24th December, 2012
Yoruba actor, Tayo Amokade, better known as Baba Ijebu, has said passion and desire to make people happy helped him discover his acting skills.
Amokade said that as a child, his passion for acting was second to none, even though no member of his family was an actor.
“I really have passion for acting. As a kid, I always go to a cinema house near our house to watch films and my parents will come there to flog me, but that would not stop me from going back the next day. At home, I imitate some of the the actors. At times, I will even put on my father’s Agbada and cap, and start acting to make people laugh.
“Later, I became a popular story-teller in my neighbourhood. Kids will gather round me while I tell them different stories and fables. It was at that point that people began to see the potentials in me, but my parents were initially against my decision to become an actor,” Amokade explained.
Nollywood Reel gathered that after Amokade completed his National Diploma from the Polytechnic of Ibadan, he trained as an actor under Muyiwa Ademola. He later joined Olaniyi Afonja, a.k.a. Sanyeri, who eventually gave him the opportunity to feature in more flicks.
Amokade has featured in a handful of films, some of which include Kamilu Kampo, Onome Aganga, Opa Kan and Muniru ati Ambali. His role models are Sanyeri, Baba Ijesha and Baba Suwe.