Controversial Nigerian singer and entertainer, Habeeb Okikiola Badmus popularly known as Portable, has opened up about his childhood struggles, revealing how losing his mother at the age of 13 changed his life and pushed him into street hustling.

Speaking during an interview on The Honest Bunch Podcast, the singer said the experience taught him lessons he believes could not be learnt in the classroom.

According to Portable, although he had people around him after his mother’s death, none could care for him the way she did.

“You learn from the street more than school. I lost my mother at the age of 13, nobody to take care of me. It wasn’t like they couldn’t take care of me, but they wouldn’t take care of me the way my mother would have taken care of me.”

The singer said his mother provided him with food and pocket money while she was alive. After her death, he turned to small-scale trading to support himself.

“My mother would give me pocket money and food. Would anyone have been able to do that for me? I sold pure water at Joju inside School 3,” he added.