Birth Name: James Olanrewaju Omiyinka
Nickname: Baba Ijesha
Birth Date: October 28, 1972
Occupation(s): Comic Actor, Producer, Filmmaker, Director, Singer
Years Active: 1985 till date
Net Worth: Unknown
Personal Life
Baba Ijesha is a Nigerian actor, producer, filmmaker, and director, who has been in Nollywood for decades. The actor, who is popularly known for his comic role in Yoruba movies, was born on October 28, 1972, and hails from Ile-Ife in Osun State, Nigeria.
The nickname ‘Baba Ijesha’ was given to him when he featured in a movie where he took on the role of an Ijesha man. He has his primary education in Osun and Lagos.
Career
Right from his childhood, Baba Ijesha had had passion for entertainment. While he was in primary school, he usually entertained his friends and classmates. His flair for entertainment was greatly influenced by his father who was a local champion comedian and a joke cracker.
He started professional acting when he moved to Lagos in 1985. Although he started out his acting career on a television soap opera, he came into the limelight with Saheed Balogun’s movie ‘Omo Orita’.
Ever since then, he has remained a force to reckon with in the Yoruba movie industry. From the start, he never saw what he was doing as something that would, later on, be profitable.
Some of the movie he has starred in include Arokan, Baba Masoko, Baba Mario, Gelede, Opolo, Sagba di were and Baba Kondison amongst others.
As a singer, he released a single titled ‘Olongbo’ in 2016.
Marriage
Although much is not known of his family, Baba Ijesha got married to a top manager at Samsung in 2012.
Scandal
The actor was picked up by police for defiling a teenager on April 19, 2021, after the defilement case was reported by a fellow comedian, Princess Adekola Adekanya.
According to the Police, Baba Ijesha confessed to the crime and was also captured by a CCTV camera in the house of the complainant.
He had first defiled the girl when she was seven years old before he was caught in the act seven years later.