Early life and Background
Fatomilola was born on 16 January 1946 in the town of Ifisin-Ekiti in Ido-Osi Local Government area of Ekiti State, Nigeria, to Chief Abraham Ojo Fatomilola and Mrs. Elizabeth Fatomilola. He is a son of Chief Ifa Priest, known as the Oluwo (Olu-awo, meaning Lord of the oracle), which was believed to have influenced his herbalist role in Nigerian film. His mother was from the town of Isare-Oge in Kwara State. In 1967, he joined the Olokun Theatre group under the tutelage of the late Professor Ola Rotimi, a renowned dramatist and prolific playwright at the University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University.Read more about Men You Should Know
He is also a member of the academic staff of Obafemi Awolowo University, where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theatre Arts in 1978. He was the first “Papa Ajasco”, a lead role in a comedy film produced by Wale Adenuga. He had featured in several notable Nigerian films such as Sango, an epic African film produced by Obafemi Lasode and scripted by Wale Ogunyemi in 1997.
Fatomilola: The Amplification of the ‘Ifa’ in Movies
Fatomilola often plays the role of ‘Ifa’ or ‘Babalawo’ in movies. Though not conscious, he states that a possible reason is because, the father who gave birth to him was a babalawo (herbalist). He also states that there is a difference between ‘babalawo’, ‘Ifa’ priest and a herbalist to an extent. A herbalist is somebody who has the knowledge of herbs. There is a difference between an ‘Ifa’ priest and a ‘babalawo.’ There are some people who are ‘Ifa’ priests, but who don’t know much about herbs and they cannot be called herbalists. But somebody who can combine the two together, who has the knowledge of the two, is called ‘sawo sisegun’ (babalawo cum herbalist). Fatomilola learnt and studied ‘Ifa’ under his father and studied herbs, which qualifies him to be an ‘Ifa’ priest and a herbalist (sawo sisegun). ‘Ifa’ is knowledge, it is not orisa (god). The person who brought the knowledge of ‘Ifa’ into this world was Baba Orunmila. That ‘baba’ was an orisa. At the age of 18, He had mastered ‘Ifa’ and herbs, and currently, He is the ‘Olu awo’ (Chief priest) of his town in Ifisin-Ekiti. A title he inherited from his father. It was after his coming to Ile-Ife, Osun State to study, that he joined the late Prof. Ola Rotimi in the year 1967, the very year he came from America and they discovered each other. Rotimi advised Fatomilola to join him doing drama. That led him to go and study drama and became one of the first set in the School of Drama during the time of Wole Soyinka. That was where people knew that He had the knowledge of ‘Ifa’ and herbs. When they discovered that he could do it very well in movies, either in Yoruba or English, he became the first choice option to take such a part, which he usually performed very well. When the Yoruba group of artists started filmmaking, they too realised that he was very versatile. When they wrote scripts, they might not know the correct ‘odu’ words to use, and they knew that if they could get in touch with him, he knew the correct ‘odu’. That one projected him to the world, and people knew that Peter is a ‘babalawo’, an ‘Ifa’ priest and a herbalist.Sign up to the Connect Nigeria daily newsletter
He has often admitted that he most times tried to dodge the roles of Babalawo in movies because of the stereotype that was unconsciously forced on him. But it seemed like the more he dodged, the more they called him for it, so he continued, because to them. But Fatomilola is actually versatile and very flexible. He acted as the first Papa Ajasco of ‘Ikebe Super.’ He played ‘Afonja’ in ‘Afonja’ film and ‘Lawuwo’, the labour leader in ‘Rererun’. He played ‘Lawyer Coker’ in ‘Lawyer Coker’. He has played the parts of a lawyer, policeman, prison warder and prisoner in other movies.
Personal Life and Greatest Influences
He is married with several wives, including one who sells local conoctions and herbs at a market at the Obafemi Awolowo University. He has 11 children. In addition, he has several chieftancy titles around Yorubaland, including Oluwo (Chief Ifa Priest) in his hometown of Ifisin-Ekiti and Amuludun in Ile-Ife. Apart from Ola Rotimi, he also considers Professor Wole Soyinka, whom he trained under for 10 years and Professor Wande Abimbola, under whom he learned Yoruba oral literature, as his major influences. References https://en.wikipedia.org/ https://punchng.com/ Featured Image Source: Nigerian FinderGot a suggestion? Contact us: editor at connectnigeria dot com