Nollywood actress Aisha Lawal has answered the critics who dragged her for covering her daughter’s face at a celebrity birthday. She said the child is the gift of a hard first pregnancy, and that the internet will not get to raise her.
The row started at Rakeem’s first birthday, the animal-themed Lagos party thrown by Priscilla Ojo for Iyabo Ojo’s grandson. As Lawal arrived with her daughter, a woman filming the entrance called out the child’s name and school. Lawal pulled her hat over the girl’s face. The clip spread. Some called the move protective. Others called it strange, even performative, asking why she brought the child to a camera-heavy event if she did not want her seen.
Speaking with Morayo Afolabi Brown, Lawal said the cover-up was planned, not panic.
“Yes, I deliberately covered my daughter’s face at Rakeem’s birthday party because she is the product of my first pregnancy. I became pregnant with her when I was in my 30s, and did you know she had a twin brother who later ‘left?’”
She asked the public to sit with that loss before judging the hat.
“I want you all to understand what I went through before having her. I don’t want my daughter Zara to be on the internet at all because I’m not comfortable with the way some people bully children. I don’t care about the backlash online.”
The same interview explained why Nigerians rarely see the father of her children.
“I also deliberately kept my partner and the father of my children away from the public space because I discovered that whatever is covered or concealed is treated with honour and respect.”
In a separate clip from the same season of questions, she said she does not want her child growing up already tagged as a celebrity’s daughter. She wants the girl to decide, later, whether fame is a life she wants.
She still enjoyed the day. After the backlash, she posted souvenirs from the party, a haul that included a scooter, bags and toys, and joked that she would never be poor.