Margaret Olayinka, the ace Nigerian actress better known as Iya Gbonkan, has received nearly N5 million in donations following her plea for a car.
Last month, Olayinka said despite acting for decades, she does not own a car and relies on buses to move around.
The 64-year-old actress pleaded with her fans to “celebrate me now that I am alive.”
“I have been acting for decades yet I don’t have a car. I jump on buses every day. If I die now, you will kill a cow. I need a car from my fans,” she had said.
But on Tuesday, a cleric identified as Gabriel Agbala visited Iya Gbonkan at her residence in Osogbo.
Using his Facebook page, Gabriel solicited financial support from people all over the world.
As of Tuesday, the cleric said about N4.6 million has been donated to help achieve her dream of owning a car and house.
According to Gabriel, N4.1 million was donated for her housing project while N500,000 was for the car.
“N4.1 million for IYA GBONKAN HOUSE. N650,000 for MAMA ABENI AGBON. N650,000 for Mama Tamotiye,” he wrote.
“N500k on the ground for Mama Gbonkan’s car, work has started already, OSHOGBO. We are coming by Friday, next week.”
An apparently grateful Olayinka could be seen in a video praying for everyone that supported her.
“I’m very grateful. I don’t have any power but you are the people supporting me. You will not be tired of my matter. You will never know pain,” she said.
“You will not go blind, you will not go deaf. You will not suffer over your children and you will always have money to spend.”
Olayinka undertook her first performing arts training under the mentorship of Duro Ladipo, the late movie producer.
Her distinctive physical appearance, characterised by her large, bulging eyes, earned her the nickname Iya Gbonkan.
She hit the spotlight in the early 1970s when she featured on ‘Pa Yemi Elebu’bon’, a television series by Ifa Olokun.
She has since been featured in several other Nollywood movies including ‘Aje Meta’, ‘Jenifa’, and ‘Ese Oro’, among others.
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