Renowned Yoruba author, Adebayo Faleti, is died Sunday morning in the hands of his son, Adeniyi, while helping the iconic theatre practitioner had his bath.
He died in his home on Sunday in Ibadan, aged 86.
According to Adeniyi, his father observed the early morning devotion with his family members when he woke up and soon after, told them that he prayed to God to send someone else to continue his mission as he was tired and longing for home.
After the morning devotion, I helped him to the bathroom as I normally do, and at a point he said he wanted God to send someone else to come and complete his work because he had done all he could do. He also said that he wanted to go home. Suddenly, I noticed that he was not breathing again.
“We took him to the University College Hospital, Ibadan, where he was confirmed dead. We shall miss him greatly.”
Adebayo Faleti was born in Agbo-Oye, Oyo State, though lived in Obananko, Kuranga, near Oyo State. He was the first son of his father, Joseph Akanbi Faleti and the only child of his mother, Durowade Ayinke Faleti. From an early age Alagba Faleti always had a passion for drama. Unfortunately, his parents could not fund his education to pursue his dreams due to lack of funds, so he decided to put his primary education on hold. He then gathered a couple of interested colleagues and started his own successful theatre group, named Oyo Youth Operatic Society in 1949. Faleti later found his way back to school by getting a job in a primary school, in which he worked for six years to raise enough funds for his secondary schooling with the financial support of his father. 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. In 1971, he attended the Radio Netherlands Training Center in Hilversum, the Netherlands, and received a certificate in Television Production