Award-winning Nigerian musician/songwriter, Iyanya Onoyom Mbuk, known by the stage name Iyanya, has opened up about his struggles and how he almost took his life after he became bankrupt in 2020.

According to him, he lost his house and was staying in a hotel but couldn’t afford the hotel bills anymore at some point. He asserted that this was when he was taken to court by his former management, Temple Management Company, for allegedly “stealing” a car belonging to the company.

Speaking as a  guest in the latest episode of the Tea With Tay podcast hosted by actor, Temisan Emmanuel Ahwieh, aka Taymesan, the ‘Your Waist’ hitmaker, shared his harrowing experience, emphasizing that he couldn’t do anything at the point.

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He detailed saying, “I was in court for a long time, I didn’t do shows. I couldn’t do anything. You know, when you stopped doing show, you now have to fall back on your savings. But when you are popping, that inflow [of money] is different, the way you spend is different from the way you spend whatever you saved. So, I felt it. I got to a point where I was like, mehn, I need to start touring. That was a crazy period for me. Guess what, two days after my last court case, COVID-19 started. I was stalked. I was in a hotel. My house was gone. I was in the hotel for a very long time. It got to one point, I couldn’t pay for the hotel bills anymore.”

Iyanya continued, “The owner of the hotel is such a great human being. I have never seen a such an amazing human being like that. He allowed me stay there. His name is Alaba. He allowed me stay there for over a year. COVID literally caught up with me there. So, imagine not doing shows. Not touring for over a year, no inflow, and you are in court for the whole year. And then finally, it’s looking like the court case is finishing, the lockdown. I was in that hotel throughout the lockdown. I almost committed suicide. The manager stopped me one time. All of that stuff. Madness, man.”