Actor Kunle Afod has appealed for support for veteran Yoruba performer Ezekiel Atilola, known as Tombolo, after he described selling his motorcycle to pay his daughter’s school fees and taking another on instalments.
Atilola said he was paying ₦30,000 each week towards a motorcycle costing ₦1.5 million. He told Afod that the payments had continued since he obtained the bike in January, while commercial riding provided money for his household.
The account appears in Afod’s interview with the actor, reported by TheCable, QEDNG and Legit.ng. Legit.ng reported that the video was shared online on 16 October. The veteran said the motorcycle he previously owned had been sold to meet the cost of his daughter’s education at a polytechnic.
Atilola said he began working in theatre in 1984 and had appeared in Yoruba films, including Tombolo, the production from which his familiar screen name came.
He said he still wanted to produce a film of his own but had not secured the financial backing to do so. His attachment to acting remained, despite his work outside the industry.
“I have faith in theatre and I really like theatre,” he told Afod, according to TheCable’s account of the interview.
The actor also described limited financial support within his family. He said he was his mother’s only son and had three elder sisters, who did not have money to help him.
Afod asked him to share his account details and urged members of the public to assist. The appeal followed Atilola’s explanation of the weekly repayments and the family expenses that had led him to sell his own bike.
Commercial motorcycle work had already brought the performer to public attention in 2023. Reports at the time placed him in Abeokuta, Ogun State, where photographs and video of him riding circulated online.
Singer Jaywon subsequently said his team had contacted Atilola and sent financial assistance. P.M. News reported in December 2023 that the singer had contributed ₦200,000 and encouraged others to support him.
Jaywon’s public message thanked people who had brought the actor’s circumstances to his attention. He said money had already been sent through the contact his team established, and appealed for further help.
The earlier intervention preceded Afod’s latest appeal by almost three years. It was a separate effort, made after the 2023 footage, rather than a payment announced in response to the current interview.
Afod has previously explained his decision to make assistance for veteran performers more visible. In an interview with Biola Bayo reported by TheCable in September 2025, he said he had supported colleagues privately for years.
He said comments around his 50th birthday had challenged actors over the treatment of older colleagues who helped establish the industry. He then decided to publicise more of his visits and appeals, saying the attention had helped the veterans involved.
Atilola’s stated ambition remains to make his own film if financial backing becomes available. For now, he told Afod, he is supporting his family through motorcycle work while meeting the weekly instalments on the vehicle.
