Nigerian Grammy-winning singer, Temilade Openiyi, known in the showbiz circles as Tems, is said to be only N200 rich when she made an entry in the industry.
Her Manager, Muyiwa Awoniyi revealed this during a recent podcast where he said Tems was not financially stable when they met.
“Obviously, she wasn’t financially buoyant in any capacity. When I met Tems, she only had like 200 Naira in her account,” he stated.
Awoniyi agreed to collaborate with Tems due to her talent and commitment, regardless of her financial status.
“There was something Tems did that made me say, ‘I don’t want to do a managerial contract with you, let’s do a company.’ When she asked me to be her manager, I agreed and said I would send her a contract to sign,” he said.
Though, signing a contract with an artist could be tricky, Awoniyi indicated that Tems was committed and he realized they could work for life, thus they rather worked in a company.
“I was like, ‘You don’t mind signing paperwork? Hold on, let’s not do this. You’re someone I can rock with for life. Let’s start a company.’ Prior to this, Tems and I were friends for about three months and we never spoke about working together,” he added.
Awoniyi indicated that the truthful and generous nature of the singer got him to help her to become the celebrated singer she is now.
”Another thing that shocked me was that even though she didn’t have money, she would order food for us. She didn’t even have a way of earning. So, I just realised that she is different from everyone I have seen in Nigeria,” he added.
