At birth, my mother was sad to know she had an albino – Adewale Elesho

• Adewale Adeoye aka Elesho has opened up on how his birth came to be.
• The veteran actor says his birth was difficult and his mother was sad to have an albino because she was scared of being accused of adultery.
• Elesho said parents scolded their children for going to see him because it was a thing of wonder at the time.

Yoruba movie star, Adewale Adeoye fondly called Adewale Elesho, has said he gained popularity from childbirth because he was born as an albino person.

The Nollywood veteran told media personality, Adedoyin Kukoyi, in an interview on Sunday that it was not popular to give birth to a child with albinism in those days because his parents had a different complexion from him.

He revealed how parents sometimes scolded their kids whenever they went to visit him, and many others came to see him out of curiosity.

According to Elesho, when his late mother, who was a trader, gave birth to him, she was sad because there might be the suspicion that her Lebanese supplier fathered him due to his complexion. He narrated;

“I became popular since my birth. The news got everywhere that a white man was born. Some will scold their wards for coming to our house because they had given birth to an albino. Some will even wonder if I’m Chinese. Many people come to look at me out of curiosity.

My birth, too, was a little difficult. My late mother said the day I was born was a day of sorrow for her because she was a dark-complexioned trainer who sold breakable plates that were being supplied to her by the Lebanese.

So when I was born in a hospital in Ibadan, my mother wept for the suspicion that might arise that she had had something with one of the Lebanese. But when my dad came, my mother said he carried me and started jubilating because I look like his grandmother”.

Elesho narrated how his elder brother, Yekinni Adebola, would fight tooth and nail because he was called an albino, revealing that it was when he admitted being one that his brother knew he didn’t take it as a challenge.

Adewale is the father of popular skit maker, Yemi Elesho, who is known for his roles in comedy skits.

Elesho began his journey to stardom and popularity as an Instagram skit maker in 2016 when his fellow comedian, Arole, introduced him to it.