Kolawole Olawuyi: ‘Nnkan mbe’ presenter, fearless ‘whistle-blower’ who died while exposing secrets
KOLA OLAWUYI was a gifted and skilled individual. He selected broadcast investigative journalism and made his contributions with grace and style. When Toba Opaleye, Gbenga Adeboye, and others who had enslaved the industry with their talents, brilliance, and knowledge of the radio business first entered the radio industry, humor and Ewi were the people’s favorites and ruled the airways.
Olawuyi was more interested in conducting investigations, revealing murky secrets through radio or television programs. When others preferred comedy and standard radio fare, he opted to reveal obscure secrets. He possessed guts, tenacity, and bravery. The presenter, who was born in Ibadan, could reveal any secret he desired……..Continue Reading
He has a refined taste in spiritual things, yet he couldn’t compete with his coworkers. He did not spare pastors, robbers, or terrible landlords who make tenants’ life miserable as he exposed witches, wizards, ritualists, and kidnappers.
Top preachers were also not forgiven. They were all caught in his poisonous tentacles, including Guru Maraji, Micheal King, T.B. Joshua of the Synagogue, Prophet Okorocha, Malaika (a woman who claims to be God), and others. He also raided kidnappers’ hideouts with cameras and uncovered churches whose owners had ritually buried individuals alive or dead in their structures to entice crowds.
He began a radio program called Iriri Aye on the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), Ibadan, in 1992 as a broadcaster with a focus on human interest tales. Fortunately, the radio program was enthusiastically greeted by his supporters and fans and it sparked emotions. The Okorocha narrative raised the bar, and in the late 1990s, “Iriri Aye” became a well-known radio show.
EARLY LIFE
Akolawole Olawuyi was born in 1963 in Ibadan, the capital of Oyo State. His mother is said to have been a Muslim, and his father, Williams Inaolaji Olawuyi, was a pastor. He was an extremely difficult, unyielding, and demanding child who saw journalism as a divine duty put upon him by God to improve the world.
EDUCATION
We do not know the names of the primary and secondary schools he attended as of the time of publishing this report. He did attend The Polytechnic in Ibadan, nevertheless, and there he earned a National Diploma (ND) and Higher National Diploma (HND) in mass communication. He was just about to complete his Master’s degree in Communication Arts at the prestigious University of Ibadan when he passed away at the age of 44.
MARITAL LIFE
His marriage produced four children: three girls and one boy who also happens to be a saxophone. He was married to just one woman.
CAREER LIFE
The Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), Ibadan, was the first significant media organization where he had the opportunity to display his talents. In 1992, he started the 30-minute radio program Iriri Aye, and he successfully operated it until it gained popularity in the late 1990s after exposing one Okorocha, the teacher and prophet.
Okorocha was a well-known prophet who frequently worked miracles using black eggs. This exposé drew a sizable audience, and everyone applauded the program Iriri Aye on FRCN. Additionally, he looked into Temitope Balogun’s Synagogue Church of All Nations, also known as T.B. Joshua.
The talented broadcaster trampled on some of the nation’s influential people, and he paid the price. Kolawole Olawuyi’s newfound fame resulted in petitions, threats, and harassment. He left Ibadan due to pressure and started the same radio program in Ogun State.
This program, Nnkan N Be (Strange but real), was the pinnacle of his professional and personal life. He exposed ritualists, imposters, and kidnappers, as well as covered many human-interest tales that drew many Nigerians, particularly in the South West. He was not just well-liked but also wealthy. He established a business company and eventually expanded into the production of television shows.
DEATH
On March 3, 2007, Akolawole Olawuyi passed away. Some of his coworkers, including Nnkan n be’s avid listeners, did not accept the news of his death when it first broke. They had such faith in him that they believed he was too strong to pass away at 44 without a fight. His passing surprised and shocked everyone.
According to reports, he had been afflicted with the illness that ultimately led to his death for three months.
According to some stories, the illness that resisted all medical intervention was brought on by his secret programs.
Many of Akolawole Olawuyi’s admirers asserted that the renowned broadcaster was murdered by witches, wizards, ritualists, and phony pastors whom he exposed on his program Nnkan n be. There were a number of theories as to what killed him, but the one that gained the most traction was because he was adamant on felling a tree in his rented property.
In the compound where he resided, which was near the Okunola bus stop on Idimu Road in Egbeda, Lagos State, his death was said to have been caused by the cutting down of an enigmatic tree.
According to a Sunday Tribune piece, the strange tree was entirely uprooted and cut down three months prior to the presenter’s passing. Olawuyi ordered the tree to be taken down despite a strong hazard warning from the previous tenants of one of the buildings in the compound not to touch the tree.
Unconfirmed rumors said that white people owned the odd tree and had warned against cutting it down in the past.
It was also found that the owner of the house had made many unsuccessful attempts to evict the white residents so that the tree could be cut down.
Even when the foreign renters were eventually evicted, the tree remained inside the home for five years.
Unconfirmed rumors indicate that Akolawole Olawuyi intervened and oversaw the removal of the strange tree because the tree’s branches were allegedly wreaking havoc on the building he was residing in.
The unusual tree was finally down despite repeated cautions. According to other stories, he fell unwell following the incident and struggled with his illness until his death.
CONTROVERSIES
It is generally accepted that a life without dispute is not one that is full of activity. Even the legendary broadcaster Akolawole Olawuyi suffered. Additionally, the rod of scandal smote him. He is responsible for three well-known disputes, including the Yinka Ayefele accident story, occult membership, and the dispute with Gbenga Adeboye that was allegedly sparked by Yinka Ayefele.
Please allow me to quickly walk you through these three main debates.
Yinka Ayefele accident’s story
The radio industry’s introduction of musical advertisements by broadcaster Yinka Ayefele made him a household name. He was frequently patronized by the radio industry’s bug guns due to his excellent talent. They assigned him a lot of advertisements, which served as his source of subsistence as well. He collaborated closely with Gbenga Adeboye, Akolawole Olawuyi, and others.
Ayefele was traveling to Abeokuta on December 12th, 1997, to deliver some musical advertisements and set up the stage for Olauwyi, who had traveled to Germany and was scheduled to arrive that day as a significant element of his production crew.
Unluckily, Ayefele had a fatal accident in Orile Ilugun, a town near Abeokuta. After passing a TCTC bus, he apparently tried to swerve back into the track but lost control of the wheel. Before it was later determined at the UCH Ibadan that he had lost his spinal cord, he had been fatally wounded and transported to two separate hospitals. He apparently spent nine months at the UCH Ibadan, where he became wrapped up in deceitful networks.
After being advised by Kola Olotu, another broadcaster, among others, he eventually mustered the fortitude to carry on with his life. In his musical CD, Bad Experience, he described the accident scene and used adages that were allegedly directed towards Kola.
Occultic membership
Following his successes in the media sector, many Nigerians, particularly devoted listeners of Iriri Aye and Nnkan n Be, concluded that Kolawole Olawuyi was without a doubt a member of a potent occultic gang. They thought he had some kind of supernatural ability that allowed him to look into things like bogus pastors, prophets, ritualists, and kidnappers, among other things.
Most of his supporters didn’t think he had actually passed away after he was killed. They thought he was too strong to pass away quickly. He was said to have been given a brief life by the occult organisation he belonged to, according to some sources.
These allegations forced his family, who had decided to bury him discreetly due to his elderly parents, to hold a public funeral service so that rumor mongers could verify that neither his head nor hands had been severed. They sought to demonstrate that he was completely interred with all of his body parts and that there were no odd occurrences at his funeral that would have suggested he belonged to a particular cult.
Kola Olawuyi versus Gbenga Adeboye
For ten years, Kola Olawuyi and Gbenga Adeboye dominated the radio. Since they were on the same stage, competition was impossible. Companies and corporate organizations that used them for advertisements also did not help. The two of them had a really unhealthy rivalry.
According to a trustworthy source who spoke to WITHIN NIGERIA, Gbenga Adeboye once requested Kola Olotu, who shared Kola Olawuyi’s voice, to launch a similar program at the OGBC in Ogun State in order to lessen Kola Olawuyi’s appeal. While doing so, Kola Olotu praised Gbenga Adeboye for his achievements in the radio industry.
Because numerous listeners believed Kola Olawuyi was speaking on the radio, the scheme actually succeeded. The founder of “Nnkan n Be” had to publicly and stylishly admit that someone had been utilizing his voice and mannerisms to draw in listeners.
Additionally, it was learned that Kola Olawuyi and Gbenga Adeboye had a conflict of interest regarding Yinka Ayefele. For radio commercials and musical jingles, both broadcasters used Yinka Ayefele. They desired that Yinka Ayefele choose one of the two. However, following the catastrophic accident that claimed his spinal cord, Yinka Ayefele selected Kola Olawuyi and left his side.
Kola Olawuyi vs Gbenga Adeboye vs T.B Joshua
Kola Olawuyi, a renowned broadcaster, was one of the few who looked into the Synagogue Church of All Nations’ early history. Temitope Balogun, also known as T.B. Joshua, was a very divisive figure who established the church based on divisive doctrine. Kola Olawuyi questioned T.B. Joshua’s dubious doctrine and claimed miraculous powers.
In the late 1990s, Olawuyi conducted a series of interviews for his Nkan mbe radio program with a number of former SCOAN members and backroom employees who disclosed a variety of alleged atrocities, including occultism and serial misdeeds at the church.
Olawuyi’s intervention had a negative impact on T.B Joshua. The Cameroonian government banned his church from operating there in 2012 as a result of the discoveries, branding him “diabolical” in a statement titled “The Devil in the House.”
The Cameroonian government tells the pilgrims that they will be on their own to deal with the repercussions. The statement, which was then-signed by Henri Eyebe Ayissi, the nation’s foreign minister, said, “This is prompted by the sad and disgusting fact that Cameroonian men and women, in search of relief and blessings, once in that church, find themselves in bestial and pitiful conditions.
After several petitions, threats, and warnings that caused Kola Olawuyi to leave FRCN, Ibadan, T.B. Joshua reportedly took Olawuyi to court.
