History of Legend Nigerian Comedian Moses Olaiya Porpularly known as Baba Sala.

Baba Sala: Moses Olaiya(18 May 1936 – 7 October 2018), was a Nigerian comedian, dramatist, and actor.

Olaiya was born in Ilesha, Southwest Nigeria, he was raised in colonial Nigeria and grew up in the Northern provinces.His father worked as a teacher and later as an accountant and the family moved quite often, living in Jos and Kano. As a young boy, Olaiya played the class clown and sometimes dressed outlandishly to please people. While he chose to develop a career in entertainment his parents wanted a path that will lead to a professional career such as in medicine or law.

Olaiya worked as a health inspector for the Lagos City Council but as a young man with interest in entertainment, he formed musical group, the Federal Rhythm Dandies which had a young Sunny Ade as a member. The group played briefly before Olaiya switched from music to drama, he wrote and staged dramatic plays similar to the style crafted by the forerunners of genre, Ogunde and Ladipo.
However, seeking to do something new, he dabbled into comedy and founded Alawada group. In 1965, the group got a break when it won a contest organized by Western Nigeria Television that led to the creation of a t.v. show. The group became more known when their comedy sketches were aired on WNTV. Olaiya's main character in the group was Baba Sala, a pensioner who sometimes wore torn and out sized trousers and a table clock as a wrist watch.

In 1982, Olaiya made his big screen debut in Ọ̀run Móoru directed by Ola Balogun and co-produced by Olaiya. He plays his signature character Baba Sala, a man from a poor background who had built some wealth selling electronics in the city only to lose it to greed assisted by the advice of a dubious babalawo.
The movie was well received but was bootlegged which affected box office receipts. Olaiya then directed and produced his next film, Aare Agbaye in 1983.