When Omotunde "Adaku" Adebowale — a graduate of Law from Lagos State University, left Law School, she wanted a career in the media industry. She approached many media outfits, including Channels TV and even Galaxy TV, but she was rejected.
In fact, Channels TV rejected her because she could not pronounce "Arthur" — the name of the man who interviewed her.
Galaxy TV rejected her because she was "fat" and had "an ugly face" for TV.
Her parents wanted her to be a lawyer and were disappointed with her new choice of career that might fetch just a meagre income for her. But she never gave up on her dreams and started practicing pronunciation of words and names.
She practiced law for three years but on realising her ambition, she enrolled at the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria Training School in Lagos, performed well, and was immediately given a Contract Employment with Radio Nigeria where she stayed for nearly two years before moving on to WAZOBIA FM.
When asked in an interview by 'Nonye Ben-Nwankwo of “The Citizen” which was published on March 1, 2014, how she got on radio, she said:
"I am not on radio because I couldn’t find another job. It is just passion-based. I enjoy entertaining people.
I wanted to do what I was passionate about and not just about what I read in school. I was once with the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria. When I heard about Wazobia, it became a challenge for me. I wasn’t even sure I could do it but I went for the audition.
It was a tough one (the audition) because a lot of people came for it. By the time I was auditioned, it was almost over.
I was invited four months later. That was how I started. It wasn’t easy at first because I had to go through the teething problems.
Some listeners criticised me. But every criticism I got made me stronger.
The more you do something, the better you get at that thing.''
Adebowale hails from Ijebu-Igbo in Ogun State but she's always mistaken for an Igbo lady due to her roles in movies, especially the "Adaku" she portrayed in Funke Akindele's “Jenifa's Diary” which she played perfectly that got many viewers arguing whether she's Yoruba or Igbo.
When she hit stardom, Galaxy TV who had rejected her beforehand because she was "fat and ugly" tried to recruit her but she replied to the management that they couldn't afford her pay.
Omotunde Adebowale is now a Nigerian Multi award-winning Radio and TV Host, Comedienne, Compere, Dramatist, and Actress. She was an On-Air personality and a Newsreader for CoolFM and WazobiaFM (known as Lolo1 of Wazobia) until July 10, 2019, when she left the station.
So, be good at what you do. Be consistent. Be successful and they will chase after you.
Credit: HistoryVille
PS:
Passion is a strong desire that can get you to do amazing things in life. But passion without a corresponding action yields no worthwhile results.
Find your passion. Don't give up!
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