From Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan and Damilola Fatunmise
Ace broadcaster, celebrated actor and playwright, Adebayo Faleti, is dead.
He was confirmed dead at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan yesterday, at the age of 86.
One of his sons, Adeniyi told newsmden that his father breathed his last when he was helping him with his bath yesterday, saying: “After the morning devotion, I helped him to the bathroom as I normally did. He said he wanted God to send someone else to come and complete his work because he had done all he could do. He also said he wanted to go home.
“Suddenly, I noticed that he was not breathing again. We took him to UCH where he was confirmed dead. We shall miss him greatly.”
The former general manager of Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State was an old students of Ibadan Boys High School and a respected Yoruba translator, a broadcaster, TV exponent and a pioneer of the first television station in Africa, Western Nigeria Television (WNTV).
Baba Faleti, as fondly called by young and old in the movie industry, translated the national anthem from English to Yoruba and also translated speeches by former military president Ibrahim Babangida and Ernest Shonekan, head of national interim government. He had acted, wrote and produced a number of movies, including Saworode, Magun, Afonja, Basorun Gaa and Sawo-Segeri.