Smoking Almost Destroyed My Life- Yeni Kuti

Not every smoker some time live to tell their story or encounter with smoking but for the first daughter of late Afro-beat legend, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, Yeni Kuti, she is just one lucky woman.

Recently telling her story on how she quit smoking, she stated that she took the bold decision because she wanted to ensure that she sees that her daughter, Rolari, Graduates from the university.

Yeni explained that many times she has promised herself to stop smoking and as each January of every new passes, she does not keep to her resolution but pondering on the heart pains she continues to have, it was pertinent that if she does not stop, she might not live to see her daughter graduate.

Speaking with Sun on how the whole journey of smoking has been for her and how she stopped about three years ago, Yeni said, “Before my daughter went into the university, I used to smoke and suffer chest pains. I was like ‘if I continue smoking I may die before my daughter graduates’.

“That was the inspiration I needed to stop smoking because for years, I had been telling myself that I would stop smoking on the first day of January, but by January 4 I was still smoking.

“But this time, I didn’t wait for January 3 or 4. I simply told myself that if I continued smoking, I would die and never see my daughter graduate. And that was just too important for me, so I just stopped. I have stopped smoking for three years. The fear of not being able to educate my child gave me that inspiration. I was like, who will educate this girl if I die?”