Adebayo Faleti: still alive

A host of Nigerian bloggers, quick to post any rumour without elementary check, were at it again Monday, announcing with relish, the ‘death’, of famous, iconic Yoruba author, novelist and Nollywood script writer, Adebayo Faleti.

On Nairaland, Nigeria’s leading site, one Marioking announced the author’s death at 11.10 a.m on Monday, and even went ahead to compose a poem  for him in a mix of Yoruba and English:

The exit of a cultural icon!
Gbogbo ọmọ Yorùbá ekú ìdèlé,
“Ẹyẹ kò dédé bà lè òrùlé”
Adieu Baba Adebayo Faleti!!!

Thereafter, there were sympathetic comments, on the old man’s alleged transition. The rumour however was exploded by a statement from the Adebayo Faleti Foundation and a logger, who said he had spoken with a relation of Faleti, who confirmed that he is alive, ‘hale and hearty’.

“Adebayo Faleti is much alive, hale and hearty…..Please, let all bloggers be warned of false information that the renown Literary writer and Actor, Adebayo Faleti is dead all in the name of generating traffic…Any caught blogger will suffer legal penalty…Be warned of defamation of character….”, wrote the Foundation.

But the announcement had already gone viral and bloggers persisted in spreading the rumour. Olorisupergal  posted it,  announcing  that the 84 year old writer , died after some illness.” Veteran actor,poet and writer,Adebayo Faleti is dead”, the blogger reported. But as at this morning, the post has been  yanked off.

Some of the bloggers were however a bit cautious in reporting what turned out to be yet another wild rumour on the worldwide web.

Faleti, born  on  26 December 1930 in Agbooye in Oyo State, western Nigeria. He largely educated himself, as a young person, growing up. But  in 1966, he attended the University of Dakar in Senegal and obtained a Certificate of proficiency in French Language and Civilization. Two years later, he graduated from the University Of Ibadan, Nigeria with an honours degree in English. Later on in 1971, he attended the Radio Netherlands Training Center in Hilversum, Holland in 1971 and received a certificate in Television Production

He is a distinguished  poet, writer and author. He is also known for being a successful Yoruba translator, a broadcaster, TV exponent and a pioneer of the first television station in Africa, Western Nigeria Television (WNTV).  He has successfully published a dictionary that contains the formal or official use of Yoruba names. He has received many awards, both locally and internationally. His awards include the national honour, Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON). the Festival of Arts award with Eda Ko L’aropin (1995) and the Afro-Hollywood Award for Outstanding Performance in Arts (2002).

.Biographical sketch from Wikipedia