I drank garri for more than 200 days— Kaffy shares family’s grace to grass story

Kafayat Shafau, popularly known as Kaffy, has shared a deeply personal account of her family’s journey from affluence to hardship and how it shaped her mentality.

Kaffy, award-winning Nigerian dancer and choreographer, made the revelation on the Honest Bunch Podcast on Saturday, where she discussed her childhood struggles.

Kaffy recalled growing up in a wealthy household that frequently hosted Nigeria’s music legends: King Sunny Ade, Sikiru Ayinde Barrister, Ebenezer Obey, amongst others.

She compared her father’s wealth to that of the late MKO Abiola, who was one of the richest Yoruba men at the time.

“My parents were in the league of MKO Abiola. They were the first people to spray dollars at parties. You would hear Sunny Ade and Barrister sing their praises. These people came to our house every weekend,” she said.

According to the dancer, Alhaji Shafau and Alhaja Alake Lakonko, her parents used to be among Lagos’ high-profile socialites in the early 90s.

Speaking further, Kaffy described how her father decided to relocate abroad to work as a floor cleaner while her mother and the kids struggled to adapt, living off garri for almost a year.

“There were a lot of times when living with our mothers, there was no food for weeks and months. Hunger is a mentor.

“If you want the body to sustain on only water because water is the only thing you see, it would. I drank garri for seven months without a break; there was no kwashiorkor,” she revealed.

“My mother would have psychotic breaks and put all of us in the centre of the house, saying, ‘You are the reason why… Your destiny should start providing for me because you’re the reason I am not anywhere in my life,’” she recounted.