Veteran Yoruba actor, Ebun Oloyede widely known as Olaiya Igwe, has revealed that his only regret in life is his tribal marks. Igwe share this in an interview with City people magazine.
He said his biggest regret in life remains his parents’ decision to give him tribal mark, insisting that there is no need for parents to give their children tribal marks.
Read excerpts below:
Are there any specific things that you do, like routine, what you eat or exercise to keep fit?
I was born in the village, Mogan in Abeokuta. At the age of 5 my mum took me to Oke Koto in Agege, Lagos, and then later returned me back to Abeokuta. Why am I saying this? I enjoyed a lot of natural things in the village especially food and fruits. Probably, I was given some herbs too that makes me look young always (laugh). I did not regret living, growing up from the village. The only thing I regret is the tribal mark.
Why sir?
Tribal mark is not a culture. It is an uncivilized act. It is not a DNA, because as at that time they believed it is Yoruba DNA. It is very easy to recognize one another outside that you are from the same compound, but who told them that I belong to their family or part of their family? It is only my mother that can tell if I belong to the family or not.
What if my pregnancy belongs to her concubine, but she brought it to my father?
Which is very possible then, and there was nothing like DNA test to check the true paternity of a child then.
