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Since her sepration Toni has granted her
first major interview explaining her own
version of how and why the marriage
crashed. She opened up to City People
Publisher Seye Kehinde on why her
marriage crashed. -
Q: Did u hear d gist making d rounds dat a
lady in Abuja just delivered twins for ur
husband?
A: Yes I did
Q: Rumor has it that 9ice went into that
affair because you went into a new
relationship, how true is that?
A; That is not true, he has been in that
relationship before we seperated. In fact
the day I found out about it, I confronted
her over the phone and she reported me
to him. He came to fight me because of
that and later called his parents (Alhaji
Azeez Akande, Tawa Oshodi) to come and
pack me and my son out of the house.
Q: Some ave alleged dat she was d one
who broke ur marriage. Is this true?
A: yes she was the main reason along
with issues with his family. All that
ruggedman story was rubbish, I'm not
even attracted to ruggedman cos he is like
a brother to me. Aside that, his manager
was feeding his parents false stories
about me cos he wanted me out of the
picture cos he thot I wanted his job and
also his brother Dr Wale Akande
convinced them I was after his property
because I stopped d brother from
continuing with building our house after
noticing some monies where unaccounted
for. Mind you I met my husband when he
was struggling, none of his family
members sent him then. We were staying
in my family house and his apt with
Jahbless in Ikorodu and I loved him
regardless, so what property could I have
been after? I toiled night and day with him
so why would I want to cheat him. The
parents would come to the house to fight
me, yelling curses, trying to frustrate me
out of the house, the mother tore my
dress one day and I ran for mine and my
sons safty. This caused a lot of tension in
our relationship but instead of him to
stand by me he ran to another woman.
Q: What was ur reaction to the twins
news wen you heard it? Were u angry?
Did u call him to ask about that news of a
woman having a child for him?
A: Yes I was understandably angry
because from day 1 he knows I don't want
polygamy for my children if I can avoid it
and also cos I felt he shud have divorced
me first and married her before engaging
in such. Like what example is he setting
for his son. Lastly I felt if he would
impregnate anyone it should not be the
woman who broke our home.
Q: Why have u been quiet all this while
about your marriage break up?
A: I tried very hard to protect him even
when people rubbished me. I never said ok
he was the one who messed up because I
felt he would be wise and consider my
sons interest, when taking life changing
decisions that could affect Zion. A part of
me wanted to believe he would never put
his own bloods future at stake for cheap
thrils. I changed my mind about talking
when I read a recent paper and noticed his
manager was already trying to twist
things to make it look like he moved on
and got someone pregnant cos I'm
engaged, I'm NOT engaged, so I just felt
enough is enough, I don't know why they
must always bringg my name up to justify
their mistakes. I had to ask myself, Why
am I protecting a man who continues to
make me look bad to protect himself. I felt
it was time to be true to myself and quit
deceiving myself that he will soon feel
remorse for his actions.
Q: Was it because you wanted
reconciliation?
A: No, I just felt I should protect him
because I guess a stupid part of me still
loved him and felt he would come to his
senses and at least do right by my son
even if we never reconcile. At d end of the
day I'm human and have emotions too,
guess I never predicted things would get
this bad.
Q: For the very 1st time, can you tell me
what broke your marriage?
A: Simple: 3 things broke my marriage: His
family's interferance, His Manager's
interference and His affair with Vicky
Godis
Q: Whose fault, your or his fault?
A: I can't say I was perfect, but I NEVER
cheated on him. I was pregnant and later
nursing the entire time we were married.
Also, before I got married I knew what
being loyal is, I also knew there is no way I
would ever cheat on my husband. Its not
my way. Yeah I would get angry when he
cheated on me, I felt it was a normal
reaction when you love someone and they
are doing things to hurt you but still I
never left him. The seperation was not my
idea. My son was 11 months old, a week
before his 1st birthday, his parents threw
us out. My son spent his birthday in a
hotel. I was sitting in my house when his
parents came, they packed my things and
my sons things into my car, I have pictures
I took as evidence and I drove off with my
son to a friends hotel in VI where I stayed
for 3 weeks. Meanwhile he was with Vicky
in abuja while it was happening.
Q: Is it true you have asked for Divorce
A: Yes, I have. He is yet to file. If he is so
sure he doesn't want to be married he
should have no problems divorcig me.
Allow me move on and give my son a
family life he deserves.
Q: Do u see room for reconciliation?
A: I am not God so I can't say yes or no
but he has hurt me too deeply to just go
back. It would take a lot of healing,
although iv moved on forgetting the pains
is not that easy. At the end of the day,
only God know where our future is
headed.
Q: Some accuse you of forcing yourself on
him and that you are older than him and
that he couldnt just say no
A: I never forced myself on him. He did all
the chasing, even when I said I can't marry
a musician, he never stopped, he kept
assuring me that if he got famous he
would not change and I trusted him. What
people don't know is we got engaged in
November 2007, even before Gongo Aso
became a hit, some said its because I was
pregnant, that is not true, I got pregnant
5 months after we picked a wedding date.
I am not older than him, that report is also
false. He is older than me.
Q: Can you let us into how u fell in love wit
9ice? Who toasted who? Did u make the
1st move or he did?
A: He toasted me, I resisted in the
begining because I did not want a
musician boyfriend, I later agreed because
I felt he was sweet and sincere. How he
changed so much is what I'm not sure of.
Maybe bad advisers around him.
Q How did you feel when the news broke
that you are dating ruggedman/ Did u
ever date him?
A: I have said this hundreds of times, I
Never dated Ruggedman, I was never
caught with Ruggedman or any other
man. At first I did not take it serious
because I knew it was a lie. Iv known
ruggedman longer than any guy in the
industry, we have always been friends but
never dated. Till date, we have been and
still are like brother and sister. That
ruggedman story was a terrible attempt
to destroy my reputation. I'm not loose, I
don't sleep around, I don't jump from man
to man, I know the concequences of
cheating so why would I engage in it. Why
would I build with a man, when I know I
still want to play around. Why would I
destroy my home carelessly. I'm not
stupid. That makes no sense to me. I thank
God I have a fighting spirit because I did
not let the lies or insults bring me down.
Q: How did u meet 9ice? For how long did
you date before marriage?
A: I first saw him in Oct 2006, he came to
back ruggedman up at Gbenga Adeyinkas
Anniversary. We dint hook up till the
following year. I went back to the states
and we would chat online and talk on the
phone for hours. We got married in July
2008.
Q: How true is the story that you were
too overbearing on him?
A: I do not think I was overbearing. I
wanted the best for him so yeah I may
push him to strive for the best. I don't
think that's a bad thing or something
worth breaking a marriage over.
Q: How come it didn't work out
A: It takes 2 to make a marriage work, if
one party insist they dont want it to work
it will cripple any effort made by anyone.
The mistake I made was entering with my
heart and not my head. I should have
taken his family background seriously and
made 100% sure he had the same family
values as me.
Q: Let's get to know about ur growing up
years Where were you born?
A: Though my family decend is Ogun state,
I'm a lagos baby. My childhood was fun,
grew up and only child but had a lot of
cousins to play with. Let's say I had a
sound childhood.
Q: How about your growing up years and
Schools attended?
A: I shuttled between america and naija as
a child and till now so I attended primary
n secondary in both countries but finished
my university education at california state
university northridge
Q: Having studid in the US, what
professional/education courses did you
take?
A: I studied video digital art
Q: Your parents how did they influence
you, It seems you are closer to your mum?
A: they taught me to be very open in all I
do. Yes my mum and I are close, shez
always been there for me.
Q: Your career choice, Why showbiz?
A; Showbiz is something I stumbled into
since about 1999. I started it as a hobby
and eventually turned it into a business.
I'm happy I did.
Q: You are into Modeling Music and
Beauty how did u find yourself in all
these?
A: life has drawn me into everything I do
now. Something always transpires that
leads me to my calling. Plus I'm a business
minded person, very driven and don't
mind getting my hands wet in new
ventures.
Q: How do you cope with managing
artistes? People say that can be wild
A: I am blesed with artists that don't
engage in bad activities so I count myself
lucky.
Q: Tell us about your label. How many
artistes do you manage?
A: I currently manage three artists; Adol,
Zara and Olamide and all three are
focused people. Olamide and Adol just
released their albums titled Rapsodi and
Orin, respectively. Zara is currently
working on her debut album
Q: Did you ever manage 9ice How did you
cope fitting the 2 roles?
A: I took care of his international relations
as well as some PR. I did it because I
wanted him to succeed not because he
hired mee or was paying me. Its what I
love doing plus I was very passionate
about his music so it came easy
Q: Marrying a star means u coping with
his female admirers. How did u cope?
A: Well, I'm in the industry as well so I
know it comes with the territory. It didn't
bother me so far he kept it professional.
Q: What are your full names? Toni Payne
sounds oyinbo, How come?
A: (laughs) Toni is short for Antonia and
Payne is my last name. My yoruba name is
Seun
Q: How come you and his manager don't
get along?
A: he disliked me because he felt I wanted
his job. I believe it was ignorance
disturbing him. I wasn't interested in his
job. I just wanted to be helpful to the
process by contributing my knowledge.
Guess he knew he was horrible at his job
hence the insecurities. For me I dint care
who managed him so far the person was
doing a great job.
Q: When the news broke dat you were
marrying 9ice in 2008 many felt you
rushed him. Did you?
A: in 2008, no we did not rush. We were
engaged before he got popular so because
the marriage took place around the time
people started appreciating him, they felt
it was a new decision when it wasn't.
Q: Then Zion came isn't dat a rush?
No, I was of age and so was he. We
discussed it before, its just because
everything was happening around the
same time people wanted to know more
about him. It wasn't a new decision at all
or something that just happened. No.
Q: Is it true that this lady that had kids for
9ice has always been 9ices girlfriend
before you came into the picture?
A: (laughs) No, that is not true. My
husband met her a few months before our
seperation. I believe in September 2009 or
thereabouts. Her name is Vicky "Bukky"
Godis. She works at ECOWAS in Abuja.
Q: What did being a mother change in you
A: it made me more tolerant at the same
time more protective. A mother son love is
unique. Very special feeling.
Q: Any regrets about how your marriage
went?
A:In life there are always two sides to
things. People never gave me a chance
before judging me. I received so many
insults, hate mail over something I did not
do. It was painful knowing I was innocent
yet a lot were quick to crucify me. Ill just
say to those who judged me blindly, may
God forgive you. Next time find out facts
before castigating an innocent person. In
Nigeria women are usually judged unfairly
and this act has to stop. Its very very
unfair.
Click the link below to go to ,
EXCLUSIVE: Abuja Lover delivers baby girl
for 9ice

All the loud mouthed busybodies where are you now?