Nigerian musician, Inetimi Alfred Timaya Odon, known professionally as Timaya, has recently opened up about his past struggles with substance abuse.
Speaking in a recent interview with Nigeria’s The Beat FM, the ‘Dem Mama’ hitmaker narrated how he got attracted to a substance called ‘molly’ after some young boys he resided with were always cheerful when they took the substance.
He revealed that he got introduced to drugs during the COVID-19 lockdown.
The renowned musician highlighted the challenges he was faced with during the ‘dark days’ he was engrossed with the addiction.
“I am not a saint. I have done drugs. Breaking off from drugs was a hell, it was a tough fight. I got introduced to drugs during the COVID-19 lockdown, 2020. Everybody was home and there are those young guys in my house who are always so happy. And I was like, ‘Bro, how are you guys happier than me, I am the boss I got money? What are you guys on?’ And they told me that they got molly.
“When I took it, I did not understand myself. I was so happy that I dashed all the money in my pocket. So I wanted to just keep feeling like that. That was how I lost a lot of weight. I was not eating, I was just happy? How you go just want dey happy? You are supposed to first of all, be happy naturally. But when you now need substance to make you happy, it replaces the natural happiness. So you have to be buying happiness,” he said.
Timaya described his experience as a ‘tough fight’, and expressed gratitude to his loved ones and family for helping him overcome the shackles of substance abuse.
In the words of the singer; “When I said I was taking molly, I was taking like three pills every day and it felt like medication…it was messing up.”
