Yemi Elesho, the skit maker, has revealed that he only discovered that veteran Yoruba actor Adewale Elesho was his father when he was 10.
In an interview on Talk To B, the content creator explained that his parents were never together, so he grew up with his mother and grandmother in Oyo.
Yemi disclosed that during that time, he assumed another man in their household, whom everyone referred to as dad, was his father.
The skit maker said he did not go into detail about his parents’ relationship but recounted the moment he found out the truth.
According to him, while watching a movie one day, his mother pointed at the screen and casually mentioned that’s your dad.
He revealed that his father had tried to bring him to Lagos, where he lived, but his mother refused.
I grew up in Oyo, but until I was 10 years old, I didn’t know Elesho was my father, he said.
As a young boy, I didn’t have the confidence to ask my mum who my dad was because I lived with her, and whenever she wasn’t around, I stayed with my grandma.
There was a man in our house whom everyone called dad, so I assumed he was my father.
One day, while we were watching a movie, my mum pointed to the screen and told me, That’s your dad. Whenever he came to Oyo, he would visit my mum, but I never knew.
He also tried everything he could to relocate me to Lagos where he lived, but my mum wouldn’t let me go. In that aspect, I feel my mum didn’t do well.
Yemi also narrated how he eventually left Oyo without telling his mother, determined to find his father after learning his true identity.
He said when he arrived in Lagos, he didn’t know anyone, but eventually stayed with a familiar face who used to visit his mum.
He added that one day, he saw his father on TV, got excited, and the man he was staying with called the number displayed on the screen.
According to him, his father promised to come for him and did so three days later, after which he began living with him in Lagos.
One day, I left my mum’s place and travelled to Lagos, hoping I would find my dad. I didn’t tell her I was leaving, but I wrote her a letter, he added.
When I got to the garage, the drivers were reluctant to let me into the car because they thought I was running away from home, which was quite common in Oyo at the time.
When I got to Lagos, I didn’t know anywhere, but I remembered a man who used to visit my mum and would always say he was popular in Ajah. So I went in search of him and ended up staying with him.
One day, I saw my father on TV and started shouting, I’ve seen my dad!, something I had always wished for.
After the show, the man I was staying with took down the number displayed on the screen and called my dad. My dad promised to come for me. Unknown to me, he had already had my mum arrested for letting me leave home.
Three days after that call, he came for me and that was how I started living with my dad.
