My political ambition affected my marriage - Banky W

Popular singer and songwriter, Bankole Wellington popularly known as Banky W has recounted how his political ambition and his private struggle to conceive a child with his wife, Adesua Etomi affected their marriage in 2019.

Speaking in a chat with Chude Jideonwo, the singer said, “So, 2019 was a tough year, it was a seminal moment in my life because that was the year that we were running for office and at the same time my wife and I were struggling at that point to have a child.”

According to Banky W, Adesua's health deteriorated after she embarked on several medical procedures including in vitro fertilization (IVF).

Banky W added that despite what his wife was going through, he could not spend enough time with her because of his political ambition at the time.

In 2019, he sought to represent Eti-Osa Federal Constituency at the House of Representatives under the Modern Democratic Party (MDP). However, he lost to Babajide Obanikoro of the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the poll.

He highlighted that the outcome of the election “strained” his relationship with his wife particularly after they lost their first pregnancy — a set of twins.

“So we had started towards the end of 2018 entering 2019, we started doing IVF treatments. You know we had done a second one which is very difficult especially for the woman, when you leave the woman it becomes difficult even for you because you don’t know how to help.

“I mean you see her body go through so much pain and turmoil and difficulty and you as a man, you’re also running for office, so the one thing you don’t have is quality time and that’s the one thing you need when your wife is going through all of that.

“Whether it is the community of people that are close to you or family. It feels like you’re being emptied on a daily basis. You’re giving everything you have and it’s not enough and then we lost twins. Then we tried again, our relationship was strained. It was a tough time.”

The singer, who recently won the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) House of Representatives ticket, also spoke about dealing with negative opinions about his political ambition.

“It’s hard when people question your intentions. Bro, there have been times I’ve been depressed.

“You know when you wake up and you are trending on Twitter and the things people are saying are so hurtful and these are people that have never been had a conversation with you but they’ve made you out to be satan incarnate and you know that all I was doing was just following what I believe in and trying to do my best.”