Tiwa Savage attempted to kill herself twice while living in London, United Kingdom. The Nigerian songbird opened up about her suicide attempts while talking about depression.
Speaking in a candid interview with Black Box, Tiwa Savage said that experiencing racism in UK firsthand pushed her to develop suicidal thoughts.
Savage revealed that she moved to UK with her mother when she was 10 years old. She further said that she was bullied at a school in London by racist students who made fun of her skin color and Nigerian accent.
“When I got to school, it was horrible and I had an accent. My first day I clearly cannot forget. I got to school late and my teacher couldn’t pronounce my name. She then asked why I was late to school and I said ‘sorry ma there was go slow.’ Everyone started laughing. I was teased so badly. They use to call me ‘African girl’ ‘Fufu’, ‘We heard your food smells bad’,” Tiwa Savage narrated.
The Nigerian singer revealed that she attempted to bleach her skin after being teased about her dark complexion, and when the teasing got worst she ultimately tried taking her own life twice.
“It was so bad that I tried to kill myself two times. I was depressed and bullied. They would flush my hair down during lunch break. At some point, I use to have a police escort me to the bus. I wanted to bleach and started growing my hair. It was really terrible,” Tiwa Savage said.
