Why I was named after an animal – Antar Laniyan

 Yea I know, its really strange/rare for a human to be named after an animal, but actor, producer, director, Antar Laniyan was named after an iguana, which is awonriwon or Antar in the Yoruba language. 

The veteran thespian during a recent chat with Vanguard’s weekend groove revealed the reason why his parents decided to name him ‘Antar’ .

 He said:


 I know the name Laniyan is not a special one but Antar is peculiar. Some years back, a pregnant woman had a rival who wanted to marry her husband at all cost.

 This rival went diabolical to make sure the pregnant woman, my mother, did not give birth to me. And after staying 18months in my mother’s womb, they made some findings and it was revealed that my mother had to beg this rival for me to come to life.

 Getting to my mother’s rival, she said they had to look for a goanna.

 Goanna is an animal called Aworinwo in Yoruba language but typical Yorubas call Goanna ‘Antar’. So, they used the Antar or goanna to make concoction for my mother. After some hours, I came to life and my mother decided to name me ‘Antar’ after the animal.

When asked how his father reacted to the name, he said: 

My father loved the name. After all, my mother didn’t know he was loved by another woman and the woman could come out to say she was the cause of my mother’s trouble.