Moses Olaiya


Moses Olaiya, better known by his stage name "Baba Sala", was a Nigerian comedian, dramatist and actor.
A Yoruba from Ijesha, Baba Sala, regarded as the father of modern Nigerian comedy, alongside other dramatists like Hubert Ogunde, Kola Ogunmola, Oyin Adejobi and Duro Ladipo popularized theater and television acting in Nigeria. He was a prolific filmmaker. Significantly, Baba Sala started his career in show business as a Highlife musician, fronting in 1964 a group known as the Federal Rhythm Dandies where he tutored and guided the jùjú music maestro King Sunny Adé who was his lead guitar player.

Life

Olaiya was born in Ilesha, Southwest Nigeria, he was raised in colonial Nigeria and grew up in the Northern provinces. His father worked as a teacher and later as an accountant and the family moved quite often, living in Jos and Kano. As a young boy, Olaiya played the class clown and sometimes dressed outlandishly to please people. While he chose to develop a career in entertainment his parents wanted a path that will lead to a professional career such as medicine or law.
Olaiya worked as a health inspector for the Lagos City Council but as young man with interest in entertainment, he formed musical group, the Federal Rhythm Dandies which had a young Sunny Ade as a member. The group played briefly before Olaiya switched from music to drama, he wrote and staged dramatic plays similar to the style crafted by the forerunners of genre, Ogunde and Ladipo. However, seeking to do something new, he dabbled into comedy and founded Alawada group. In 1965, the group got a break when it won a contest organized by Western Nigeria Television that led to the creation of a t.v. show. The group became more known when their comedy sketches were aired on WNTV. Olaiya's main character in the group was Baba Sala, a pensioner who sometimes wore torn and out sized trousers and a table clock as a wrist watch. He developed the character further with a tendency to be both a miser and a lecher.
In 1982, Olaiya made his big screen debut in Orun Mooru directed by Ola Balogun and co-produced by Olaiya. He plays his signature character Baba Sala, a man from a poor background who had built some wealth selling electronics in the city only to loose it to greed assisted by the advice of a dubious babalawo. The movie was well received but was bootlegged which affected box office receipts. Olaiya then directed and produced his next film, Aare Agbaye in 1983. His third film Mosebolatan was directed by Ade Folayan with Tunde Kelani as cinematographer. The movie was artistically and financially successful. In the 1990s, Olaiya dabbled into the home video market with Agba Man and Return Match two slapstick comedies which lack the technical qualities of his early films.

Filmography

In October 2018, Baba Sala died of what was referred by his media aide as "old-age related sickness". After his death, Best of Nollywood Magazine announced that the category "comedy of the year" will now be known as "Moses Adejumo Comedy of the Year" to honour him for his contribution to the industry.