ADEWALE ELESHO- "BEING AN ALBINO EARNED ME POPULARITY FROM BIRTH"

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Veteran Nollywood actor Elesho, also known as Adewale Adeoye, has claimed that he gained popularity from childbirth because he was born an albino.

Adeoye, who is known for his humorous roles in Yoruba movies, said this in an interview with media personality, Adedoyin Kukoyi, on Sunday.

He claimed that because his parents were not of the same skin tone as him, it was rare to give birth to an albino back then.

He said, “I became popular since my birth. The news got everywhere that a white man was born. Some will scold their wards for coming to our house because they had given birth to an albino. Some will even wonder if I’m Chinese. Many people come to look at me out of curiosity.

“My birth, too, was a little difficult. My late mother said the day I was born was a day of sorrow for her because she was a dark-complexioned trainer who sold breakable plates that were being supplied to her by the Lebanese. So when I was born in a hospital in Ibadan, my mother wept for the suspicion that might arise that she had had something with one of the Lebanese.

“But when my dad came, my mother said he carried me and started jubilating because I look like his grandmother,” he stressed.

He narrated the story of how his older brother Yekinni Adebola would battle tooth and nail to avoid being called an albino, and how his brother knew he didn’t take it as a challenge when he came straight about being one.

Speaking about how he got into acting, Adeoye revealed that he took inspiration from his father, who was a Osun State chief from the Ikirun region.

“I can say it was from my father’s character that I inherited the ability to talk. My father was an embodiment of happiness. He was always happy. When the chief is greeted at that time: May the chief live long, he would respond: May the natives not get sick too. He always has a reply to everything said to him.

“I am not the first entertainer from Ikirun. It was God that gave me wisdom to speak the way I do,” he added.

Adeoye is the father of popular skit maker, Yemi Elesho, who is known for his roles in comedy skits.

Elesho began his journey to stardom and popularity as an Instagram skit maker in 2016 when his fellow comedian, Arole, introduced him to it.