Majek Fashek "I ran from rehab because their medicine weakens my manhood"

Veteran and troubled musician,Majek Fashek, has opened up on his battle with drugs,moving to a new house in Lagos and why he prefers 'babalawo' medicine to rehab.Excerpts from his interview with Encomium.. 

Tell us more about your Ogba, Lagos bungalow?

I have the bungalow already. It’s just for me to furnish it. It’s a three bedroom. There, I will be rehearsing with my musicians. If these young musicians like 2Face, Wizkid, P-Square can have mansions and their own houses, what about Majek? Am I their mates? I’m their father! I decided to get myself a bungalow. Wisdom teaches that we should cut our coats according to our fabric. So, I’m starting with a bungalow; from there, by God’s grace, I will buy a bigger house.

Are you moving in any time soon?

Yes, I will soon move in.

How soon?

In about two, three weeks.

Is there any hope of you and your wife getting back together?

It’s up to my wife, if she loves me. She’s a woman, she won’t live forever. Nobody can, except God. If she loves her children, she will reunite with me so I can help them. It was the celestial church that confused her. They gave her wrong vision about me. The celestial church can’t try me any day, any time. I will attack them. I’m Laura, not celestial. I will burn them. I am equipped spiritually, you no see wetin I put there (points to a praying mat with a huge Bible and an Islamic talisman on it). If she’s smart, she will apologize. And when she does, I will take her back.

In our last interview, you said you went for rehab in America. How did that go?

Yeah, America helped me. Most American superstars go to rehab because they take cocaine, heroin and the likes which make them ‘too high’. So, they have to go to rehab. Rehab helps calm their brains, after which they go back to their business.

In your case, was it helpful?

Yes, it was helpful. I was ‘high’, but after rehab, I got my contract with Top Gun International Records, that’s Bob Marley’s label. I got it through Rita Marley (his wife) and an American woman, Cassandra. Rehab calms the brain so it won’t explode. It calmed me.

In rehab, they are normally warned not to go back to drugs, right?

Yes.

In your case, did you really quit after rehab?

I’m scared of rehab. Let me tell you what I did to escape the rehab. God gave me different knowledge of orisha, babalawo knowledge. My ancestral knowledge, which is what I’m using right now. I now drink akpeteshie. It’s the orisha idea I got.

What do native doctors use?

Akpeteshie! You don’t understand? I changed the programme of rehab to akpeteshie. That is what I drink, so, I don’t have to use foreign medication. It weakens the brain and the body. It’s medicine, but babalawos use akpeteshie.

So, you prefer akpeteshie to rehab?

I prefer akpeteshie in the sense that the white man’s drugs weakens your mind, you might not even be able to have sex.

(Cuts in) you mean during the period of the rehab?

Yes. I remember my manhood no dey raise. That’s why I went for akpeteshie. Let me tell you one truth, if you are married, you must have sex with your wife. If you cannot, she would divorce you or take her body elsewhere. So, I follow babalawo medicine

You are saying it is better than foreign medication?

E better pass white man own. That one dey kill penis.

What do you take now?

I use African roots, ogogoro and igbo.

They help?

Yeah, they help my penis raise.

But does it calm you down like rehab would?

It calms down. It’s better than rehab. See, the white men are very dangerous. They degrade the babalawos. They claim their medicines are very good, that’s a big lie! If you have a headache now, and you take their medicine, the symptoms will still come back, am I right? But in the case of roots and herbs used by babalawos, you excrete everything. The sickness won’t come back

This is your advice to Nigerians?

Yes. What I want to tell Africans, not just Nigerians, is that they should believe in babalawo medicine. The white men’s medicine have side effects. When I was young, we used chloroquine. If you take it, your body would be itching you. All those drugs have effects. But don’t go to babalawo to kill your brother, use them for medication. They have the right medication.

What drugs were you taking?

I don’t have to tell you. That’s my personal secret.