Adebayo Mosobalaje Faleti (26 December 1921 – 23 July 2017) was Africa's first

newscaster A news presenter – also known as a newsreader, newscaster (short for "news broadcaster"), anchorman or anchorwoman, news anchor or simply an anchor – is a person who presents news during a news program on TV, radio or the Internet. ...

, Africa's first stage play director, Nigeria's first film editor and

librarian A librarian is a person who works professionally in a library providing access to information, and sometimes social or technical programming, or instruction on information literacy to users. The role of the librarian has changed much over time ...

with the first television station in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

- Western Nigeria Television (WNTV), Nigeria's first

Yoruba The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...

presenter on television and radio alike, a

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was taken from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jour ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wri ...

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...

Nollywood Nollywood is a sobriquet that originally referred to the Nigerian film industry. The origin of the term dates back to the early 2000s, traced to an article in ''The New York Times''. Due to the history of evolving meanings and contexts, there ...

film director and

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

. He was also known as a Yoruba translator, a broadcaster, TV exponent and pioneer of the first television station in Africa, Western Nigeria Television (WNTV), now known as th
Nigerian Television Authority (NTA)

Early life and education

Faleti was born in Agbo-Oye,

Oyo State Oyo State is an inland States of Nigeria, state in southwestern Nigeria. Its capital is Ibadan, the List of Nigerian cities by population, third most populous city in the country and formerly the second most populous city in Africa. Oyo State is b ...

, though lived in Obananko, Kuranga, near

. Adebayo Faleti was the first son of his father, Joseph Akanbi Faleti and the only child of his mother, Durowade Ayinke Faleti. Alagba Faleti has always had passion for drama from an early age. His parents could not fund his education to pursue his dreams due to lack of income, so he decided to put his primary education on hold. Later, he gathered a couple of interested colleagues and started his own successful theatre group, named Oyo Youth Operatic Society (founded in 1949). Faleti later found his way back to school by getting a job in a primary school, in which he worked for six years to raise enough funds for his secondary schooling with the financial support of his father. In 1966, he attended the

University of Dakar Cheikh Anta Diop University (french: Université Cheikh Anta Diop or UCAD), also known as the Cheikh Anta Diop University of Dakar, is a university in Dakar, Senegal. It is named after the Senegalese physicist, historian and anthropologist Cheik ...

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...

and obtained a Certificate of proficiency in French Language and Civilization. Two years later, he graduated from the

University of Ibadan The University of Ibadan (UI) is a public research university in Ibadan, Nigeria. The university was founded in 1948 as University College Ibadan, one of many colleges within the University of London. It became an independent university in 19 ...

, Nigeria, with an honors degree in Lit-in-English. In 1971, he attended th
Radio Netherlands Training Center
in Hilversum, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, and received a certificate in Television Production.

Personal life

Faleti's wife was Olori Olubunmi Faleti, a retired broadcaster and television host at the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Ibadan. He was blessed with children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. Faleti died on July 23, 2017 after observing a brief morning devotion with his family at his Ojoo residence in Ibadan. .

Career

Faleti has written, produced and acted in several popular Yoruba plays. He is also known for his poems. He was the first school teacher at Ife Odan, located near

Ejigbo Ejigbo is a prominent city in Yoruba Land and the headquarters of Ejigbo Local Government Area, one of the oldest local government areas of Osun State in Nigeria. Ejigbo is strategically placed in the middle of the region, as north-east of Iwo ...

Town in

Osun State Osun State (; yo, Ìpínlẹ̀ Ọ̀ṣun), occasionally known as the State of Osun by the state government, is a state in southwestern Nigeria; bounded to the east by Ekiti and Ondo states, to the north by Kwara State, to the south by Og ...

. He was also the General Manager of the Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State (BCOS), which is also known as Radio OYO, Ibadan. In 1959, he worked at Western Nigerian Television (WNTV), now known as NTA Ibadan, as a film editor and a librarian.

Works

Faleti has acted, written, and produced a number of movies, which include: '' Thunderbolt: Magun'' (2001), ''Afonja'' (1 & 2) (2002), ''Basorun Gaa'' (2004), and ''Sawo-Sogberi'' (2005). He was responsible for translating Nigeria's National Anthem from English to Yoruba, his native language. He also translated speeches being made by former Attorney-General of the Federal Republic of Nigeria - Chief Bola Ige, former military president of Nigeria - General

Ibrahim Babangida Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (born 17 August, 1941) is a retired Nigerian Army general and politician. He served as military president of Nigeria from 1985 until his resignation in 1993. He rose through the ranks to serve from 1984 to 1985 as C ...

, former premier of the Western region of Nigeria — Chief Obafemi Awolowo and Head, National Interim Government of Nigeria — Chief

Ernest Shonekan Chief Ernest Adegunle Oladeinde Shonekan (9 May 1936 – 11 January 2022) was a Nigerian lawyer and statesman who served as the interim Head of State of Nigeria from 26 August 1993 to 17 November 1993. He was titled Abese of Egbaland from ...

, from English to Yoruba. Faleti has published a dictionary containing the formal or official use of Yoruba names.

Awards

Adebayo Faleti has received many awards, both locally and internationally, including the National Honour Of Officer Of the

Order of the Niger Nigeria became an independent country on 1 October 1960 and in 1963 became the Federal Republic of Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Repu ...

(OON),

Doctor of Letters Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or ') is a terminal degree in the humanities that, depending on the country, is a higher doctorate after the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree or equivalent to a higher doctorate, such as the Docto ...

(D.Litt.), Justice of Peace (JP), Jerusalem Pilgrim (JP). Adebayo Faleti received the Festival of Arts award with "Eda Ko L’aropin" in 1995 and the Afro-Hollywood Award for Outstanding Performance in Arts in the United States (in 2002). His movie - "Basorun Gaa" also received a commendation at Breeze Awards in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

as the best epic movie of the year in 2004. The first ever magazine he wrote for was called Triumph when he was at the

as an undergraduate. He was also a columnist with the

Nigerian Tribune The ''Nigerian Tribune'' is an English-language newspaper published in Ibadan, Nigeria. It was established in 1949 by Obafemi Awolowo and is the oldest running private Nigerian newspaper. In the colonial era, the newspaper served as the mouthpi ...

References

1921 births 2017 deaths Nigerian male film actors Nigerian writers University of Ibadan alumni Yoruba male actors Cheikh Anta Diop University alumni 21st-century Nigerian male actors English–Yoruba translators Male actors in Yoruba cinema Yoruba-language writers Nigerian folklorists 20th-century translators 20th-century Nigerian writers Nigerian broadcasters Nigerian television personalities Yoruba television personalities Yoruba writers Yoruba journalists Nigerian poets Nigerian film directors Yoruba actors Nigerian male television actors People from Oyo State Nigerian media personalities Nigerian television presenters Nigerian editors Nigerian journalists Nigerian film editors {{Nigerian-film-actor-stub