By IFECHI OKOH

In the Nigerian society of today, single Parenthood, especially as it relates to bachelorettes, no longer raise eyebrows as it used to be in the past when the fast lane philosophy was yet to take the centre stage of our social beliefs.Hence, once a corporate lady is doing well for herself, we applaud her efforts and turn blind eye to her single parent status. This kind of thing appears to be pretty rampant in showbusiness circles, where celebrity ladies strongly believe that since they share the same social standing with their male counterparts, they can as well cater easily for their children without necessarily being married to any man. In this edition, SHOWBIZ Xtra will be parading four successful showbiz bachelorettes, starting with Waje,Genevieve Nnaji, Omawumi Megbele and Iyabo Ojo. Enjoy the parade!

WAJE

This Naija song diva, actually climbed into focus in 2005 when the P. Square band showcased her in their hit single, Do Me. It appeared that this was all she needed to announce her talent. And true to such belief, hit songs followed one after another, attracting attention and subsequent applause from music watchers and followers at the same time. However, Waje finally inched into Naijas A-list act, after featuring in the single push outs of MI and Banky. W. This well-endowed voice and entertainer, is still a single parent celebrity, although she was once romantically linked to MI. But sadly, she has since denied it.

GENEVIEVE NNAJI

This screen goddess and mother of a 23-year-old daughter, Chimebuka, is simply one of Nollywoods A list talents, having crossed the international scene with a feature interview on CNN and Oprah Winfrey show. It is on good source that the elegant actress of substance seems to be undeterred by her single-parent status as she continues to advance with several mouth-watering endorsement deals to her credit. Like few other single parent female celebrities, she had also been linked to highly controversial D. Banj and our one-time, Vice President, Atiku Abubakar. But being a pretty private person, she is yet to validate any of such speculations. Till date, Nnaji still maintains her single parent status. She does not appear to be in a hurry to ditch it.

OMAWUNMI MEGBELE

The sensational hit churning songstress, who has a comic twist to most of her songs, is one well known single parent over the years. She is a single mother of a girl whose paternity is a well-kept secret. The talented singer who was a top contender in the maiden edition of the celebrated MTN project Fame, shot to the top with her hit single, The Music. All the media could gather about her love life then, was that there was some a kind of closeness between her and her then producer, Dokta Frabz. Despite that, nothing again that the prying media knew about her love life again. Hence, she has been able to conceal successfully the daughters paternity till this moment. All she has been feeding the media with is that she is into a healthy relationship with her babys daddy. Finish!

IYABO OJO

This obviously assertive and celebrated actress is the last, but not the least, in this list of four celebrity single parents stars on parade. She is just the proud single parent of three children. That's two boys and a girl. She is a major figure in the Yoruba movie circle, for having starred in wave-making productions over the years. Her story of being in one sizzling romance or another like other colleagues is not different. Like a strong willed person, she has successfully hidden her love life from the inquisitive press which is yet to uncover such scoop. Ojos ever evasiveness of the press may have actually helped the consummate professional in no small measure in her bid to keep the single Parenthood matter completely away from the prying eyes of the press. Little wonder there has been no embarrassing gist about her single parent status till this moment. The prize of fame, no doubt, made her and others feature our showcase focus today, although they are not the only celebrated single parents on our showbiz podium. We pledge to update you with the gist, once they are finally hooked. Till then, cheers.