By Milcah Tanimu

Nigerian singer Adekunle Gold has shared his experiences of living with sickle cell disease and the online abuse he faced after speaking about his condition. In a recent interview with CNN, the ‘Orente’ crooner discussed his mission to create awareness and support for people living with the disease.

Adekunle Gold revealed that he decided to publicly address his struggle with sickle cell disease after finding the courage to speak up. His goal is to ensure that others with the condition feel safe and supported.

“I want people living with sickle cell to feel safe, to feel like they have help and support,” he said.

However, his openness was met with hostility from some quarters. “They call you a sickler… Recently, when I talked about it [my struggle with sickle cell] on the song [‘5-star’], I saw a lot of tweets from people attacking and abusing me,” he recounted.

Despite the backlash, Adekunle Gold remains committed to raising awareness. He explained that he has known about his condition since childhood, often putting himself in situations that exacerbated his illness.

“I’ve known about my sickle cell disease all my life. I knew since I was a child that I couldn’t do certain things. They said, ‘You know you have sickle cell, you can’t play football in the rain just like your peers.’ And I was like, ‘No, I want to play.’ I’ve always been rebellious,” he shared.

Growing up, he frequently experienced crises and hospital visits. He acknowledged that his rebellious nature often led to health issues, such as joint pains from playing in the rain.

“But I always knew that I didn’t want this thing [sickle cell] to define me,” Adekunle Gold concluded, highlighting his determination to live beyond the limitations of his condition.