My dad kept malice with me for 10 years for choosing comedy over law – Alibaba

Image: Daily Post

In a candid revelation, veteran Nigerian comedian Atunyota Alleluya Akpobome, widely known as Alibaba, shared a personal anecdote about the challenges he faced when choosing a career in comedy over becoming a lawyer.

While appearing as a guest on the Christmas edition of The Honest Bunch Podcast, Alibaba recounted how his decision led to a decade-long estrangement with his father.

Alibaba described the pivotal moment when he left university to inform his father about his choice to pursue a career in comedy. The reaction from his father was so strong that Alibaba felt compelled to leave home. 

Determined to prove himself and succeed in comedy, Alibaba embarked on a journey to establish his career, ultimately seeking to demonstrate to his father that his chosen path could lead to success. 

Alibaba said, “My dad is a bookworm. He got his PhD at 86. I told him, I said, ‘Daddy, I came from school to tell you something.’ He said, ‘Okay, have you been rusticated?’ I said, ‘No. I’ve decided that I don’t want to read law. I want to do comedy.’

“He asked, ‘Comedy like what?’ I said, ‘Like cracking jokes.’ He laughed and asked my younger brother to call my uncle who lived close by. When my uncle came, he asked what the matter was and I said I don’t want to read law again that I want to do comedy. He said that means I’ve found another father, stressing that I can’t be part of the family and won’t read law. He said all the money my dad spent on me was wasted. He told my dad to handle the situation and left.

“I knew I couldn’t sleep in that house because my dad would beat me. So as my uncle was going out, I followed him to lock the burglary and I didn’t go back in. And my dad and I didn’t talk from 1988 – 1998. Ten years. I tried to reach out to him. I went one time to talk to him but he didn’t want to see me.

“This was the thing. So people ask, ‘Where did you get the inspiration to become a great comedian?’ I was committed. I was like I want to prove him [my Dad] wrong.”

Source: dailypost.ng

#Alibaba
#Comedy
#Law
#Dad
#10 years