Tuesday 26 March 2013

Goldie's Father Opens Up about Prezzo ---" Was it That he was using charm on my child?"


Pastor Dipo Filani
Handsome, Pastor Dipo Filani - Goldie's father
Goldie's father Pastor Dipo Filani is a simple man of God who believes in the faith he professes to love. He is a retired, Head of Treasury, Access Bank and now a full time Pastor. He granted Tell Magazine an interview, where he spoke about his relationship with his late daughter and his disagreement with her choice of career. After the cut...
Lets begin with how you recieved the news of her death

I was in a state of shock for two days, but we must appreciate the fact that ZGod allows what he wills and when he allows it, we cannot question him. my case is not as bad as that of Job and Job could still say "My Redeemer Liveth." I now appreciate better what Apostle Paul meant when he said that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ.
Can you tell us what really happened on that fateful day?
I had just come back from a three-day prayer retreat and I was relaxing. It was her younger brother, Joshua, who called me and said "Daddy, sister Bimpe is complaining of headache. pray for her." As he was speaking, she snatched the phone and shouted, "Daddy! My head is exploding. Pray for me." I was shocked. I told the brother to tell her to relax, but he called back and said "Daddy, sister Bimpe is now speechless." That was when I started praying for her, but shortly after she died on her way to the hospital. like any father, I felt very bad, it was a great shock to me. She was not ill and at the beginning of that week, I had sent her a message saying, "After life you will be remembered for the problem you created or solved".
 Curiously that sounds prophetic as she is currently mired in some sort of controversies even in death
what was bloated out of proportion was whether Goldie was married or not. she was legally married to Andrew Leonard Harvey. I was the one who approved of the marriage. They had been dating for three good years before they got married. she told me that there is a white man who is interested in marrying her. This man has been sponsoring her, she brought the man, that same Andrew in 2005. I interviewed him and said I hope you are sure. Do you really know her? He said there was nothing I wanted to tell him he did not already know. i asked him if he had parents and he said yes they live in th UK. I said he must bring them to Alagbado ( Filani's home in Lagos). he brought the old couple and they spent about a month after the marriage. he sponsored her and sent her to a university abroad. he really spoilt her with the good things of life.
 How old was Andrew when they got married?
He was 45, while Goldie was 24 at that time, but they were very much in love and their love for each other blossomed through her lifetime.
 Does her husband have a second family?
He had a Nigerian lady that he married before he met her (Goldie). They were legally divorced long before his marriage to Goldie.
 Are they children from the former marriage?
She has children, but what he (Andrew) told us was that only one of the children belonged to him, but Andrew had spent 18years in Nigeria. He worked in various companies, including Total, Shell and MTN efore he went to Malaysia. at a time, he even wanted to naturalise as a Nigerian
 Goldie always suggested that she had a strict upbringing. Can you throw some light on this?
I am a disciplinarian and I was also brought up that way. As my first child, I wanted her to be a role model for her siblings. she was a beautiful girl and I wanted to ensure that she was not exposed to the social life that abound in the society. I saw her as a good communicator and she attended the best schools. She attended green Springs Montessori primary school Anthony, Lagos and St John's college also in Lagos. It was one of the most expensive schools at that time, but she was  my first child and I was working in a bank then. She was very good with Eglish Language. She could convey her ideas in clear-cut English. There was a way she used words. Her best subject was English. I believe she was too intelligent for her age. I saw those qualities and I was looking forward to her becoming a newscaster or a producer. But it appeared that she planned her life at an early age. I remember I would come home and see strange names she had listed. She was gathering names of celebrities all over the world. Maybe I didnt handle it well but it was so appalling to me at that time. I wanted my children to be achievers, people who develop their careers like Wole Soyinka, gani fawehinmi, Rotimi Willaims and Akintola Williams who became wealthy and famous through the pursuit of their chosen careers.
 Were You in support of her participation in Big Brother Africa show?
 I never knew about it. She gave me 24hrs notice. I never knew my daughter could go for Big brother. the real sordid aspect had to do with Prezzo. Was it that he was using charms on my child? This boy cannot measure up to Andrew, I felt that the Kenyan was just using her and exploiting her innocence and unknown to her, Prezzo was going behind her to backbite. She refused to tell the world she was married. But we later (understood) it was to boost her chances. But honestly, at one time we were praying for her to be evicted. When she was evicted, we nearly celebrated in my house. For the first time I was forced to watch the show. She was the hardest working and the most well- dressed of the lot. She never made love to Prezzo and she never kissed him though Prezzo wanted it.
What do you find most painful about her death?
Our expectation concerning her was dashed. At a point, we were thinking she would start singing for Jesus, using her talent for God. But it was not to be. She was never ill. She left no legacy. She did not realise her full potential. Yes, she won awards and she had songs, she had not started making money from her songs and shows.
We Learnt she and her hsuband were planning to start having children this year. Were you aware of this?
so we learnt too. But last year, I myself and my wife ( Goldie's stepmother) were in their house and we asked whether they were having problems getting pregnant. She laughed it off and said they were working on it. I turned to her husband and he said they do not have time for each other, that when he is coming in, she is going out and when he is going out she is coming in.
Source :Tell Magazine

Quite a revealing interview don't you think? Let me have your opinion on our comment page. I think many stars have gone ahead to have booming careers inspite of their marriages and the reasons adduced for keeping Goldie's a secret is balderdash. So is Omotola's career dead because she is married? We have plenty of examples even internationally so enough already. The part that touched me most especially was where he said she left no legacy! Food for thought. What legacy should live after me is my focus now. Let those of us who still have the opportunity not misuse it. RIP Goldie.

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