Moses Adejumo Olaiya,(MON),stage
name Lamidi Sanni Oropo, popularly known as Baba Sala, is numero uno comedian in
Nigeria. The Ijesha-born actor / comedian said in an intervierw sometime ago
that comedy is in his blood, “It is in my blood. If I have to do it, I can
still do it.”
However,
this great actor/comedian narrated his business engagement that went wrong
which almost threatened his well being. In 1982, a business
miscalculation changed his life forever and ever since has never remained the
same.
Enjoy the story:
According to him, after years of
making stage plays and achieving great popularity, one of his best fans, a
Chief JMJ, advised him to go into films. JMJ pointed out that even Ade
Afolayan, aka Ade-Love, a boy who trained under him, was already making movies.
Ade-Love had made Ija Ominira then.
“He asked
me how long I wanted to continue throwing myself on the floor on stage. I
thought about it and decided to do it.”
Then,
films were not only made in Nigeria. Post production had to be done in the
United Kingdom and it was an expensive business for which bank loans had to be
procured.
One of his fans then also happened
to be Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the leader of the Action Group. Awolowo promised
to help him with a loan at the National Bank. Interestingly, Chief JMJ happened
to be a member of the NCNC, a political party that was anti AG. Both men put
aside their political differences to help Baba Sala. Chief JMJ gave him three
two-storey buildings to use as collateral to get the bank loan. He added two
buildings of his own in choice places in Lagos and then, the loan was ready. He
got a sum of N1.5m.
Not
knowing anything about films, he approached a young and upcoming director, Ola
Balogun, who made the first indigenous films in Nigeria.
“I gave him about four scripts and
then he chose the one he thought was the best, Orun Mooru. He trained us and
directed the film.”
In those
days, films came in 35mm format and carrying them from one cinema to the other
was cumbersome
When Orun Mooru had been made, he
said they rejoiced greatly that, at last, they had made a film. Then Ola
Balogun advised him to reduce the film to a smaller format, so that it could be
more portable and be taken round more cinema houses at the same time.
For Baba Sala, it was a good idea.
One he still regrets till today. In his words: “I thought he was helping me, so
I agreed. That advice got me into trouble, killed me and turned me into the
wretched of the earth. Owo aiye temi,” he recalled painfully. Once the
film went into multiple copies, they fell into the hands of pirates and
according to him, they had a field day!
“We had not broken even then, and
the bank interests piled up rapidly.”
The
collateral were not all his and Chief JMJ, a man in his 70s at that time, was
worried that at the threshold of his exit from earth, he would lose his labour
to the bank.
It was a dilemma for Baba Sala as
he had to sell his houses and other properties to offset his debt. Yet, it was
not enough. He recalled that all the works of subsequent years went into paying
the National Bank debt. He tried to get justice especially as one Mr. Adeyemi
was fingered.
The case was adjourned for years
and a twist in the tale occurred when Adeyemi was arrested abroad for drug
peddling. He was released after 10 years and when he came home, Baba Sala tried
to reopen the case but Adeyemi died six months after.
One thing he is happy about is
that he managed to recover Chief JMJ’s houses and though the man was dead, at
that time his children were happy that Baba Sala kept his side of the agreement.
“I respect the man a lot. A friend
like that is rare. I felt he should not be made to suffer for helping a friend.
Close to his death, he wrote me a letter and asked, ‘Baba Sala, is this how my
property will be lost to the government?’ I was touched and resolved to pay
everything back. I did and then went to settle in Ibadan quietly.”
Baba Sala believed that the film
would have made a huge break if it had not been pirated. That notwithstanding,
he made other films. After Orun Mooru, he made Aare Agbaiye. Then, as a way of
consoling himself, he made another, Mosebolatan.
“I called it that because I had
thought it was all over for me. But Mosebolatan was a way of saying it was not
over.”
Other ones
came after – Sugar Daddy, Obe Gbona, Return Match, Ana Gomina and a TV series,
The return of Baba Sala. Ana Gomina was in video format and the last film he
made because, according to him, he was badly cheated of the gains by the film
marketers.
His costume was a joke in itself
as he was always over dressed. Currently, the costumes are in Ibadan. His
children are trying to build a museum in his name and even produce a book and
documentary on him but it has not been easy securing the finances. For one,
they do not have the required amount and attempts to get corporate sponsorship
have not been successful.
The saddest day in life was when
he returned from UK and found two of his wives dead within 24 hours of each
other. “The happiest was when I
was given a national award by the then Military government through Olusegun
Obasanjo. I was happy that playing a fool could bring me so much honour.”
Credit EMN News
No comments:
Post a Comment