I Don’t Want To Trade On My Father’s Name - Late MKO Abiola’s Daughter, Waliyah Delves Into Music

One of MKO Abiola’s daughters, Waliyah Abiola has delved into music. Waliyah said she hates to tell people she is an Abiola, so people won’t think she's trying to use her father's name to step up her career. She said she has been doing her music without the name, and she is comfortable with it. She also said, her father loved music and would have supported her if he was still alive. Here is what she told Punch:

Were your father to be alive, would he have supported this?
I think my father, the late MKO Abiola, would have supported me and would have been quite tickled by the whole thing. He loved proverbs and music; therefore, what I am doing is not strange. He loved to sing and was in a band. He often sang at weddings and as a school boy in Abeokuta. I have fond memories of him singing, “The Beatles” songs in the kitchen. This must have been a relic from the time when he was studying to become an accountant in Scotland. I am not relying on my family name to gain acceptance.

Many people have known me on the music circuit for a year now and don’t even know my family background. It is something I never bring up and this is the first time I’m discussing it in an interview. I am proud of whom I am but as I don’t want to trade on it, I simply never mention it. I’m not very comfortable discussing it, even now.