Lukmon Akintola
Though many young Nigerians may not know him today, but at one time, the name professor Pella was a household name. There was one myth or another about him, all based on his mysterious performances. He cut his wife into two; he went to a bank vault, took all the money without opening the vault door; he walks on thin air; he makes birds appear at will.
Though most of these stories are not true, many believed they were. They had seen the awesome wonder of Peller’s magic. Many even say he belonged to the occult.
Born Moshood Folorunsho Abiola in Iseyin, Oyo State in 1941, Professor Peller as he came to be known, is Nigeria’s most popular magician. As a boy, he was called ‘Olori Pupa’ meaning redheaded boy.
He was at a time, a student of Moslem School and Native Authority Primary School, both in Iseyin, Oyo State. His journey into performing illusion tricks started in 1954.
In 1959, he would change his occupation working as a representative, then as a trader before returning to his first love, magic.
To enhance his skills with illusion tricks, Professor Peller attended a school of magical arts in India where he spent 18 months. His first show held at the Federal Palace Hotel, Lagos in 1966.
His death in 1997 meant the demise of magic in Nigeria for many years. Several years before his death, with magic, he created a unique kind of entertainment.
With him, magic was spell bounding, as his fans from Lagos, Ibadan and Oyo were always in awe after each performance. Not only were they almost addicted to his displays, they fell in love with it, returning time and time again for his show against the urging of their heart and head. Hence, each show by Professor Peller saw a bigger crowd than the previous one. For his teeming fans, his performances were simply put, a creation of miracles.
The performances of Professor Peller were in all ramifications mystifying to his audience, which went from royal homes to kings and queens who were invited to witness him in action.
Asides this set of people, Professor Peller also performed for Presidents of several countries including former President of Benin Republic, Mathieu Kerekou, late President Gnassingbe Eyadema of Togo and the late President Samuel Kanyon Doe of Liberia.
The story of his performance for Doe remains intriguing. During a performance by Professor Peller in Liberia in the 1970s the crowd was huge, such that the Liberian government drafted security forces to the venue of the act to control the surging crowd. One of those responsible for maintaining security on that day was young Samuel Doe. Due to the fact that he couldn’t watch the performance on that day, when Doe became President, he summoned the Nigerian magician to come perform for him.
Some of his most popular shows included Invisible General, the Escaping Box, Changing Dresses and the Zigzag to mention a few.
Till date, there are those who argue that Professor Peller’s records are yet to be broken not only in Nigeria, but also in Africa.
School children spoke about the mysteries of the magician’s displays; stories heard from their parents, as they anticipated a day they would be old enough to grace one of such events.
With colourful attires and a mirage of soft lights, Professor Peller held his audience in a trance of sorts, dishing to them his mastery amidst fear, excitement and questions.
Though ample, the performances of Professor Peller were carefully organised mostly at Stadia Hotels and National Theatre, Lagos.
A wave of his white handkerchief releases a white pigeon, while undoing his cufflinks also produces significant developments such as the blossoming of very colourful flowers.
On numerous occasions, Professor Peller had shut a woman in a cupboard tied with chains, yet she was able to disappear and reappear within the audience. His finest hour was when he put his wife in a coffin and sliced the same coffin into two. He also swallowed a stone and excreted it almost immediately. He even submitted his abdomen to be sliced open with a sharp sword. Other times, he would cut his beautiful female assistant or his wife Lady Peller into two without any blood and then proceed to put her together. Such were the fascinations of the displays of the late genius.
While a great magician, Professor Peller, also received knocks from those who thought some of his displays were to some extent undignified.
Femi Oyebode, a Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Birmingham, once described a display of Professor Peller’s magic as awful and shameful. The display was that which took place in 1972 at the George V Stadium now known as Onikan Stadium, Lagos.
On the said day, Professor Peller dressed on stage only in a loincloth and subsequently swallowed a stone, which he excreted having initially turned his back to his audience, and slipped his loincloth to one side. The act of magic might have been intriguing, but it attracted criticism from some people who thought that it was debasing.
The incident of 1972 was perhaps one of the few times that the trade of the Professor of magic was criticised heavily; as he went on to do other laudable performances.
Professor Peller’s love life was as enchanting as his magic. The road to marrying his wife started in Iseyin Grammar School in 1967. A romantic man, Peller met his wife Alhaja Adedoyin Silifat Peller, while she was in the secondary school and by 1971 they were married though they already had a child.
She describes the encounter of meeting Professor Peller as thus “I had always admired him and his performances even before we met and each time I watched him perform, my heart fluttered with affection for the fine magician with tribal marks. I am sure he must have been attracted to me because of my beauty. So, he just whispered to me: ‘Baby, you are beautiful.’ And I said, ‘Thank you.’ He didn’t ask me out that day. For quite a long time, we were friends.”
Via his children namely Nike Peller, Saheed Abiola Peller popular as Zeeto, Shina Peller, and Abisoye Abiola Peller also known as Que Peller in the music industry, Professor Peller’s illusion trickery continues though in little folds.
Shina Peller
Que Peller Nike Peller
Pastor Kayode Peller and his wife Zeeto Peller
Only Zeeto and more recently Nike has chosen to follow in the footsteps of their father, as on numerous occasions, he has performed in several places creating a cameo impression of what his father used to do.
The only fulltime magician in the family, he has also had a fine showing entertaining guests using his sister Nike Peller as an object of magic.
Zeeto performed in a Nigerian Breweries-sponsored event in Port Harcourt. At the event, Zeeto made his sister Nike Peller disappear from the stage only to reappear within the audience, an act synonymous with his father’s. However, his performances are not restricted to this alone, as his work with his sister is taking more prominence. They both continue in an effort to bring back magic.
Shina Peller might be the most popular of his father’s children, but the fair-complexioned man has chosen another line of entertainment. Shina Peller is into the nightclub business, owning Quilox nightclub, one of the most exotic fun spots for night crawlers in Lagos.
Though he is known to have the trickery that it takes to perform illusion, Shina Peller explains why he cannot follow that path fully. According to him, “Magic requires a lot of time and resources. I’m an entrepreneur and I personally believe I do not have the time that it requires to actually do magic full time. I’m a magician myself and every child of my father does magic. I believe what is worth doing at all is worth doing well and that is why I have not given magic a second thought.”
Another person who seems to have also followed in Shina Peller’s path is thespian Nike Peller. Still in the entertainment line like her father, Nike has however stayed away from magic. However, in 2014, she found a way to combine acting with magic performance working with her brother Zeeto.
According to Nike Peller, there is nothing special about magic. “The way some people see it, they think magic must surely involve something diabolical. Whereas, there is nothing like that at all. Magic is purely entertainment stuff. There is nothing scary about magic.”
On how often they get shows, Nike Peller said, “We get shows regularly. I thank Almighty Allah for that. Recently, we had a show for Etisalat at Intercontinental Hotel, Victoria Island. My brother and I, Saheed (Zeeto) performed alongside other artistes, including 2Face Idibia, Olamide, Kaffy and others. Those who watched our performance that day actually were carried away. It is not everybody that can do magic. Late Professor Peller is the only known magician across Africa. He used to take us with him when travelling abroad for his shows. We just decided to revive his works; it is not good for his legacy to die with him, which is why my brother and I are into it. We still have all the equipment we can use.”
Asides the aforementioned trio, Que Peller, is another person through which the legacy of Professor Peller lives on. An Afrobeat musician signed on Aquila Records, a record label owned by his elder brother Shina Peller, Que Peller also does magic.
On several occasions, the musician has been seen performing magic on stage while entertaining his music fans too. His biggest performances are those where he makes a Dollar bill disappear and when he turned a piece of paper to a bird.
The death of Professor Peller is one, which is shrouded in controversy, as he was assassinated on August 2, 1997. Interestingly, he died on the same day as Fela Anikulapo-Ransome Kuti. Professor Peller was attacked at his residence while observing his evening prayers at Onipanu, Lagos State. He was shot by unknown gunmen.
With 2017 being the 20th death anniversary of Professor Peller, there have been events by the family to celebrate their father.
One of such events is the Unity Cup, a football tournament to celebrate the 20 year memorial of the late Professor Peller and promote Unity in the Oke-Ogun district of Oyo State.
In attendance were notables such as monarchs like the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi; Alaafin of Oyo, Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi; Aseyin of Iseyin, Oba (Dr.) Abdulganiyu Adekunle Salau. Musicians present included Davido, Sound Sultan, Small Doctor, CDQ and KWAM1. Others were Taye Currency, Skiibi, Baseone, Beezy, Que Peller, Airboy, Juniorboy, 9ice, Terry Apala, Keanzo and thespian Eniola Badmus.
20 years gone, Peller is still remembered as one of the greatest Nigerian entertainers.
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