Veteran Yoruba actress Lola Idije has pushed back against the judgment single mothers often face, arguing that not every woman gets a husband to help raise her children and that some are simply destined to marry later in life.
The actress made the remarks during an appearance on the African A-List podcast. She said women should not be condemned for carrying the load alone.
“Not everybody will have a husband to help them raise their children. So women have to carry their burden alone. Not all of them choose that life,” she said.
Idije went further, pointing to forces beyond a woman’s control.
“Some situations are caused by enemies and others by family circumstances. So the fact that a woman doesn’t have a husband doesn’t mean she is a fool or does not know what she’s doing. Such a woman should be praised because some people are destined to marry at the age of 40 or 50.”
She also questioned the pressure placed on young women to settle down early.
“But if you start pressuring them at 20, how can you be sure that they won’t marry the wrong person?” she asked.
In the same conversation she observed that motherhood changes women, remarking simply that “When women start giving birth, they become softer.”
The comments land against the backdrop of Idije’s own life. Born on September 24, 1959, she rose to prominence in 1995 with her role as Madam Adisa in Deadly Affair. She is a widow who has previously spoken about raising her three daughters alone after her husband’s death and has described single parenting as one of the hardest burdens a woman can carry. In earlier interviews she has said she never remarried partly because of her children.