“I Breastfed My Son For Three Years” – Ara

Nigeria’s famous female talking drummer, Aralola Olumuyiwa (Ara), has revealed that she breastfed her only son for three years and a few months.

She disclosed this while speaking on motherhood in a recent interview with Tribune.
“It’s been easy because I have my mum, siblings as well as nannies who have been around to help me. Most of the time, when I was nursing, I had my son with me because I breastfed him for over three years”, she said.

On her reason for breastfeeding her son for three years: “Nothing. Of course he is the only one I have for now. I just wanted to spoil him. I would go to his school during break time everyday for those three years and his teachers would ask me ‘why are you doing this?’ and I would tell them ‘I may never have the opportunity to do this for his younger ones; so, let me do it now.’”

On her gift of seeing visions and interpreting dreams, the drummer said “I don’t even have to sleep to see something. I think it has to do with my spiritual aspect. I fast a lot. My life off stage is an entirely different one. I actually attend the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries and if you can’t pray, you don’t attend MFM. It is a do-it-yourself church – which has helped me greatly. That is why most of my songs are moral songs that children and adults can listen to.
“Of course I sing love songs because there is love in the Bible”.
On the spiritual significance of her long braids, she said “Only few people who are close to me know the real me; they know the Ara brand – who is a fierce, beautiful, sexy lady that can play the talking drum and sing and dance. People have attached meanings to it (braids). Some even call me water goddess. Some even say I possess supernatural powers because of my hair – and I do not!
“Naturally, people will interpret things they want to and say they think they understand. I always refer to Michael Jackson because the Michael Jackson you see on stage is different from the Michael Jackson you see at home. I am a natural person. I go to the market, buy things myself, and do regular things to keep me grounded.
 “Sometimes when people see me, I tell them this is Lola; Ara is on stage and I am a human being and I need to live like one. This is why some of my colleagues cannot separate the brand from the person. It’s up to them to interpret it the way they want. They don’t know me, but God knows me”.