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Witty, blunt and brave Gbenga Adeboye remains one of Nigeria’s entertainer extraordinaire that ever lived on the comic stage. His was a perfect blend of music, broadcasting and acting. He was successful in all of them.
“I didn’t know who he was until he died. It was on the day of his burial that I got to know who he was.” Damilola, his daughter, who was nine years old when Adeboye died on May 30, 2003, told me on Monday, March 27, 2023, when we got on a Zoom call to talk about the man who blazed the trail for stand-up comedy in Nigeria and left before the boom of the entertainment industry.
A lot has changed since his death on April 30, 2003 (20 years ago). The entertainment industry’s revenue is projected to hit $10.7bn in 2023 from $4bn in 2013. Nollywood continues to maintain its place as the world’s second-largest film producer. The music industry is taking over the world and comedians (stand-up and skit makers) are now raking in more revenue from brand endorsement and ambassadorship.
But long before this boom, Adeboye made a great career out of making people laugh by speaking his mind and truth to power.
“Gbenga is one broadcaster who says whatever comes out of his mouth, and this has helped his career,” Toba Opaleye, one of his contemporaries, said on Yemi Sodimu’s ‘Aranbada’ TV programme.
In one breath, he could switch from a Pastor to an Islamic cleric or Ifa priest, a gentleman or a tout. He was vast with the recitation of the Bible, Quran and Ifa panegyrics. Simultaneously on a show, he could effortlessly mimic and play multiple personalities like Itu Baba Ita (a notorious gang leader), Lasisi Abesupinle, Forifogo, DPO, Alaye mi Gbengulo, and more.
“I’ve never seen someone that is that gifted. He could recite the Quran and when it comes to Ifa and Bible, he is a genius. He had the gift to do everything,” Damilola said.
Gbenga Adeboye wasn’t just the template for many stand-up comedians, he paved the way for them.
Born in Ode-omu, in Ayedaade LGA of Osun State, in September 1959, in 44 years, Adeboye made music, movie, was a leading voice in broadcasting. He took stand-up comedy on tour to Europe and America when it was still in its formative days.
At Oranmiyan Memorial Grammar School, Ile-Ife, where he graduated from, he gained a reputation for being the school clown. After moving to Lagos to live with his uncle – Samuel Oyebode, a retired military officer, whom he described as the pillar behind his success, he got a job with the Nigerian Airports Authority as a commercial attaché, where he picked up foreigners at the airport. While on the job, his biggest dream in life was to own a Volkswagen Beetle.
“I told God that if I were able to buy a Beetle in my life, I would resign,” he said in an interview with Yemi Sodimu. About a year later, he bought the car and quit the job.
“My dad was more of a car freak and was not materialistic. He could buy a Gucci shirt today, wear it just once and give it out to his driver or anyone,” Damilola told me.
Making A Career From Talking
Adeboye didn’t get into comedy professionally until when he left his airport job and joined NTA 10, reciting Yoruba poems (Ewi) when the station opened at 4 pm and closed at 10 pm.
“When I just got to Lagos, I was watching NTA one day and saw a presenter reciting ewi and I felt he wasn’t doing it well. I started boasting that I’d do better if given the opportunity to be on the show,” he said. “I asked my uncle Samuel Oyebode where the TV station is located, then he took me there. When I got there, I told them I could do the work better than the presenter on TV four days ago, they were alarmed by my bluntness. So, I was given the opportunity. That was where I met Opeyemi Fajemilehin who later introduced me to Radio Lagos.”
From that moment his broadcasting and comedy career took flight.
He later moved to Radio Lagos and became a formidable force in Nigeria broadcasting from the 1990s up to the early 2000s. With syndicated shows on several radio stations across Southwest Nigeria, his influence and popularity grew, and many other broadcasters rose to fame through him. The likes of Abbey Fagboro, Ambrose Shomide, Bashiru ‘Baba Gboin’ Adisa, among others were some of his proteges in broadcasting. But Damilola his daughter said many of these men who have become big names in broadcasting have been absent in the family’s life since her father’s death.
“The only people who show up for us are his colleagues in the English field – Ali Baba, Julius Agwu, AY, Gbenga Adeyinka, Owen Gee, and Gbenga Adewusi. We didn’t see any of his colleagues in the Yoruba genre of broadcasting.”
Gbenga Adeboye: A Satirist and Social Critic
Gbenga Adeboye didn’t just make people laugh, he also addressed social issues and spoke truth to power under the military regime and in democracy.
“Gbenga Adeboye combined in himself two formidable components of social criticism — music and comedy — mixed with an incredible linguistic dexterity with words, knowledge of the Yorùbá culture and a mimic mastery of almost all Nigerian languages. This alone gives him a wide base with the subaltern population in Nigeria than any other social critic,” Adeshina Afolayan wrote in the journal of the Institute of African Studies, Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada.
Over two decades ago, Adeboye addressed the ‘japa’ syndrome among young Nigerians and warned of its consequences on the nation.
“The Nigerian government is not thoughtful enough to know that the emigration of young Nigerians to Europe and America will result in a brain drain,” he said in the ‘London Yabis’ album after his return from London.
When the Ife-Modakeke ethnic clash reared its ugly head in the early 2000s, Adeboye addressed the issue with satire, making people laugh and calling for peace.
“What would have been Funwontan’s reaction to Goodluck, Buhari, Tinubu, and Osinbajo saga, if he was alive?” a fan asked on Facebook in April 2015.
With other albums like Oro Sunnukun and Ijinle Ọ̀rọ̀ Láti Orí Ìtẹ́ Mímọ among others, he addressed the June 12 debacle, democracy and the crisis at the National Assembly when Nigerian newly transitioned to democracy in 1999.
Adeboye also gained fame with his comic series on the titular characters Itu Baba Ita and Lasisi Abesunpinle, and addressed social issues with his movie ‘Oni Ni’ (It’s today).
His Final Days
In 2002, there were reports that he suffered from kidney disease that had kept him off the air. For a broadcaster with multiple shows across the southwest, he was conspicuous by his absence on the radio. On October 6, 2002, the Nigerian media space was awash with reports of Adeboye’s death, while many were still trying to confirm the authenticity of the report, he came back to life after six hours.
“It was a big shock to my mom. He was receiving drip in my mom’s room when he first died,” Damilola said. “He said God told him it’s not his time yet and he’s back to pick up his SOP (Songs of Praise) and Hymn book.”
Gbenga Adeboye would go on to live another six months. During this time, he released his last album ‘Aye Toto’ where he made certain comments about life and death, how God had called him to glory at a point in his life, why he was sent back to earth by God because he had to complete an unfinished assignment.
When he died six months later on April 30, 2003, the news sent shock waves across the country. Many fans thought he would beat death again as he did in October 2002, but this time, it was his final exit.
His funeral which ran for days was a state burial of sorts and sponsored by the Lagos state government under Bola Tinubu who was the governor at the time. Many artistes like Pasuma, Shefiu Alao and Yinka Ayefele and a group of Nigerian singers comprising Sola Allyson, Busola ‘Eleyele’ Oke, Lanre ‘Atorise Teriba, among others released tributes albums to honour him.
On the day he was buried, a part of Lagos was on lockdown. After his lying-in-state at Lagos TV premises in Ikeja, on May 14, 2003, thousands of fans trekked over 10km and followed his hearse to Akute, Ogun State, where he was buried. There was a massive traffic gridlock on Ikeja-Akute route on that day. No other funeral has shut down Lagos like that in 20 years.
Damilola said whenever she meets fans of her late dad, many of them always narrate stories of how they trekked to Akute to witness his funeral.
Digitising His Work
Although his works are on several streaming platforms, his daughter said the royalty has been going to unknown people and the family has not benefitted from them.
“Some people have been making money off his work on YouTube, Boomplay, Audiomack, Apple Music,” Damilola said. “My mom took action against them and dragged them to court, but she withdrew the case when the lawyer we engaged said he was receiving threats. We suspected he had been paid by the people.”
From the man who dreamt of buying a beetle, Adeboye became a philanthropist of sorts and extended his generosity to his colleagues in the industry. Veteran Nollywood actress Idowu ‘Mama Rainbow’ Phillips said she bought her first car through Adeboye’s support.
The popular saying that “the evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones,” may not be true about Adeboye. In death, his name has continued to open doors for his family.
Damilola said “when people hear my name, they always tell me, ‘you don’t know how great your father was’. And it has continued to open the doors for us. I’ve gotten several opportunities by just being Gbenga Adeboye’s daughter.”
Gbenga Adeboye did not only motivate a generation of Nigerians in comedy but also paved the way for them and remains one of the greatest entertainers to ever come out of Nigeria, but Damilola believes he has not been celebrated enough.
Damilola dreams of an annual event dedicated to celebrating her late father like the Felabration. She is presently making moves to bring the dream to life and believes it will also serve as a platform for discovering talented comics and promoting them to stardom.
The post Gbenga Adeboye Forged An Industry For Nigerian Comics, But His Daughter Didn’t Know How Great He Was Until His Death appeared first on Nigerian Entertainment Today.
