Ademola Adeleke, the governor of Osun state, has revealed that as a child, he wanted to be a musician but his father discouraged him.
He stated that rather than becoming a politician, he would have become an artist in the entertainment industry.
During an interview on arise TV on Wednsday, he stated that he is gifted and that he has passed on his talent to his son, Bred, and nephew, Davido.
Remember that Adeleke, Davido’s uncle, was chastised for always dancing during the campaigning period, and was deemed unfit to run a state by some, while his supporters said such behavior demonstrated that he would be socially accessible to all.
He said: “Actually, I was supposed to be a musician right away. But my father, when we were growing up in the sixties, didn’t allow it. They didn’t believe that somebody should go and do music. They just wanted you to go to school. So he discouraged me. But I know that I have that talent. It’s the talent I passed on to my nephew and my son.
“If you play music now, I don’t know how, I would just start dancing. My body would just start moving without knowing it.
“I got to America in 1981. The name of my school that time in Alabama was Jacksonville State University. It was in the countryside. At that time, the school was having their anniversary, a lot of activities were happening there. So I picked the dancing part. So, after the stages, we got to the finals.
“So to cut the long story short, I won. I remember vividly, the president of our school was trying to pronounce my name – Ademola Adeleke – he called me Jackson. And at that time Michael Jackson was reigning. So that’s how I got the name Jackson”.