Nigerian singer Aituaje Iruobe, popularly known as Waje, has opened up about her views on relationships, marriage, and the personal struggles she faced as a teenage mother.
Speaking on the latest episode of The Honest Bunch podcast, the 45-year-old singer explained why she cannot marry a man who is financially unstable. According to her, her age and life experiences have shaped her expectations in relationships.
“I can’t marry someone who is not successful, and here’s why: first of all, I’m not in my 20s, so we are not growing together,” she said. “A man leads — he leads by selling aspirations to me. I have to aspire to see him lead. And if he can’t inspire me to grow, we can’t be partners. So, success is part of it. Faith and emotional intelligence are also part of it.”
Waje, who has been in the entertainment industry for over two decades, also stated that she cannot date a younger man, saying it would create unnecessary friction in the relationship.
“We will have issues. I’m very pragmatic. Sometimes I have to hold myself with my siblings, my friends, and my family members. Imagine if it was a husband? He would get tired. I will be treating him like my child. He would hate me,” she said.
The award-winning singer also reflected on her early years as a teenage mother, revealing how she got pregnant at 16 and faced rejection from the child’s father.
“I got pregnant at 16, and when my mother found out after about five months, she went to meet his family. But he denied being responsible,” Waje recounted. “In Igbo land, when a child is born out of wedlock, the family automatically adopts the child. So my mom just told him, ‘Okay, since it’s not you, the child is mine now.’”
She added that the man later resurfaced years later, trying to reconnect with their daughter, who was already grown.
“I told him, you’re a citizen of Canada, fight for your child. I wanted her to get the best education possible,” she explained. “He agreed to a DNA test, but he kept delaying it. Nine months passed, then years, and he still didn’t do it.”
By the time her daughter turned 18, Waje said, it was too late for him to file for her, and she had to continue funding her education alone.
“I was mad,” she admitted. “Because now she’s in university and I’m paying school fees in dollars. You can’t be calling me to say you want to send $200. We could have avoided all this.”
Through it all, Waje said her focus has always been on her daughter’s happiness and future.
“My main goal has always been her well-being and giving her the best opportunities in life,” she said.