It appears to be the season of regret for several Yoruba actors who publicly campaigned for President Bola Tinubu in the build-up to the 2023 presidential election.
From actor Ronke Oshodi-Oke and Ganiu ‘Alapini’ Nafiu, the list of Yoruba actors who support, who regretted campaigning for Mr Tinubu, grows by the day.
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Joining this list is actor Fatai ‘Lalude’ Adetayo, who accused Mr Tinubu, Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and the President of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Musiliu ‘MC Oluomo’ Akinsanya, of betrayal and abandonment.
He alleged this happened after their involvement in the campaigns that led to the emergence of Mr Tinubu as president and Mr Sanwo-Olu’s re-election as governor.
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Failed promises
Speaking during an interview on ‘Behind the Fame’ podcast, posted on YouTube on Saturday, Lalude, renowned for his roles as a herbalist in films, revealed that he and his colleagues campaigned tirelessly for Mr Tinubu and Mr Sanwo-Olu for one month and three weeks without receiving any form of compensation.
The Ogun-born actor recalled the harrowing experience: “We spent one month and three weeks campaigning for Tinubu. They were giving us N10,000 daily for feeding, although, to be honest, it should have been more for such an important campaign. At the camp where they kept us, the youths agreed we should contribute the feeding allowance daily to save up a substantial amount by the end. But when they realised we were doing that, they started delaying the payments, and that was when everything fell apart. After the entire campaign, we were not paid a single kobo.
“If we curse them, they will not escape it, even in death. We campaigned for Sanwo-Olu and Tinubu, yet we’ve received nothing. Is that fair in this one life we came to live on earth? It was MC Oluomo who invited us to the campaign camp. The work we did for them cannot go unpaid. Whoever is responsible for blocking our payment will never prosper in life. If they sent our money to our leaders and those leaders withheld it from us, they will never succeed. We worked tirelessly for Tinubu and Sanwo-Olu without receiving a single naira.”
MC Oluomo’s alleged N1.5m promise
The actor further revealed that a skit he performed during the campaign helped him survive and fulfil his responsibilities as the head of his household.
“We left the camp empty-handed. When we met Sanwo-Olu, he promised us payment. We don’t know whether those who mobilised us collected the money behind our backs, but if they did, they will beg to eat for the rest of their lives. Even at the camp, I still acted in skits, earning N400,000, N500,000, and more to sustain myself and take something home. We only pretended we were not suffering in the camp; in truth, they made us suffer. The people they appointed to manage our affairs were incompetent”, he said.
Lalude further revealed that MC Oluomo, who mobilised actors to campaign for Mr Tinubu, had promised him and Alapini cars and financial rewards. However, he failed to fulfil his promise.
Expressing his disappointment, he laid curses in Yoruba, declaring that those responsible for denying them the promised compensation for their campaign efforts would not find success in their endeavours.
“I remember they told us the President asked what we wanted. We suggested that MC Oluomo, who mobilised us, should approach Seyi Tinubu to collect the money. I suspect he told them not to worry and would cover the expenses himself. We sat together, and MC Oluomo asked me, ‘Baba Lalude, what do you want?’ I told him I wanted a car. He promised to give Alapini and me one each.
“When the campaign was ending, we didn’t see the cars. He called us again, we met him, and he promised someone would give us N1.5 million the following Thursday. But when we called the person that Thursday, he said no money was sent to him. Today, MC Oluomo is in Abuja heading NURTW and has forgotten that we worked for a month and three weeks without pay. They will not succeed”, Lalude said.
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When asked whether he would campaign for Mr Tinubu’s re-election and the APC governorship candidate in Lagos in the upcoming election, he said, “I know elections are coming again in 2027 and they will come looking for us. But without settling the outstanding payment, we won’t work for them again— let’s even put that aside for now.
“The pain of what they did to us will remain a curse upon their children. We used to trek two or three miles on foot daily, while those who mobilised us rode in their cars. In the end, there was no money, and even our feeding allowance was not fully paid.”
Lalude began his acting career in 1970 as a teenager and became popular for portraying herbalist roles in numerous Yoruba films.
Some of his notable movies include Aishepa, Akinlaja Ode Ogun, Mayegun, Ibinu Balogun, Olori Egbe Agba, Arikuyeri, Ogbojo Kudeti, Olowe Odumose, Ajakuta, and Eran Meje, among others.
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