Nigerian singer Abolore Akande, popularly known as 9ice, has shared a deeply personal story of spiritual struggle and awakening during a recent interview on The Nancy Isime Show.
When asked if he had experienced spiritual battles, 9ice replied, “I have experienced spiritual b+ttles several times,” before revealing a frightening ordeal; “I was in my house vomiting bl++d for six months,” he said.
Shocked, Nancy asked, “No way, when was this?”
“2009/2010,” 9ice replied.
“6 months! And it wasn’t a medical condition?” she asked.
“No it wasn’t medical,” he confirmed, adding that the mysterious illness forced him to leave his home.
That experience marked a turning point. “The first time I experienced Ifa was when I was vomiting that bl++d and someone just told me, ‘Go and accept Ifa now, so that you can be protected.’ I did it. I just wish that I had known Ifa at the beginning,” he said.
Explaining his current spiritual identity, the Gongo Aso singer declared, “I’m not Christian, I’m not Muslim. I’m a herbalist. I tell people and they run away from me. I’m an African. That’s what I practice. I have found my own light in my own way.”
Referencing late Afrobeat pioneer Fela Kuti, 9ice said, “When Fela was talking, Fela used to go to Ogun. We were like ‘this guy, what’s he doing?’ Now I know.”
He went on to share a belief that shaped his journey: “God said, ‘I will never come to you in a different language from your people.’ You will understand later that this black continent is for black people and we have our own messengers.”
To end, 9ice used a metaphor to explain spiritual diversity: “Is it one road that enters Lekki Phase 1? You can pass through this way, I can pass through that way. Just get there—with loyalty, with sincerity. That’s all.”
