Veteran actor, Babatunde Omidina, aka Baba Suwe, has been off the radar for a while. He speaks with TOFARATI IGE and JOY MARCUS on his career, the NDLEA saga, his late wife and other issues
Can you recall how you started your career?
I started my career when I was in secondary school. I was born in Inabere Street, Lagos Island, and that’s where I began my career. I started in a small way but at a point, I was told to register with the Association of Nigerian Theatre Practitioners. When I got there, I was told that I was too young to be registered. They also said I had to join one of the experienced theatre practitioners and learn from them. I then went to (join) the Osumare Theatre Group. I told them that I had a group that I had been performing with prior to joining them and I was asked to bring members of my group. I then took my boys and we always joined them for rehearsals.
After we had spent some time with the group, I decided to leave with my boys and we continued having our rehearsals at the place we often used before joining Osumare. In the course of our rehearsals, more people joined us and we grew. Subsequently, we had our first major stage play titled, Baoku, at Amutan Playing Ground in Lagos Island. There were so many people in attendance, even more than we expected, and we got a lot of acclaim and commendation.
After we had spent some time with the group, I decided to leave with my boys and we continued having our rehearsals at the place we often used before joining Osumare. In the course of our rehearsals, more people joined us and we grew. Subsequently, we had our first major stage play titled, Baoku, at Amutan Playing Ground in Lagos Island. There were so many people in attendance, even more than we expected, and we got a lot of acclaim and commendation.
From there, we moved to LTV 8. While at LTV 8, we had gone for a stage play, and after the performance, some people walked up to me and asked if I was the one in costume that just left the stage. I told them I was the one and they asked if I could perform at their station, which was NTA Channel 7. They also invited me to the National Theatre where we used to have 10-minute performances. We were then told to perform at their station. Their producer then was called Gani Kasumu. They really loved our first performance and we ended up recording 13 episodes of the programme. That was how the ‘world’ got to know about Baba Suwe and we became very popular. People loved to watch the programme, Erin Keke, at 7pm when it was usually broadcast. My fame spread outside the country and people began calling me from different places in the world for different projects. There is no television station in Lagos I didn’t perform at in those days.
Did you start wearing costumes from the beginning of your career?
Yes, I did. My mentor was Baba Mero and I really liked him. I recall that back then, whenever people saw my posters at NTA Channel 10, they were often confused as to whether it was Baba Mero they were seeing or someone else, because we dressed alike.
How did you come up with the name, Baba Suwe?
I was inspired by Baba Mero and other actors who added the prefix, Baba, to their names. I had a girlfriend then called Suwe; so, I decided to give myself the name, Baba Suwe, and it was well received by my fans.
Did your parents support your acting career?
My father went to do some spiritual findings to know if the profession would be favourable to me. He was then told not to stop me from acting.
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