Celebrated Yoruba actor Ebun Oloyede, better known as Olaiya Igwe, has expressed regret for refusing to accede to gospel singer Tope Alabi’s request to use his car for her wedding many years ago.
Olaiya said his action fills him with shame each time he thinks about it. He, however, explained that he did not take the decision out of spite or malice.
Instead, it was the fear of what could happen to his beloved car at the time that drove him to make the decision.
The actor said he had just purchased the car, which was the rave of the moment at the time, a Mercedes-Benz V-Boot.
He said he had the car inscribed with “Ololade Mr Money 1”, following the success of one of his films.
Olaiya said Tope Alabi came to him with her wedding plans and subsequently requested the use of the car for her big day.
He said he agreed to lend her the car initially, but later changed his mind.
The change of mind, according to him, emanated from an experience he had with the car in Ibadan.
He said his much-prized car was stolen while he was promoting his movie at a location, causing him much anguish.
Happily, the car was later recovered and brought to him. Olaiya said the traumatic experience made him overly anxious about the car.
The popular actor said that when Tope Alabi called him a day before her wedding, he refused to pick up her calls out of fear that something might happen to the car if he released it.
Olaiya Igwe said he had since made peace with Tope Alabi after apologising to her. He said in spite of that, the guilt was still overwhelming each time he thought about it.
The actor repeated that his funny action had nothing to do with malice but fear of another painful loss.
Alabi went on to become an international star in her own right, owning fleets of cars.
At her recent 55th birthday, her husband again added a Lexus SUV to the fleet.
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