My father’s cocaine addiction and death, by son

By Bayo Adetu  

Babatunde Oladipo, the first son of the late Yoruba actor, Lekan Oladipo, popularly known as Lekinson, has debunked speculations that his father died of excessive use of cocaine or cancer of the lungs. He admitted that his late father was a cocaine addict and was diagnosed with cancer of the lungs in 2007, but maintained that his death was natural.

The late Lekinson, who was one of those that started Yoruba home videos, died on 26 January 2012. He was reported to have died after a protracted battle with lung cancer.

“It’s not in doubt that my father was a ladies’ man, but it may shock you that my mother was his only wife; they had two kids, my younger brother Abiodun and I. My father’s drug problem could be traced back to when he went to India to study acting. On his return from India, my mother noticed a change in his attitude and one day she caught him sniffing a white substance suspected to be cocaine, which led to a serious argument.

“All efforts by family members to persuade him to give up the bad habit proved abortive. This affected his acting career and he was shut out of the scene for some years before he acted in the popular home video, Koto Aiye, in 2002. The dope thing messed up his career before he later stopped taking the substance.

“His death was natural; my father did not die of any sickness, as reported. On that sad day, he complained of tiredness and contemplated going to the hospital the next day. His elder brother encouraged him to go that day, and he agreed. But he died on his way to the hospital,” Babatunde explained.

The late Lekinson was popular for his slangs and the fraudster role he often played in Yoruba films. He was called Giorgio Lekinson. He was a board member of the Osun State Art and Culture during the tenure of Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola.

Babatunde, who goes by the sobriquet, Armani Arante, has decided to follow the foot steps of his father in the movie industry. The Business Administration graduate of Yaba College of Technology had featured in films such as Omolabake, Oko Obinrin and Figurine.

He is set to shoot his own film, but will first premiere his late father’s unreleased film, Irosun Meji.

According to Babatunde, “to be a successful actor has been my childhood ambition but my father did tell me to finish my education before going into acting. My passion for acting grew when I started following him to movie locations. While in higher institution, I opted for Business Administration because of my love for banking, but I’m back to my first love – acting.”