Former Big Brother Naija winner Phyna has opened up about the reasons behind her decision to drop her family surname, Otabor. In a recent interview with TVC News, Phyna explained that her choice was rooted in long-standing feelings of exclusion and mistreatment by her family.

She emphasized that this decision was not about disowning her family but rather giving them what they had always wanted. "This is me finally accepting how they've been treating me because they've never treated me as one of their own. This is me finally moving out of it because I was tired of begging anyone to be in my life," she said. "So I won't say I disowned them; it's me giving them what they've always wanted."

Phyna also reflected on her childhood, sharing that she had always felt alone and has since worked hard to build her life independently. "For now, I would say I'm by myself. I've always been by myself right from childhood, so I'm not even bothered," she added. "See how I've worked hard for myself, so for me to be at this stage right now, I'm not sure I need anyone to stress me out. If I'm living by myself, then I must be doing the right thing for myself because only I know what I've been through."

Phyna revealed that her family had not reached out to her, which was a continuation of how things had always been, and she expressed that she felt at peace with the situation now.

This revelation follows a deeply emotional post Phyna made on her X account (formerly Twitter) in November 2024, where she shared her frustrations and confusion regarding her family. "I am publicly dropping my family surname, OTABOR... it has been proven that I actually have no family and nobody knows how I came about," she wrote. "I’m still searching for answers though... it’s been rough with me lately... I’m in a place where I can’t even describe how I feel or what to call what I’m going through right now." She also recounted how, as a child, she was tossed around by relatives, something she hadn’t fully understood at the time.

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