Nollywood actor Antar Laniyan has shared the fascinating story of how he got his name, tracing it to an extraordinary event surrounding his birth.
In an interview on Behind The Fame, Laniyan revealed that he remained in his mother’s womb for 18 months, prompting a traditional intervention to ensure his safe delivery.
He explained that his mother was instructed to eat a lizard-like creature known as “Anta” to help induce labour. Many people around them reportedly feared there were spiritual complications due to the unusually long pregnancy.
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Reflecting on the story, Laniyan said, “There’s a story behind it, and I like telling it at times because I want every individual to know the importance of having a mother: a good mother, a great one.
“The kind of things that our mother passed through before they gave birth to us individually, we do not know because we were not there. But when a mother goes into telling you how you came to be, you will weep for yourself.
“I overstayed in my mother’s womb; I stayed 18 months, according to her. People around were wondering what was wrong. I mean, something must have gone wrong, not medically. So it could be spiritual. She had to eat something in Yoruba called Anta. It looks like a lizard, smaller than a crocodile.
“So my mother didn’t see anything wrong with adding that thing to my name. She had to take it. They had to prepare it for her. She took it. An hour later, I came. When I got to primary school and my friends were playing with the name, I added an R to make it Antar.”