Nigerian songstress, Joy Eseoghene Odiete, better known as Jodie has revealed that she battled depression after her divorce with ex-husband, David Nnaji.
Jodie and the Nollywood producer and actor David Nnaji got married in October 2015 and they had a child together, Chinua, they got divorced in 2017 after the actor had another child with another woman.
Opening up on her life after divorce in an interview with The Nation, she recounted how she cried so many times and even did not know at a point that she is going through depression.
In her words;
“After crying my eyes out, I tried to numb the pain, so I got a job far away from home, so that I would commute to work very early in the morning and commute back late at night – plus the Lagos traffic – exhausted. It gave me some false comfort, so that I’d be too tired to think and continue the cycle the next day,”
“I didn’t know I was depressed after a while. I even shaved my hair at some point – I thought it was a fashion statement (I really like hair) – that’s after I had gone blonde. Sometimes, I would put on very heavy make-up, just to add some ‘colour’ in my life. I was restless.”
I was that way until, one day, still on the job – I had gone to Abuja for an assignment. I was walking back to the hotel I was lodged in, then I found myself praying this so-called prayer. It was full of bitterness and anger – asking God to punish those I believed had hurt me.
“Then, it was like someone spoke to me in my heart, saying, ‘but, is that what you really want?’ I paused. I then started walking slowly, I was now speaking out, softly, I said, ‘Actually, that’s not what I want, I just want them to see things through my perspective.’ After which, I continued the rest of the prayer, still walking, asking for peace of mind and help to forgive and move on.” I believe that is where healing began.
“I started afresh, like a child – I went back to my church choir. I continued with my hobbies – crafting and all. I even learnt a new skill (product formulation from Eudokas Beauty Institute) and opened a natural hair care brand called Kuchi Kuchi – of course, I grew my nappy hair back, and by the way, it is long again.
“I decided to sing some songs I’ve always wanted to sing, hence my new EP, ‘Songs of Truth’ I decided to live again and by the help of God and with gratitude in my heart, I am living again.”