Comic actor, Kayode Olaiya, popularly known as Aderupoko, started his acting career 50 years ago. He shares some of his life experiences with OLUFEMI ATOYEBI and ADEMOLA OLONILUA.
How come you have so many aliases?
My real name is Kayode Olaiya, but I’m popularly known as Aderupoko. Some people started calling me Baba Jenifa after my role as Jenifa’s father in Funke Akindele’s comedy series, Jenifa’s Diary. Also, in the movie, October 1 by Kunle Afolayan, I played the role of Sgt. Afonja and since then; some people have taken to that name as well.
When did you decide to become an actor?
My acting career started when I was invited to be the anchor of a storytelling programme on the Western Nigerian Television/Western Nigerian Broadcasting Service in 1966. During that period, every programme aired on the television was live and there was nothing like a recorded programme.
One day, my friends and I went to the Government House to fetch firewood and also pluck some mangoes. On our way back, someone working for the television station called out to us but we ran away because we thought the person wanted to flog us for plucking mangoes without permission. As we were running away, the man shouted that he was not interested in beating us. He said he wanted us to come on air to tell African folklore since we were pupils. Immediately, I went to meet him and told him that we were interested in the proposal since it was something we did for fun, especially at twilight. I was then tasked with inviting some of my schoolmates to the programme, but we had to sneak into the television station because of our parents, who were unaware of the gig.
