Adebayo Tijani is a popular movie producer, director and actor. Tijani is the producer of movies like Apesin, Iranse Aje, Abegbe and Ogun Aiku. He produced his first movie, Durosinmi in 2002.
Currently, Adebayo Tijani is said to be one of the highest paid movie directors in Nollywood Yoruba.
In this post, you’ll find out some interesting things about this talented Nollywood producer and director. Some of which include his early struggles, his movies and the controversies that have trailed him since he began his Nollywood career.
Early life and Education
Tijani was born on the 24th March, 1975 in Agbole Alubata in Oyo. The producer hails from a family of bata drummers although he confessed that he doesn’t really know how to play drums. He lost his father in 2007.
At some point, Tijani lived with his friends Sanyeri and Golugo under the staircase of Golugu sister’s apartment. Golugo’s sister lived with her husband and 4 children in a single room apartment at that time.
After sometime, Sanyeri was able to raise some money to start a shoe-making business. This was in 1997. The business began in a rented wooden room where they also slept. Unfortunately in 2000, the house got burnt and they had to find somewhere else to live. Tijani had his education at the Federal School of Survey in Oyo Town, Oyo State, where he bagged a National Diploma in Survey and Geo-Formatics Engineering.
Movies
The producer revealed that he began his journey in acting and production in the early 2000s when he was the President of a Theatre Group.
Some of the movies he has produced include:
- Durosinmi, 2002
- Kajola, 2003
- Ti’ Igbin Ba Fa, 2004
- Apesin, 2006
- Akandun, 2007
- Ipa, 2007
- Iranse Aje, 2008
- Tibi tire laye, 2009
- Abegbe, 2009
- Igbeyin ewuro, 2009
- Ogun Aiku, 2010
He is known to release a movie almost every year and he does this to stay relevant in the industry.
In 2016, Adebayo Tijani and Femi Phillips released Oku Aye, a romantic thriller movie. The movie stars the likes of Femi Adebayo, Idowu Phillips, Toyin Afolayan, Toyosi Adesanya, Wale Akorede and Bayo Adedeji among others.
It was shot in Nigeria and the United Kingdom, and seeks to shed light on some of the pressing issues in society today.
The movie revolves round a young lady, Morire, who goes through a lot of drama and pain in her pursuit of love. She suffers a series of heartbreaks and emotional disappointments to the point where it all starts to feel like she is under a spell. The movie is a unique blend of drama, suspense and gripping actions.
That same year, Tijani directed another movie, ‘Ariyibi’. It was produced by Saheed Alao. The movie featured the likes of Peju Ogunmola, Afeez Eniola, Mercy Aigbe, Damola Olatunji, and Bidemi Kosoko.
The movie revolves around Ariyibi who needs money urgently to save his mother’s life. His desperation for money made him rob his father-in-law-to be.
The incident led to his fiancee’s memory loss and the doctor said that Ariyibi had to rob Niniola’s home again for her to regain her memory loss.
Movie Production
The actor is known for his well-research movies. He disclosed that he has indepth knowledge of the Yoruba culture and he loves celebrating it.
This explains why the producer is a frequent attendee of the Osun Osogbo Festival amongst others.
Worst experience
Tijani revealed that his worst experience in the industry was when he was invited to a movie production at Amuwo- Odofin in Lagos as a director but when he got there, the people he met knew absolutely nothing about movie production.
Although he still did the job he realised there are a lot of mediocres in the industry.
Happiest moment
Tijani disclosed that his happiest moment was when he won the AMAA award in 2006.
Marriage
Tijani got married in 2012 when he decided to settle down with his girlfriend, Folashade Adebayo who is a lawyer by training. They dated for three year before eventually tying the knot.
His wife had their first child in 2012.
Mentor
The actor revealed that Muyiwa Ademola is his mentor.
Controversy
Often times, movie director tend to make some mistakes when filming movies and Tijani has been guilty of such.
In the movie, ‘Tani Ole’ which was produced by Sanyeri and directed by Adebayo Tijani, there was a scene where a woman by the name Mopelola Elerangbe was negotiating with Sanyeri’s gang on how to return their guns brought to them by Sanyeri. It was interesting to note that when the woman was called upon and she wanted to pick up the phone, the colour of the phone she picked up was white, but while she was receiving the call, the phone had mysteriously turned black.
Also, there was a rumour at a time that Tijani was dating actress, Mosun Filani and he had fought with his mentor who was also dating the same lady.
Just in case you don’t know who Mosun Filani is. She is popular Nollywood Yoruba actor. She is a graduate of Business Administration from Tai Solarin University of Education.
Mosun has starred in several Nollywood movies and radio productions. She debuted as an actress in 2005 and has grown to become one of the most popular female Yoruba actresses. Some of her other movies include Ami Ayo, Iyo Aye (2011), Jenifa (2009)
She was nominated as the Best Actress in a supporting role in the 2009 and 2011 Best of Nollywood Awards.
She is currently married to lawyer cum politician: Kayode Oduoye and their union have produced two children.
It was said that Tijani and Muyiwa Ademola were in a romantic relationship with the Yoruba actress.
But the two actors refuted the allegations. According to Ademola, even his wife loves watching movies featuring Mosun Filani. Ademola also disclosed that he has been working with Adebayo Tijani for many years even before Mosun came into the scene and their relationship is still as strong as ever.
Tijani also revealed that it couldn’t have fought with his mentor over a woman.