MOSES Olaiya Adejumo was born on May 18, 1936. He was known to all by his “Baba Sala”, he was a Nigerian comedian, playwright and actor. Baba Sala revolutionized comic theater in Nigeria by making comedy the main focus, not just a dramatic element. His performances combined slapstick, exaggerated costumes, witty dialogue and satire, making comedy accessible to all classes. He successfully transitioned comedy from traveling theater to film and television, especially in the 1970s and 1990s.
Moses Adejumo often played the role of a comic old man: naïve, loquacious, stubborn and witty, especially in radio dramas, plays and early television performances. In one particularly popular role, the character was called Bàbá Sàláwá, shortened to Bàbá Ṣàlá.
As his fame grew with the Aláwàdà Theater Group and subsequent film productions, he adopted the nickname professionally, using it as his official stage name because it was already synonymous with laughter and comedy. By the 1970s and 1980s, “Bàbá Sálà” was no longer just a character, but had become his identity and brand, to the point that many Nigerians never knew his real name.
Many Nigerian comedians and comic actors (especially in the Yoruba theater tradition) credit him for their style and inspiration.
A Yoruba from Ilésà, Baba Sala, along with other playwrights such as Hubert Ogunde, Kola Ogunmola, Oyin Adejobi and Dúró Ladipo popularized theater and television acting in Nigeria.
He was a prolific filmmaker.
Baba Sala began his career in show business as a Highlife musician, fronting a group known as Federal Rhythm Dandies in 1964, where he taught and mentored the likes of King Sunny Ade, who was his lead guitarist at the time. It is safe to say that Bàbá Sala trained King Sunny Ade.
Bàbá Sala grew up in the North. His father worked as a teacher and then as an accountant and the family moved quite frequently and lived in Jos and Kano.
As a child, Moses Olaiya played a class clown and sometimes dressed extravagantly to please people. While he chose to pursue a career in entertainment, his parents wanted a path that would lead to a professional career such as medicine or law.
He worked as a health inspector for the Lagos City Council. His interest in entertainment led him to form his musical group, Federal Rhythm Dandies. The group played briefly before moving from music to theater. He wrote and performed dramatic works similar to the style developed by the precursors of the genre, Ogunde and Ladipo.
However, looking to do something new, he ventured into comedy and founded the group Alawada. That year, the group won a contest organized by Western Nigeria Television (WNTV), which led to a regular television show and greatly increased their popularity.
In 1965, the group got a break when they won a competition organized by Western Nigeria Television, Ìbàdàn (now NTA, Ibadan), which led to the creation of a television programme. The group became better known when their comedy sketches aired on WNTV. Olaiya’s main character in the group was Baba Sala, a retiree who sometimes wore ripped, oversized pants and a table clock as a wristwatch. He further developed the character with a tendency to be both a miser and a lascivious.
In 1982, Olaiya made his big screen debut in Ọ̀run Móoru, directed by Ọlá Balogun and co-produced by himself. He played his signature character, Baba Sala, a man from a poor background who had accumulated some wealth by selling electronics in the city only to lose it due to greed with the help of the advice of a dubious herbalist.
The film was well received, but was pirated, which affected box office receipts. Olaiya then directed and produced his next film, ‘Ààrẹ Àgbáyé’ in 1983. His third film, Mosebọ́látán, was directed by Ade Folayan with Tunde Kelani as the cinematographer.
The film was an artistic and financial success. In the 1990s, Olaiya entered the home video market with ‘Agba Man’ and ‘Return Match’, two slapstick comedies that lacked the technical qualities of his earlier films.
In October 2018, Baba Sala died of what his media assistant called “old-age-related illness” on October 7, 2018. He was named “Comedian of the Year” by Best Nollywood Magazine.