20th January, 2011
Famous pop singer now turned pastor, Felix Lebarty has embraced monogamy and in a twist of fate has started to preach against polygamy. 
At the peak of his fame, Lebarty was said to have fathered 19 children from his eight lovers.
However, speaking with P.M.NEWS in a down-to-earth interview at his church in Benin City, Edo State, South-South Nigeria, Pastor Lebarty described polygamy as “the wrong way of life.â€
The General Overseer of Soul Winners for Christ Ministry, Benin City, admitted he is from a polygamous home and once practised polygamy before he accepted Christ and became a preacher some years ago.
“I did not pay any bride price. But I had women that were giving me children. Then, I had up to eight women. Now my eyes are opened. I have come to see the emotional torture women in polygamous homes went through having those children,†Lebarty said.
He regretted having fathered children who might not have the opportunity of seeing him for up to a year, adding that women are closer to children and the absence of the father for such a long period might make the women to mislead the children.
The pop singer who during his musical career was called Lover Boy, because of the title of one of his albums that bears that title, attributed the life of negativity children from polygamous live as affecting the society at large.
He stated that through polygamous lifestyle of the black people, a lot of negative tendencies now permeate the African society, from the women and their children.
Having realised the bad side of polygamy, Pastor Lebarty said he prayed to God about it and God told him to examine his life. It was then he accepted the norm that no woman ever likes to share her man with other women.
Lebarty said he is now happily married and has continued to feed the other women in her life with the word of truth.
He added that they now reason with him that they needed to know the truth because it is the truth that can set them free.
Because of the trauma that children and women passed through, Lebarty said the society must accept that polygamy is bad and make efforts to stop it.
He said he counted himself lucky to see the light because many of his colleagues who were into similar acts like him never had the opportunity to repent and turned to Christ before they died.
— Yomi Obaditan/Benin City
