Comedian Alibaba Shares How His Father’s 10-Year Disownment And Silence Spurred Him On To Greatness
Veteran Nigerian comedian Alibaba has shared a poignant chapter of his life where he faced familial discord due to his unconventional career choice over pursuing law.
In the Christmas edition of ‘The Honest Bunch Podcast’, Alibaba departed from university to disclose his aspirations of becoming a comedian to his father, bracing for a supportive response. Contrary to his expectations, his father’s disapproval led him to flee his own home.
Determined to prove his worth, Alibaba decided to embark on a journey to become a successful comic, despite the decade-long estrangement from his father.
In a reflective moment, Alibaba expressed,
“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 didn’t want to read law again and that I wanted to do comedy.
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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.”