It was one surreal day, around 4:00 pmor so, and I was out on our street for areason I can't really remember now, Iwas pretty young then. Then as I got tothe maisuya end of our busy street, Inoticed this huge and electrified crowdthronging after a slowly-moving convoy.At the center was a white limousine andfrom the sun roof, was a man full ofcharming smiles, waving to the frenziedcrowd, he looked very smart, handsomeand he was also wearing white, allwhite, the hat too was white. It was quitea dazzling spectacle. The limo washeaded towards the city stadium wherehe had a show. I had just set my eyes onAfrica's greatest magician, 'ProfessorPeller'. And Abiyamo would never seehim again. But for a young African childwho was also seeing a limousine for thevery first time or so, it was truly amagical moment for me. He performedand left my state leaving incredible talesof outstanding feats. Ladies andgentlemen, this is a piece on Nigeria'smost famous magician, Professor Peller.For about thirty years, Peller held theworld's most populous black nationspellbound with millions gasping at thewhisk of his wand. I hope you find thismagical.BIRTH AND EARLY DAYSHe was born in 1941 at Iseyin, Oyo Stateand he was named Moshood FolorunshoAbiola. He would later pick on the stagename of 'Professor Peller', anappellation that has stuck to him like asecond skin.HIS MAGICAL PERFORMANCES ANDEXPLOITSWhen Professor Peller was alive, he wasthe most brilliant magician in all ofAfrica. I am not too sure if the recordhas been broken. Even in death, Pellerremains the greatest of all. He performednot only before princes but also heldkings spellbound with his magic. Here ishow Femi Oyebode, a Professor ofPsychiatry at the University ofBirmingham described Peller and one ofhis shows in 1972 at the George VStadium in Lagos (that is the old name ofthe Onikan Stadium):My last ever visit to the stadium was tosee Professor Peller, a magician, and saidto be a member of the Magic Circle takeon the last of our traditional magicianswhose name now escapes me (itself asignificant fact). Professor Peller wasdressed in black tails, a top hat, a wandin one hand, black shoes and well-cuthair. He was a perfect picture of debonairgentleman and was assisted by anattractive young woman. He flicked hiswhite handkerchief and a white dove flewout. He pulled at his cuff links andflowers bloomed under his command. Hewas confident, majestic. He was suaveand graceful. He levitated his assistant.He cut her in two without drawing blood.He locked her in a cupboard, chained upseveral times over yet she disappeared! Itwas a masterly performance. The crowdclapped, hooped. We were seducedagainst our better judgment. We wisheddesperately that the traditional magicianwould enthrall and endear us to hismagic, the mysteries of African magic. Wewere disappointed or shall I say that Iwas disappointed. When he came on stagedressed only in a loincloth ofindeterminate color, you could hear theaudience gasp aloud. Was this Africanmagic' This crude, little thin man whoseemed recently woken from the dead' Heswallowed a stone and turned hisbackside to us, slipping his loincloth toone side and excreted the stone.Awfulness and shame. He submitted hisabdomen to a sharp sword to be slicedopen. But by now, the absence ofrazzmatazz and of finesse had turned usagainst him. The crowd poured throughthe gates. That was how disgusted wewere. You can say that at George Vstadium, in early adulthood I lost two ofmy childhood dreams.A master at his craft and a consummateentertainer, he cast a most powerfulspell on the following African leaders,right in their presidential palaces:-The late President Gnassingbe Eyademaof Togo (Eyadema later died afterspending 38 years in power, he was thelongest-serving ruler in Africa when hedied in 2005 (see his picture below). Hisson, Faure, is currently the President ofTogo).-The late President Samuel Kanyon Doeof Liberia (see picture below). There isan interesting story behind hisperformance for the late strongman ofMonrovia. There was a time Peller had aperformance in Liberia in the 1970s andthe crowd was just too massive. TheLiberian government drafted securityforces to the venue of the act to controlthe surging crowd. One of thoseresponsible for maintaining security thatday at Peller's performance was a youngman called Samuel Doe. So when Doebecame President, he summoned Peller,Nigeria's finest magician to comeperform for him. Such was the stellarperformance of Peller. Doe said he wasbusy controlling the surging crowd andhe could not witness the even properlyas at that time when he was a juniorsoldier.-The former President of Benin Republic,Mathieu Kerekou was also one of thosewho patronized Peller (see picturebelow).Apart from the Presidents mentionedabove, Peller also reigned supreme inNigeria. It was like there was no otherconjurer in the land. Chief ObafemiAwolowo, the late Premier of theWestern Region was one of those he usedto entertain regularly.-Peller was a prolific magician withmany shows, some of which were theInvisible General, the Escaping Box,Changing Dresses and the Zigzag. Onething with Peller's performances is thatthey were executed with maximumfinesse and excellence. He was thoroughand professional. Perhaps, if not fordeath, he might have even eclipsed DavidCopperfield of the USA in fame.Copperfield is presently the greatestmagician on earth and the first personto make one billion dollars from magic.-While growing up, he was nicknamedMoshood Olori Pupa (Moshood the Red-Headed Boy).-One of his classical performancesincluded putting his wife in a 'magicalcoffin' and severing the same coffin intotwo halves with a 'magic coffin'. There isno spirit at work here, watch how thetrick is done here:When Peller was performing, there wasreally no Internet as we have it today, soit was quite easy to fool people in theirmillions. Now, YouTube is spoiling theshow for many magicians except themost ingenious of them. Here are fewmore magic clips on YouTube just to letyou know they do not conjure any evilspirit or demon, it is nothing but sheertrickery. LOVE, ROMANCE AND MARRIAGEHe was described as a very romanticman. His most prominent wife, AlhajaSilifat, fell in love with him while shewas still in the secondary school. Sheconfessed that she had always admiredhim and his performances even beforethen and each time she watched himperform, her heart fluttered withaffection for the fine magician withtribal marks.In 1967, Iseyin Grammar School in OyoState became the place where Pellerplanted the seed of love even if he wasthere to perform but was carried awayby the ravishing young beauty in thecrowd called Silifat. Hear her: 'I am surehe musthave been attracted to mebecause of my beauty. So, he justwhispered to me: 'Baby, you arebeautiful.' And I said, 'Thank you.' Hedidn't ask me out that day. For quite along time, we were friends.' For acouple of years more, they continueddating and Lady Peller said after twoyears, she said yes to his advances. Theygot married in 1971 and they alreadyhad a child by then.For a man who was a showstopper atany events, it is no surprise that not afew women fell for the enchanting spellof Nigeria's most famous magician. Hewas a man of many women and marriedmany of them. However, the best knownof these ladies, with whom he performedhis magic tricks is Alhaja SilifatAdeboyin Peller (see picture). The wholeof Nigeria knew her as Lady Peller andshe is most famous for the act in whichshe was 'sliced' into pieces by Peller andhad a hard time putting her back. Now66 years of age with her husband goneand not remarrying, she is tending toher grandchildren while reminiscingover the glittering wonders of an empireof magic that once held sway. Lady Pellerwas born in Kishi, Oyo State where herfather was the Chief Imam and had fivechildren for him, while also raisingmany other step-children.However, unknown to many, their rosymarriage later had a deep crack to theextent that they were not stayingtogether anymore. When Peller waskilled at his Onipanu residence, he wasin Lagos State for a function while LadyPeller was living at the GRA, Ikeja.Although they were not officiallyseparated as they still saw regularly,Peller checked on her in Ikeja but mether absence. As at that time, they hadalready reconciled and were evenplanning on coming back together beforePeller was prematurely silenced by theassassin's bullets.Peller left a message for her to check onhim as he was not feeling well and wasrushed to Ibadan for treatment. LadyPeller was furious as to why he wastaken to Ibadan since they had familydoctors at the Ajayi Memorial Hospitaland the EKO Hospital in Lagos but upongetting to Ibadan, she was simply toldthat Peller was dead. She faintedimmediately only to wake up to a bucketof water and intense fanning by familymembers. She said: 'It was a great shockand I had never seen that kind of things.I don't ever wish to go through thatkind of thing again.' While he was alive,he also taught her some magic andensured she got some training inMichigan, USA. Little wonder theyalways performed together and as far asshe is concerned, her religion is notagainst the brand of magic sheperformed with her late husbandbecause according to her, 'it was notfetish'. She still remembers the very goodold days and says she will not remarryand will still marry him over and overagain, rounding off: They only want toenjoy what Professor Peller was enjoyingfor several years. But they can't have it.'DID HE ACTUALLY CUT HIS WIFE INTOTWO'No. I will not call magic a lie but I willdescribe it as a well-oiled pack ofgrandiose dramatization, outrightdeception, fantastic misdirection anduncanny slyness. There is nothingspiritual about magic, it is nothing butan agglomeration of well-practisedtricks. However, if done well, anexcellent magician can actually 'createsomething out of nothing' or make the'possible from the impossible' (even ifthat will look like he or she is goingagainst the established laws ofNewtonian physics, it is all an illusion)in a very fluid and convincing manner(in that case, I will call many Nigerianpoliticians magicians). So what happenedthat fateful day when Professor Pellerallegedly 'sliced' his wife into two butcould not put her back together and shealmost 'died''It was at the National Theatre inIganmu, Lagos and the Lagos StateGovernor, Alhaji Lateef Jakande waspresent at the occasion to representChief Obafemi Awolowo. The eventstarted as planned but then the Pellerteam decided to throw in a suspense-filled event, as their usual practice whenthey have events following one anotherevery evening. The essence was to createso much suspense so that they will drawin even more crowd by the next day. Sofor day one, the idea was to create anillusion that he ran into trouble whilesawing his wife in half. But then, thenext step involved 'reviving' her. Afterthe 'cutting', which was obviously donewith a lot of dramatic effects, the crowdwent into a frenzy and began to shout'We want Lady Peller!', 'Give us LadyPeller!'.Later in 2012, the 66-year-old LadyPeller was interviewed and asked aboutthe incident and she insisted that Pelleractually cut her into two and she evensustained some light injuries. If youreally want to clear your mind on this,just watch the video below. Even inhemicorporectomy in surgery where theentire half of a human is severed,survival rate is very low. Enjoy thisvideo and see how magicians 'cut' peopleinto halvesFAMILY AND CHILDRENHe was a wonderful father and some ofhis children are as follows:-TOYIN-SABURI (aka Pastor Kayode Abiola):Now a pastor, he was born in October1960 and practised magic like his latefather. He gained some degree ofprominence before squandering theprofits on women, cars and ultimately,drugs. Peller tried his best to assistKayode when he was alive, he foughtwith him, took him to court, all to noavail. He later became a changed manafter the demise of his father and thedwindling of his own magic firm, whichhe named Fantastic Young Peller.-NIKE: Probably the most well-known ofthe Peller children, Nike Peller is apopular face in the Nigerian movieindustry where she featured in manyYoruba flicks. On the 20 th of November,2010, she was made a traditional chiefand was conferred upon the title 'YeyeAgbasaga' (the Custodian and Promoterof Culture) of Erin Osun, near Osogbo,Osun State.-SAHEED (aka Zeeto): A lawyer (hepractised in England) and also keen onsustaining the magic world created bytheir late father. In July 2013, he madehis sister, Nike, disappear and reappearbefore an audience in Port Harcourt,Rivers State.-SHINA: Handsome and suave, he isalways in the news for his partyinglifestyle, love for cars and not too longago, for allegedly shooting a man in aclub over an argument.HIS DEATHYes, Peller was assassinated. It was onfateful day on the 2 nd of August 1997.Interestingly, he was killed the same daythat Fela Anikulapo-Ransome Kuti alsodied. Peller was attacked at his residencein while observing his evening prayersat Onipanu, Lagos State and he wasfatally shot by unknown gunmen.Nigeria and all kinds of unsolvedmurders, brutal killings and blood-curdling assassinations.INTERESTING THINGS ABOUTPROFESSOR PELLER-He bore the same names (MoshoodAbiola) with another popular Nigerianand winner of the 1993 presidentialelections, Bashorun Moshood KashimawoOlawale Abiola.-Professor Peller was a member of theInternational Brotherhood of Magicians,an association for some of the very bestof magicians on earth. Here is theMagician's Oath: 'As a magician Ipromise never to reveal the secret of anyillusion to a non-magician, unless thatone swears to uphold the Magician'sOath in turn. I promise never to performany illusion for any non-magicianwithout first practicing the effect until Ican perform it well enough to maintainthe illusion of magic.'-Right from their childhood, Peller andBaba Sala, popular Nigerian comedian,were best of friends. While making hismovies, Baba Sala would include some ofPeller's magical performances.-During the reign of Peller as the mostpowerful and influential magician thatever walked the Nigerian soil, there wasthis tale of bitter and intense rivalrywith another magician and herbalmedical practitioner from Osun Statenamed Aladokun. Their rivalry was notjust superficial, it also had traces of aclash of principles. Aladokunrepresented the typical Africantraditional magic while Peller wascarrying the flag of the 'foreign' andOrient-trained magician. The intensecompetition brought about by their fightsled to even more spectacular displays ofmagic and illusions. At the end, Pellerprevailed, just like Tesla over Edison inthe War of the Currents. His wife alsostated that the rumour that Peller wasonce swallowed by Aladokun was false.-Peller was good friends with the lateObafemi Awolowo, his son, Wole andFela Anikulapo-Kuti, all of whom enjoyedhis shows and gave him tremendoussupport.-Professor's Peller house at the junctionof No. 11 Bode Thomas Road and AbeStreet in Onipanu, Lagos now belongs toa parish of the Redeemed ChristianChurch of God (RCCG). When the housewas put up for sale, many of theprospective buyers ran away when theylearnt it belonged to the late magician.Nigerians are funny sha'lol! When hewas alive, his house was a well-knowndestination and schoolchildren throngedto see the massive picture he put in frontof the house, it was Peller in all the gloryof the paraphernalia of his magic.-Although he is the undisputed legend ofmagic in Nigeria, Professor Peller wassaid to be a devout Muslim who did notmiss any of his Islamic obligations. Hereis what his widow said in an interviewwith the Nigerian Compass in April2012: 'The Professor Peller you knew inpublic was not the same Eerson at home,especially whenever e was praying. OnFridays, all he enjoyed doing waspraising God. He never missednis fivedaily prayers. Whenever he wanted topray, he would just wear either anagbada or jalabia and nothing else.Whenever he was praying, he wasalways very serious, showing utmostpiety. In fact, before he got married tome, he told me that he never observedhis Subhi prayer at home; he wouldalways go to the mosque wherever hewas. At least, we livea together for about27 years, and I don't know of any day hemissed his five daily prayers. 'Oh, yes! Ifhe was not praying, they wouldn't killhim like that. Ask anybody, if he was notpraying, he wouldn't have been killedjust like that. No, no!' She also said thatPeller made a mistake when he revealedin an interview with journalists that theonly time he was without any magic waswhen he was praying. His widow believethat his enemies exploited this.-An extremely confident man, Peller toldthe African Guardian (GuardianMagazines) in an interview in 1988, that'there is nothing like failure. I am thelast of the world's great magicians'.LEGACYWithout a doubt, the late Pellerpopularized the art of magic in Nigeriaand polished it to such an extent that noteven his children have been able toduplicate. He unarguably remainsNigeria's greatest magician. Afterconquering Nigeria with his conjuringskills, he went international andreceived global acclaim. Mention thename Peller and the next thing thatcomes to mind is magic. But when hedied that fateful 2 nd of August, it seemedmagic in Nigeria died with him. Willthere arise another conjurer even farmore impressive than Peller in the land'Time will tell.You love magic' Enjoy these!ABRACADABRA! The more you look'theless you see.Thanks a lot for your time.Cc:Lalasticlala http://naijarchives.com/professor-peller-the-enchanting-story-of-nigerias-most-famous-magician/
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