It’s no longer news that in the Yoruba movie industry, there are different caucuses where upcoming stars are trained and groomed under different veterans in the industry to make them future stars.
If there’s one movie icon that has trained many younger stars in the industry, it’s no other than the multi-talented and multiple award-winning actor-cum-filmmaker, Odunlade Adekola.
He is the founder of OAFP Film Academy located in Ogun State.
Guess what? He has trained lots of people who are now highly celebrated movie personalities. Odunlade’s Film Academy trains and builds aspiring stars in the Yoruba movie industry. Super stars like Bukola Adeeyo, Eniola Ajao, Tosin Olaniyan, Oyekanmi Adekola, Ibrahim Bello, amongst others, trained under him. The story of Tunde Owokoniran, one of his trainees, is most inspiring. Even though he has a humble beginning, Tunde is one of the most successful actors today. Based in the U.S, he married his longtime girlfriend based in the U.S. and they are blessed with kids.
He owes a lot to Odunlade Adekola and his success story is incomplete without a mention of the star actor who picked him from poverty and introduced him to the entertainment industry.
He is no doubt one of the few fortunate stars in the industry.
He says he lost his mother at a tender age and this made him go through a lot of difficulties in life.
He was born into a polygamous family and due to the tough struggles of life, he joined the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in Ojuelegba. He worked as a conductor during the day and spent his nights under the bridge, so he could use the little he made for feeding and also clothe himself. His growing up was indeed tough, as he had issues with the bus drivers he was working for. To survive, he later resorted to selling plantain. He used to go to Ojuwoye Market to buy plantain and resell.
His life experienced a dramatic shift when he came in contact with star actor, Odunlade Adekola, while he was anchoring a local meeting in Mushin.
He used that opportunity to meet Odunlade one-on-one and expressed his desire to become an actor.
The star actor didn’t only give him a role in one of his productions, he also accommodated him in his Abeokuta house for some time before he was able to get his own accommodation.
Odunlade made it a point of duty to always feature him in his movies and his talents and good looks helped him a great deal. His fan base started increasing drastically and gradually, he became one of the most sought-after Yoruba actors based in Abeokuta. Apart from Odunlade, other movie producers started featuring him in their movies.
This multi-talented actor utilized every opportunity that came his way. While still acting, he studied Industrial Relations and Personnel Management at the Lagos State University (LASU) and graduated in 2010.
In 2016, he married a US citizen, Tunmise Akinwansola at the NAIM Islamic Centre in New Jersey in US and they both welcomed their first baby girl on October 24th, 2017.
This multi-talented actor is popular for movies such as Sunday Dagboru, Hookup Babe, Eruniyo, Mojere, Oro Jade, Sokofun, and others.
Babatunde Owokoniran is popularly known as Tunde Tilapia in the movie industry. He is a native of Ogun State.
Though he relocated to the US after his marriage, he is still very relevant in the movie industry. He still features in movies shot abroad. He is also into skits, which he always puts up on his Instagram page for his fans. The long and short is, his fans don’t really miss him as they still watch him in movies.
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