, the spirit of God convinced me and I gave my life to Christ fully at Mercy Chapel, Oke Ira, Ogba, Lagos State. Since then God has been faithful to me. He has used many people to bless me and has never left me.”
She describes her experience as a gospel singer as awesome noting that her love for God and love for music are the two things that keep her going in life. She is however certain that “along the line, God’s reward will come.”
Abosede Eko: I am passionate about education
On her love for the education sector, she said, “I have always loved children right from when I surrendered to Jesus. To the glory of God, I was one of the outstanding children’s teachers in the church where I became born again. There, I was the head of the children’s department for years. This exposed me to the biblical way of teaching children and my love for children moved me to study more about children.”
The love for children informed her decision enrol at Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education where she studied Primary Education and English Language. Later she started her own school because she wanted to impact and give children qualitative education so as to build them so they could be great future leaders.
The school, Camp Samuel Nursery, Primary and Secondary School located at 2, Victory Avenue, Off Casso Road, Alagbado, Lagos State is indeed a child of necessity. It has turned out to be a great learning environment for young folks.
Despite the seeming economic hardship, she says running a school has been a good experience. She however added that the support of the government will go a long way to make qualitative education a reality in many private initiatives.
“If we have to give a good education, good funding is essential. As a private investor, one is left to source funds by oneself. But we thank God because he has been our source of supply and we pray he will take us to higher heights.”
As Eko enters the second batch of another 50 years, she says, “I don’t know how the journey would have been without God behind me and the support of my family. My family has been fully involved in all my projects since the beginning and are still involved.
“My children backed up for me for tracks in my music. They support and encourage me too in prayers. My husband has also been a great support and a great inspiration for me to move higher.”
Follow this link to access Eko’s album:: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B085615PJB/ref=cm_sw_r_wa_awdb_t1_xMtMFb01FEYYS