Kayode Olaiya, popularly known as Aderupoko is a big name in Nigerian movie industry. He is a veteran Yoruba actor. He started acting over 50 years ago. He’s one the fathers who have carved a niche for himself in the sector. Aderupoko is widely know; he acts in Yoruba (majorly), English series and has acted so many in stage performance before the advent of home videos.
Talk of relevance and consistency this man has it. He features in A-List movies and he has won several awards home and abroad. The recent one is the Life Time Award he received 3 weeks ago at City People’s Movies Award held at Balmoral Events Centre, Oregun, Ikeja, Lagos. He was present from the start to finish.
ISAAC ABIMBADE asked him about his 51 years experience in the industry among other issues. Excerpts.
Presently, what project are you doing?
We are presently shooting diamond in the sky in Ilorin. Its about those who are battling with breast cancer. So, the movie is to educate people who are battling with the ailment because many of them don’t know the implication when their breast is hard; not everyone knows there is danger in that. Many women don’t want their husbands to touch their breasts. So, a lot of people who is going through that will still be wearing bra. That is why we are putting up a movie to educate a lot of our women.
What role did you play in the movie?
I played the role of Taxi Driver. One of the husbands who doesn’t know his wife has that type of ailment (breast cancer). You know that, a lot of our Taxi Drivers here are uneducated. Most of them don’t have access to hospitals let alone doing tests, even the husband doesn’t visit hospitals they only go to the pharmarcy to get drugs if they are not feeling fine and they do the same for their wives.
How did movie/theatre start for you sir?
I started story telling in 1966 WNTV. So, during that time, not many house had television and there was no recording and its from 4pm to 10pm. I was only given 15 minutes to showcase my talents. I was still a student then. That was when I entered the industry. After 2 years, I met a lot of people who were into stage play. I had been telling stories before in our village. During our school end of the year party, we used to tell stories and that was how I got to WNTV. Some people also came, they were also telling stories.
I was eager to join them but my parents didn’t want me to travel away from them. They were the likes of Baba Ogunde, Kola Ogunmola, Oyin Adejobi. But they were not from Ibadan; they came from different states to perform in Ibadan at that time.
I could not join them because my parents did not want me to travel far away. So, I joined ‘Edunkunle Travelling Theatre’, their own was similar to Baba Ogunde’s group but he had not started television programme as at that time and that was how we started acting around different schools at that time.
I started acting in 1966 but I got to Olaomo’nitan Ajimajasan in 1972, that was where I was till I launched our group, ‘Jacob, Papalolo and Aderupoko called Jester Internationals in 1980. Since then I have been on my own.
Did you start with comedy?
We did not start with comedy. We started with serious play but when the WNTV, WHBS transformed to NTA, Baba Sala also joined. Edunkunle Theatre Group was also doing serious drama then. Olaomonitan was also into serious drama then. Baba Sala was the first person to act comedy but then there wasn’t recording; as you act, it would be showing live. Then Baba Sala used to travel around and the TV station wouldn’t want the programme not to be aired for a week and he was the only one. So, they called for audition. They wanted someone like Baba Sala, someone who could take over from him when he travels. They called Duro Ladipo Group, Lere Paimo was the Manager of the group then. They also called Baba Mero from Lagos. They called Ayinla Olumegbon from Lagos. They called Ola’Omoniyan Ajimojasan from Ibadan.
We were up to 5 to 6 but Ajimojasan came first in the audition and I was with Ajimojasan then. We won because we acted in differnt characters and we presented a story that was meaningful and a story you can learn from. So, our own group now relieved Baba Sala from his job. Later, Baba Mero also came from Lagos, he was employed. So, that was how we became comedians.
Tell us a movie you have acted that brought you into limelight?
Like I said, we started way back in the school; from school to school. From stage to stage. From one television station to another, television series and radio programme. So, we have started building our name since then. I can not say one particular movie brought me to where I am today. I have acted a lot of movies, one of them is Toluwanile. People say a lot about the movie and another one is Jenifa Diary; everybody is saying ‘Baba Jenifas’. Kunle Afolayan also did October 1 and people are calling me Sergent Afonja. Whatever the part you take, if you can handle it very well, that would help you to promote yourself and people will continue to associate that with you. So, I can’t say in particular that this one has brought me into limelight.
What is your view on the happenings in Nollywood where female act half naked and sometimes acting pornography, which is against our culture?
It’s not only the theatre industry that’s doing movies but we now have different people who are doing this now. Nigeria has Nigerian Censor Board but the people behind it are not capable because it’s not their jobs; you can’t put a carpenter to handle theatre industry. Government gave everybody the license to act films.![]()
And these are the people infusing foreign culture into our movies and they don’t realise that it is our culture they are killing. When they watch foreign movies, they will now infuse that into our own movie. So, when they carry these types of movies to Censor Board, they won’t even question them, that is why we have Censor Board. Even when they take it to Censor Board without all those bad scenes, they can still add that later when they get approval from Censor Board, and you never hear someone being jailed for that incident before. Our government is part of it.
In Jenifa’s Diary, your role depicts that of a responsible and a disciplinarian father?
That is how it should be! That is how we should be doing. A good parent should not entertain rubbish from their children. A good parent should always lay good example because you must not fail to play the role of a good father money or material things should not hinder you. You must caution your children and that was exactly the role I played in Jenifa Diary.
Tell us that thing people always get wrong about you?
People usually take me for Aluwe; they call me Aluwe and Aderupoko, Aluwe! Maybe because we both have tribal marks and we act similar roles. Some people even call me Elesho and Elesho is light in complexion. People don’t know I am a fashion designer. Everything I have on me, I make it myself. I make every costume I use in every film I act. That is what I do alongside acting.
Did you learn fashion designing before you started acting?
I learned it when I finished from primary school. I learnt it for three years before I went for secondary school education lost my father at a younger age, my mother saw me through primary school, so after I finished primary school, I went to learn fashion designing. And if not for acting, it would have been fashion designing.
Tell us about Awada Kerikeri that held sway in those days?
I am coming to that. Like I said, the story is a long one and I hope we could have the time to cover everything in the course of the interview. Baba Sala had registered his episodes with Alawada, so when we came on board, they decided to remove Ala from our own and called Awada. So when Baba Mero came in, he could not use Awada because we had been using it, so he added kerikeri to his own to become Awadakerikeri. This was what led to Aderupoko that people called me today. I used to be known as Araga when I was doing stage plays with Ajimajasan group. You know I told you we travelled a lot of times as a theatre group, so anytime we were to travel; we usually go by a lorry called 9/11 because of our luggage. So, when development came and we started travelling with coaster buses, we thought we could pack our luggage the way we used to do when we travelled with 9/11. I was the stage manager and the driver, I also supervised what would be loaded inside the bus. So, the bus would be moving at a slow pace because of the load it was carrying and the people would be complaining, they started calling me Aderupoko. They saw me as someone who overloads the bus. So, that’s how the name Aderupoko came about and I am happy about the name today.