Banky W - On Looking for Love, Cooking and Marriage

Banky W's full name is Olubankole Wellington, and he is a Nigerian musician. We were discussing the other day about domestic Nigerian men, whether they exist at all, and when they'll begin to admit they also enjoy cooking and stuff. I came across these responses to different interview questions by Banky W, one of my very few Nigerian male celebrity crushes, and as it turns out, he's a real domestic Nigerian man.

BTW, anyone who knows him should please pass on the message to him that his song, Strong Thing, always gives me life as they say. The recent Yes/No seems like the prequel, and I'm liking it too. I will feature that one of these days. In the meantime, enjoy...

We’ve heard about your cooking skills, where did you get them from?
I love food, my love for it is immeasurable, and because of that, I get angry when I don’t get the right kind of food that I want. So I just felt like I could do this cooking thing myself and started looking at recipes on TV, on the web, and then just started cooking!


I never really took it serious, but while we were on tour I started; Wizzy and Skales would eat every meal and give their opinion (Laughs). Now I want to open a specific type of restaurant where I will cook once in a week for the customers and sing for them, give them a music-food experience; it’s a legitimate passion in me.

When are you going to let a woman do the cooking for you though?
That’s funny, because some weeks back my dad came into the country to take care of some of his business and was staying with me. I cooked for him and my uncle, and they were surprised it tasted that good. ‘But that doesn’t mean you should not go and get a wife’, he still added. (laughs) I think marriage is one of the most important things or decisions to make in life. It’s something that can help make or break you, and I feel it is important to do it when you feel the time is right and you’ve found the right person, and that’s really a challenge, a challenge of being in the right place yourself. I feel if I rush and it fails, people will criticize me, so why not just take my time and do it when I feel like it is right?

Are you single?

Yes. It’s tough. It is a question of time. I literally have very little time on my hands. This has been the busiest year so far in my career. Within the next 30days I will need to travel to Benin, Abuja, Yola, the States, Dublin and South Africa. My schedule is hectic and to be able to build a relationship you need to commit a certain amount of time and energy. I’d like to think that I will eventually make a great boyfriend and husband. I try to be a romantic guy. I am very spontaneous. I like to enjoy my relationships. When the time is right I will be able to do all of that.

Also, apart from time, there’s the question of trying to find the right person which is the million dollar question. Because in my line of work you tend to meet with either real big fans or people that you just don’t really identify with. There is always the question of whether this person will love the real me. Everything is so jumbled together because my music personality and my real personality are kind of the same…

So I don’t want them to hate the fact that I do music but then I don’t want them to be consumed by it either. There are so many uncertainties that having a relationship becomes so much harder. Also being in a relationship with me will definitely take a toll on whoever is with me because my job comes with a lot of female attention and that is hard for anyone to deal with. But I believe that God still loves me enough to give me the right person to settle down with.

What sort of girls do you find attractive?

Physical beauty is important to a certain extent because you have to be attracted to someone to want to get to know more. I like girls that are independent and ambitious, that I can have a real conversation with. Because if you are beautiful and dumb when we get past the physical intimacy there is nothing more to be said. I like fun girls; girls who love music and can dance because I love to dance. If you can cook it’s a huge plus because I am a sucker for good food. I am not a sweet tooth; I don’t eat cakes, candy, chocolate etc. I will eat ice cream once in a blue moon but if you give me goat meat, rice, chicken or beef, I am VERY happy. I also like friendly, go-getter girls that have their own thing going on. So I can be inspired by what they do as well.

What Physical attributes do you find attractive?

I’m not into ridiculously skinny or ridiculously overweight. I like the grey area in the middle where they is ample supply of everything. In terms of height I could go either way I have dated girls that are taller or shorter than me. I am attracted by girls who have a semblance of the whole package. You carry your self well, you know how to dress, and there’s a kind of x factor kind of thing. I have been attracted to all kinds of women, it’s difficult to explain but I know that thing I like when I see it.

Would you describe yourself as romantic?

I am the kind of person that would surprise a girl with flowers at work, pull a spontaneous trip out of no where or the quiet dinner on the beach. For me, a big part of romance is spontaneity. For example, there was a time over Valentines Day where instead of just celebrating it the one day, I did like a three-day thing just to vary it up otherwise it gets boring. I think one of the keys to having a good relationship is to keep it interesting.



Sources - TheNETNg and Bellanaija