Award-winning Nigerian dancer and choreographer, Kafayat Shafau, popularly known as Kaffy, has shared emotional details about her turbulent childhood, recalling how her family went from affluence to extreme hardship.
Kaffy revealed that her parents once belonged to Nigeria’s elite circle.
“My parents were in the league of MKO Abiola. They were the first people to spray dollars at parties. You would hear Sunny Ade and Barrister sing their praises. These people came to our house every weekend,” she stated on the Honest Bunch Podcast.
But the glory days didn’t last. She recalled a period of hunger that lasted for months, testing her resilience.
“There were times when there was no food for weeks and months. Hunger is a mentor. I drank garri for seven months without break, and there was no Kwashiorkor.”
Kaffy also spoke candidly about her mother’s mental health struggles and the emotional toll it had on the family.
“She would have psychotic breaks and put all of us in the centre of the house, saying, ‘You are the reason why… your destiny should start providing for me because you’re the reason I am not anywhere in my life.’”
Despite these harsh beginnings, Kaffy has risen to become one of Nigeria’s most respected dance icons, inspiring many with her story of resilience and survival.
