Timaya Sparks Controversy With “Baby Daddy” Advice

The debate over the relevance of marriage in modern Nigeria has reached a fever pitch following viral comments by Afrobeats veteran Inetimi Alfred Odon, popularly known as Timaya.

In a bold and characteristically blunt declaration, the “Dem Mama” crooner has advised single men to shun the institution of marriage, claiming it doesn’t work, and instead embrace the lifestyle of a baby daddy.

The statement, which surfaced in a widely circulated video over the weekend, shows the 45-year-old singer in a relaxed setting alongside colleagues Paul Okoye (Rudeboy) and rapper Phyno. While the trio appeared to be engaged in a lighthearted conversation about family life, Timaya’s advice to Phyno was anything but casual.

Speaking in Pidgin English, Timaya was captured telling his peers that marriage is a failing venture. “Just born pikin, the pikin go grow. This marriage thing no dey work,” he stated with an air of finality.

His comments, while seemingly delivered as advice to his colleague Phyno, have resonated and clashed with thousands of Nigerians online. For many, Timaya is simply speaking his truth; for others, his stance is a dangerous dismissal of a fundamental societal pillar.

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This is not the first time the Bayelsa-born superstar has expressed skepticism toward matrimony. Timaya, who has achieved immense global success over a career spanning two decades, has famously never been married. However, he is a dedicated father to four children whom he shares with three different women: Barbara Fumnaya Nwaokolo (mother of his two eldest daughters), Tamar (mother of his son), and Dunnie Onasanya (mother of his youngest child).

In previous interviews, the singer has often cited peace of mind and an aversion to stress as the primary reasons he avoids the altar. He has frequently mentioned that while he loves being a father, he values his freedom and finds the legal and emotional entanglements of marriage to be overwhelming. “If I marry today and the girl disturbs me, I can get out. I don’t like anything to bother me at all,” he once told reporters.

The singer’s latest remarks have ignited a firestorm on social media platforms like X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram. Critics have been quick to point out that Timaya’s baby daddy model often places an unfair emotional and domestic burden on mothers, while proponents of his view argue that the rising rate of divorce in Nigeria proves that traditional marriage is indeed under immense strain.

“It is easy for a wealthy celebrity to say marriage doesn’t work when he has the money to maintain multiple homes,” one social media user commented. “But for the average man, a stable home is still the best foundation for raising children.”

Conversely, some fans defended him, stating that his honesty is refreshing in an industry where many pretend to have perfect marriages only for domestic scandals to leak months later.