•Deborah Fasoyin Photo: Sun News Publishing

Woman of the Sun Index

A bevy of beauties milled around her. Almost everyone of them wanted to say something to her and you could see happiness etched around her aging face as she smiled continually. Deborah Adebola Fasoyin is a member of the famous Good Women’s Choir that originated in Ibadan many years back.

This afternoon, she is wearing a long flowing pink dress and her countenance depicts a woman with a great sense of fulfillment.
As soon as you ask her to describe her experience in the entertainment scene, she snatches the question from your mouth with her response.

" It has been wonderful. It is really a great experience." She takes a break to remember some of her memorable encounters and sums it all up this way: " What the Lord is doing is great and there have been so many open doors. Every day I run into people who have been saved by our music. There are so many who have also been touched and they usually want to give us something. One of the things that amazes them is that at our age we can still sing and do the things we do".

Recalling some of the achievements made, Fasoyin says the biggest miracle happened when the group came back again ten years after. "In 1995 the group had a break and some people thought that was the end. But in 2005 we were revived and things began to fall in place once more.
"That was when we did the VCD of Odun lo sopin. At the beginning of the choir we had the record and later it was recorded on a cassette. Gradually we moved on and now we are so happy with the production of the latest addition which is the VCD.

"A lot of people accepted us and that really helped. A lot of the people who bought our record in the past did not know us. They heard our voices and liked what they heard. So, when they mention my name, nobody would recognize me. But as soon as they link me with the songs from the Good Women’s Choir, there would be so much excitement and compliments from people around me.
"Some have heard our songs all over but they are still very thrilled with it. A lot of young people who are just coming up also like these songs and I know that it is God that made it new in their ears. It is beyond human understanding and so I believe that it is actually the grace of God’.

For Fasoyin and her team, it is pay back time. "People invite us for church performances, outdoor engagements and we are busy all the time. Another plus is that it is still the same people that started at the beginning that are together. Although some have traveled out of the country, everything is still intact."
In the team, Fasoyin is the only one based in Lagos. Others are in Ado Ekiti, Ibadan and Abeokuta. "We come together whenever or wherever we need to do so. At the beginning, we had 130 women in the Good Women’s Choir but after a while the group shrunk to about twenty-something women. At the moment we are just about 12 of us in the team but we are all very committed".

Apart from her music, Fasoyin is also dedicated to church work. "At Daystar, I am a member of Women of Destiny. Under the Women of Destiny Ministry, I head a unit called Golden Mothers. It is a group for women above 56 years in the church. We are out to help the needy and the poor. We have a lot of assignments and this includes remand homes, old people’s homes and other target groups".