Gbenro Adesina
Amidst tears and fanfare, a Yoruba popular comedian, Babatunde Omidina, who died on Monday November 22, 2021, was buried today in his Ikorodu-Lagos house, in line with Muslim rite.
Among the theatre practitioners who attended the funeral ceremony were: Ayodele, popularly called Suwe, the first wife of the deceased, Adebayo Salami, popularly called Oga Bello and his son, Femi, Bolaji Amusan, alias, Mr Latin, the President of Theater Arts and Motion Picture Producers Association of Nigeria (TAMPAN), Dele Odule, Kamil, the son of the deceased, family, friends and neigbours.
At the point of burial, there was a confusion over whether the deceased will be buried in a coffin or not. While the family insisted that Baba Suwe must be buried in coffin, the Islamic faith noted that it is not Islamic to buried the dead in a coffin. At the end, a respected clergyman over ruled the family ordering that Baba Suwe would be buried without coffin, saying that it is against the doctrine of Muslim to bury somebody in a coffin.
At the funeral, it was difficult to manage the crowd, as individuals struggle to see the lifeless body of the comedian and paid last respect.
Baba Suwe was born on 22 August 1958, in Inabere Street in Lagos Island where he grew up but hailed from Ikorodu local government area of Lagos State, southwestern Nigeria.
Hea had his primary education at Jamaitul Islamial Primary School in Lagos and Children Boarding School, Osogbo before he proceeded to Adekanbi Commercial High School in Mile 12, Lagos state but obtained the West African School Certificate from Ifeoluwa Grammar School in Osogbo, the capital of Osun State, southwestern Nigeria.
Omidina began acting in 1971 but came into limelight after he featured in a movie titled, Omolasan, a film produced by Obalende. He became more popular after he featured in Iru Esin, produced by Olaiya Igwe in 1997. He had featured and produced several Nigerian movies such as Baba Jaiye jaiye, a movie that featured Funke Akindele and Femi Adebayo, the son of the veteran actor Adebayo Salami.
