“How I Toasted My Youngest Wife With N200” – Chief Jimoh Aliyu @ 80 His Relationship with OBJ, Afe Babalola & Co Unveiled

Oloye Jimoh Aliu popularly known as Aworo is one of the celebrated  artists  who  are deeply involved in the promotion of yoruba culture and tradition. in  this interview with  alarinkaagbaye.com  in Badagry during the Olokun Festival , Oloye Jimoh Aliu spoke extensively on his life and career  and his plan for the grand celebration of his 80th birthday which he said  may be his last  grand  birthday celebration. Remi Oladoye bring the excerpts;

Sir you will be 80 in November 12, you still look good what is the secret

It Is God  he gave me the grace to be  contented with what I have I don’t crave for luxury that I cannot afford, I don’t drink, I don’t smoke  I am  very conscious of my health status and anything that can affect my life generally , worry less about material things,  I don’t have lust for  excess wealth  and that is the secret if my good  health status now

 So what are you plan for the grand celebration of your birthday?

Ye my 80th birthday celebration Is coming up on November 11th  and 12th  and we want to use that opportunity to return stage drama back into our system,  the industry has been dominated mainly by film making and  film making is quite different from stage drama and in view of returning stage drama to its rightful position that Is why we are organizing a competition which will involve all the state in the southwest as part of the activities for the birthday, as I am talking with you now, they are  all preparing for the day  because there will be competition and prizes will be won, there Is a trophy for Ogunde, Ogunmola and Duro Ladiipo, also there will be a prize for  Omoge Itage ( beauty Pageant) and other , on the 12th which Is the grand finally, there will be a party and it is on that day the Wasiu Alabi  Pasuma,  Haruna Ishola’ son Musliu  and many musician will entertain people,  we would also  present an award to some deserving personalities  and launch a book about my biography that day.

 Why the trophy for Duro ladiipo, ogunde and others?

They are the role models, we took after them and we must not allow their footprints and indelible marks in the industry to just fade away so we are doing that to remember them and to celebrate them, I did the similar thing  10 years ago when I clocked 70 years,  I may not be privilege to organize another grand occasion to celebrate them again because of strength do not forget that  as a playwright  immediately you are forty , one has move to another stage  and when you look at those I referred to as model   they should be  remembered , not only them  but some other personalities who have contributed to the advancement if tradition and sustenance of the industry  so that those  coming behind us will also emulate this,  also I am working on a book where I am trying to documents  my life and pictures of great people in the industry and those who have contributed to my life in one way or the other, we will also lunch it that day

congratulates you on reaching the Octogenarian age of 80 this week. How would you describe life at 80?

Thank you my son for coming around to interview me. I thank God for His mercy and I thank all my fans including my spiritual fans like the Imans, the prophets, the traditional doctors, the kings and high chiefs in various localities in Nigeria. I thank Celestial prophets, Cherubim and Seraphim prophets and the Pentecostal church pastors who keep praying for me at all times. 
I am also thanking God for making me to fear Him that I did not become greedy, He feeds me from time to time. I thank God for his protection; despite the fact that I am not educated, I have gotten over two hundred awards both locally and internationally. That alone makes me fear God. My father (Late Chief Aliyu Fakoya) was a traditional medicine expert and for my mother, she went through a lot of strife in my father’s house.

Is your mother the first wife?

No, she is the last wife and she married my father when he was 70 years. She gave my father six children out of which four died and it remains only two of us. The same thing happened to me as well, when I married my younger wife at the age of 65 and she went and gave me a child who is now in the University even when my grand children have graduated from the university and some of my grand children are mechanical engineers. 

“Tin ban ba o ja, oo ro pe ere ni n ba o se. Ebiti ta piri-taa pa! Tin pa ota tiye-tiye, agbada re o do ri ina ton gbona teti-teti, are na omo bi owu, o balagbede ja, o da won pepepe, o da won geere-gere wodo pasa”

You mean the child your younger wife gave you is now in the university when all your grand kids are graduates?

You are very correct. In fact, she was my daughter’s friend and how I married her is quite interesting. In fact it was my daughter who influenced the marriage because she said ‘this lady will be able to take care of my dad’; even her family got mad at her, that she wanted to marry an aged man (Baba Arugbo). She even  had suitors who brought cars but she insisted that she is marrying me and that is why I made sure I sent her to London, I sent her to Mecca (Saudi Arabia) because I don’t want her to think ‘Oh, I married an old man’ or whatever. She has even gotten  two traditional titles to her own benefit. My three wives have all visited Mecca. And there is nothing done in any good church that I am invited and I will not go because everything is of God. We are one and we worship one God. So, I thank God that I am 80.

How old was your younger wife when you married her?

She was just 30 when I married her.

And she is a friend to your first daughter?

Not my first daughter, maybe my tenth daughter. I think God is the architect of our romance because when my daughter brought her home and I toasted her, when she was going I gave her N200 for transport. So, she jokingly told my daughter that ‘see, your dad will think he has found a wife, cant you see the ‘big money’ he gave me’ (Laughter). She left and it was after three months that I have forgotten about her that she resurfaced in my neighborhood. She and a friend of hers, they came to look for one of their boy friends in my neighborhood.

But unfortunately, they didn’t meet the guy and her friend said to her ‘there is one man in this neighborhood that is doing theatre. Let us visit him’. So, when they were approaching my house, I taught she deliberately came to look for me. So, I said to her ‘you this girl, you just abandoned me like this, did I offend you?’ but on leaving my place, her friend who prompted the visit said ‘Please, don’t marry that old man, just collect his money and leave him alone. You are not the type that will marry that kind of man o’; it was later after our marriage that my wife started telling me all what happened. When I was now at the Presidency in Abuja, this younger wife of mine got a lot of respect from people because she was very close to late first lady Chief (Mrs.) StellaObasanjo and Aba Gana’s wife. She fraternized well with them and that was when her family who rejected our marriage initially, started calling her for one favor or the other.  So, no man should underrate anybody and that is why I tremble before God because his power is awesome. That is why people cheat me and always think I am a fool I am not a fool. The four children my mother lost to death, if I happened to be one of them, who would I relate with? Can I get my over two hundred award plaques in heaven?  So, I fear my God. I don’t understand His mystery of keeping me alive till 80. Even if you look at me now, if you see me when I am jogging in the morning, when I am doing my dancing rehearsals, people used to ask, ‘Baba, how are you doing it?’ I can’t understand. I think God is to be appreciated for all the goodness in my life.

“If you get to Obasanjo’s house at 5am and you think he is still sleeping, you will be disappointed because he is already awake. If you get to Afe Babalola’s house at5am and you are looking for him you will find out that he is already in his farm and he will trek the entire landscape of his farm without being stressed”.

What is the name of your younger wife?

Suebat Bolanle Aliyu.

I am sure a lot of people will think you married her with Juju?

I don’t want to use a depressing language but anybody that marries a woman with Juju, that person is a foolish man; there is nothing one can compare to a natural love. And you must find out from God, from Godly men like prophets and Imams and even from Ifa priests because if you have a bad wife from foundation, your life is finished. I have married a woman before and Ifa warned me not to marry her, that she will be a bad omen but I went ahead and married her and what happened? I was thoroughly disappointed. I regretted the action because I faced a lot of mystery. You can see that I am now an Ifa traditional priest myself, which is what my father left as a legacy. So, destiny cannot be tampered with. Now, this my wife has an undergraduate child for me, and she was with me in Saudi Arabia, we were in Presidency together during the time of President Olusegun Obasanjo the great Ebora of Owu land.So, she has been with me in both not too fair and fair times. It can only be destiny at work.

Femi Falana

It seems you are very close to Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. His regime gave you the title, MFR?

My son, you have just mentioned the name of a great man and I pray that you will also be a great man. Yes, Obasanjo is a great man, he loves me so much. He is my person, and because I married a wife fromAbeokuta, that now increased his love for me. Apart from the fact that I worked under him as a junior in Third Marine Commando, he is a great friend and fan. I have important personalities like that all around. Before you came in now, I just left Femi Falana’s office. He is a great brother and on my birthday matter, he asked me to go get twenty five invitation cards for him. That he is coming with great friends and colleagues. In fact, I will need to show you the kind of recommendation letter written by the likes of Chief Afe Babalola. These are great people that have been a blessing to my life in a long while. Imagine someone like Afe Babalola, he is dynamic person and a rare personality—an enigma (Went into Oriki of Afe Babalola) “Eni ta’a lee, ta’a ba; taa le fi se nkan-kan. Ti won soo sina, tina ku, ti won soo somi, tomi gbe. Ti won fe so di eran, ki awon aje oo jee, o wa di Ipeure bi ofa Abuja; ko see je faja, ko see gbemi faja, o wa n ta aja lenu kaa-kaa-kaa”.  (A man enemies chase but couldn’t catch, a man that cannot be ridiculed. They threw him inside flame of fire but the flame died. They threw him inside an ocean and the ocean dried off. They wanted to turn him into meat so that witches can eat him up but his flesh became poisonous and nobody could eat him up).

Afe Babalola SAN

That is the brand of person Afe Babalola is; the same thing with  Olusegun Areamu Obasanjo. You know they are the same thing. If you get to Obasanjo’s house at 5am and you think he is still sleeping, you will be disappointed because he is already awake. If you get to Afe Babalola’s house at 5am and you are looking for him you will find out that he is already in his farm and he will trek the entire landscape of his farm without being stressed. These are the kind of people I have learnt a lot from in terms of lessons of life. I learnt about truth; even kings, may God grand my father, the late Ooni of Ife eternal rest in His bosom. If you know how long myself and Oba Sijuade has been together, you will marvel. Now, the new person there is also a great son. You see, Prince Enitan Adewusi who is right on the throne now, he is not the one who is crowned, even the emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido is not the one crowned but it is just the acknowledgement of God that if someone is being persecuted, that persecution could become a channel to his greatness. It might be because you even persecuted such person that is why he will get to the top.  In life we have people like that who need not to be persecuted because anything bad you do to them will always be to their own advantage. Look at all the people who fought Sanusi Lamidothe emir of Kano, today, they are all going to prostrate before him. People must seek wisdom. 

“I have married a woman before and Ifa warned me not to marry her, that she will be a bad omen but I went ahead and married her and what happened? I was thoroughly disappointed. I regretted the action because I faced a lot of mystery”.

How things of now & things of the Past works for me

I don’t drink beer, I don’t smoke I only drink water. Today, some of the people who do gather to watch my plays when I was young, majority of them are now kings, industrialists, administrators and rich people. Even majority of my retired colleagues in the military, most of them are now in very big positions. If I visit their offices at times, I marvel. When I visit them and I talk, they will listen, when I finish talking, they will say ‘Sir, we were always on pants and tattered clothes in those days when we sneak out to come and watch you at the Cinema”. Some will say ‘We are the ones that used to fetch water for you so that we will be able to watch your plays’ another will say ‘didn’t you remember so-so accident that happened when you came to our school? And many, many testimonies, that alone humbles me. If someone strays into my lane while driving, I do tell my driver, ‘please, wait, and just let him go. Don’t fight him’ because if I utter a word and say ‘are you stupid?’  The man will say ‘Ah, ah, Baba Aworo, we know you very well” and I will be humbled. That is why nobody can say Jimoh Aliyu is being taken to court for anything because if you cheat me, I will just ignore you and leave you for God to judge

After you founded your first drama group, Jimoh Aliyu Concert Party in 1966, you later joined the Nigerian Army in 1969 and retired in 1975. Why did you join the army? 

 I worked under three great Nigerians in the army; they are lateBenjamin Adekunle, General Segun Obasanjo and General TY Danjuma. It was J.J. Oluleye of the 2nd Division who sent me to 3rdMarine Commando that I should go and be doing performance for the officers.  It was at that 3rd Marine Commando that the late (Ilya) Bisalafound me during the era of Captain to Major and he said if I finished my performer at the 3rd Marine Commando, the next thing for me is to go to the first division but every position I held in the military was of great benefit to me. Even the late General Shehu Musa Yar Adua was my boss at 7th Brigade, Agbor. So, I enjoyed my tenure under each of the officers.

Can you tell us about Benjamin Adekunle, Segun Obasanjo and TY Danjuma. Having worked under these three prominent officers what can you say is their leadership trait?

They are different in character; Adekunle is an enigma of his own brand. His own brand of enigma is different. However, among all the people we can boldly call ‘Enigma’ (Akanda) that anything you say is impossible is always possible with him, that person is Olusegun Aremu Obasanjo Ebora Owu, if he is fighting you, you will mistake it for a child’s play “Tin ban ba o ja, oo ro pe ere ni n ba o se. Ebiti ta piri-taa pa! Tin pa ota tiye-tiye, agbada re o do ri ina ton gbona teti-teti, are na omo bi owu, o balagbede ja, o da won pepepe, o da won geere-gere wodo pasa” (Coughs Heavily and took a glass of water to cool off before he stopped the highly inflaming Oriki for Obasanjo).

Olusegun Obasanjo

So, is this how Olusegun Obasanjo is?

That is how he is my son. Because I moved with him very well, if I seat with him in the room and I will say to him “You are indeed stubborn. Why?” he will say “Me, stubborn? It seems you Ekiti people have started abusing me”. And I will say ‘I am not abusing you but why are you always insistent on doing things that seems impossible?” and he will say “Well, to you and many, it is impossible but to me and my God, it is possible. That is how my God created me and that is who I am” and if I say “I am leaving his house” he (Obasanjo) will say “Please, go and give Aliyu his transport money o and let him go” he is a generous fellow.

TY Danjuma

So, why did you retire from the army in 1975?

The war ended. There was no more war. In those days, any town or region the Nigerian Army takes as territory, I was the one that always entertain the soldiers there.  And when the war ended I had to return home to start afresh. I told Ejiga and he instructed JJ Oluleye to sign a war ticket for me, give me a car and let me go home and that was how I left the army. Then, I became the first theatre practitioner who bought latest instruments and started afresh at that time. My theatre company had the best of equipments.

Late Benjamin Adekunle

That means you joined the military because of the war?

I didn’t join the army because of war, I knew if I get there I won’t have to carry gun and shoot like them because of my talent. You know, I had already started doing theatre  before I joined the army and I started entertaining them, even (General Tunji) Olurin, when he was at Oke-Ileas a young officer, I gave him a traditional performance before he now left for Jos. I have staged dramas for majority of them and entertained them one way or the other.

So, you are like a military entertainer?

You are very correct my son, very correct. My organization in the Nigerian Army was called Jimoh Aliyu Welfare troupe.

As a veteran actor in your own days, you wrote some of the best scripts and they made headline, you wrote good stories likeFopomoyo, Arelu, Yanpan-yanrin and numerous others. But today’s stories are different, is there anything you feel has happened to our theatre?

We have lost our culture, we have lost our history. Everyone is just doing what comes to mind, someone will just watch an American film or an Indian film and reproduce it in Yoruba. The elderly ones and very senior citizens of this country used to lament to me, they will say ‘Jimoh, you know we have been your fans for ages, we have watched all your movies but are you watching the movies of the younger ones? Are you not disturbed?’ but if you call them and try to educate them, they will abuse you and say ‘your time is past, this is our own time, you cannot correct a man whose perception towards a thing is strong. For instance, people make incantations in films (Ofo) but there are some incarnations that have rendered some people useless. They become so broke and empty to the extent that they won’t be able to buy clothe just because they don’t know how to render incantations.

Can you explain more about this? Are those incantations not made for the purpose of the movie?

Thanks ……