#WithChude

I’ve had so many A-list guests come on the show to talk very honestly - and often for the first time - about divorce. The comments and emails we have seen after these interviews showed me how deeply those truths have resonated. So we decide to do a special episode that combines the greatest, deepest, most powerful things my guests have shared about confronting and surviving the end of a marriage over the past four years.We have Shaffy Bello, Jim Iyke, Tonto Dike, Damilola Adegbite, Stanley Okorie and Olumide Emmanuel amongst others. As I listened to this special episode again, I was struck by the great gift these guests gave me and the great service they have done for my audience - speaking so openly, truthfully and realistically. If you’re dealing with a difficult marriage, left a marriage and don’t know what to do, find yourself alone or confused in a marriage, or just want to know the truth about marriage, this special episode is for you.

How exactly did MKO Abiola die? How exactly did former head of state, Sani Abacha die? What role did Wole Soyinka, IBB’s late son, Femi Falana, Bola Tinubu, RMD’s late wife MEE, Shehu Sani, Kudirat Abiola and others play in this macabre story?And why exactly should you be grateful?I go way back - through my narration, a panel of Nigerians remembering that terrible period Gen Z may be unaware of, and exclusive interviews with Abiola’s son Abdulmumuni, activist Dapo Thomas who fought alongside Abiola, and June 12 historian Abraham Oshoko. ABIOLA vs ABACHAAn October 1 SpecialThe full episode is available tomorrow 7am on @Chude on YouTube and on withChude.com. It’s the first of our special series celebrating 25 years of democracy in Nigeria. #WithChude#TheCCCPodcast#AbiolaVSAbacha

Chude: You need to know in life, the things that you can do and you cannot do. Many years ago, I received another invitation to join the government in Nigeria at the highest levels, and I called my second mother, Obiageli Ezekwesili. I said, ‘Aunty, he’s putting me under pressure; he wants me to join this government’. So she asked me a question: “In your deepest of hearts, do you think that you could truly make a difference in that position at this time and will it give you joy?”I thank God she framed the question like that because it became very easy for me to answer. I said no. Ali Baba says when Obasanjo wanted him to be a minister at the time, he didn't do the things that they asked him to do “because he knows himself.”Sometimes, people ask me, why don’t I join the government? I say it’s not, because of some moral superiority because government needs to be joined. We need people to join government, we need politicians, we need public servants but one must look at one’s self and say: is that the environment in which I would most thrive?Can I wake up every morning and still keep my Soul and Spirit in this position?Will I get joy from doing this?Will I feel a deep sense of satisfaction doing this thing no matter how much it will ‘change my life’?Many people have gotten into positions that have robbed them of their integrity their soul’s purpose, of what makes them special. And most times it’s because we feel that every opportunity that comes we must grab, that every road or door that opens that we must enter. We need the presence of mind and self-awareness to know what is for us and what isn’t for us - and to stay in our most authentic truth.

Saidi Balogun says he almost died after this accident - nobody thought he was going to survive. He was bed ridden for three months.And then, many years later, he confronted the worst business decision he ever made - he invested N25,000,000 in a movie, the movie was pirated and he only made N800,000 For the first time ever, he reveals that - already a celebrity - he was penniless and homeless. So, his mother asked him to come back to Nigeria and to visit her in Lagos Island - where she had some of the pirated copies. Then she said to him: “Do you remember when you were lifeless, and nobody thought you were coming back to us and I stayed with you and I nursed you and you came back and you lived? If you could survive that, you would survive this.” He learnt that life can be breathed into any situation.

How exactly did Obasanjo change AliBaba’s life? Why did people doubt for years that he was making millions as a comedian - and insist his first wife was funding his lifestyle? What does he feel about not having a national award - when he essentially built the comedy industry? What does he think about the public battles between Basketmouth, AY and others? And what has learnt from a life of so many accomplishments and so many boundaries broken? Then: the legend shared with me gist for days! Soooooo much inside gist about the most hilarious moments with Nigeria’s politicians, chief executives and diplomats. You have to hear the stories! This one? Another #WithChude classic.

Bed ridden for three months after his car somersaulted and he almost died, Saheed Balogun learnt the greatest lesson of his life - that he can survive anything. A few years later, he invested N25 million in a film, pirates ravaged the film and he only made N800,000 in return. He says he has never said this anywhere; he ended up homeless, penniless and wanting to end his life. His mother reminded him: Do you remember when you were in the hospital almost lifeless and nobody thought you were coming back to life? Well, here he is now - and he has come to testify. In addition, we discuss how he has managed the marriage ‘scandals’, how he has dealt with the Baba Ijesha controversy, and why he is unabashed in his support for Bola Tinubu, even if some of his fans disagree. A veteran with 40 years in the industry under his belt, #WithChude today.