GOODBYE OGOGO – A Final Curtain Call for a Legend
An Open Letter by Prince Tunde Aiyekooto, Aiyekooto Reporters
My Dear Ogogo,
I am writing this with a heavy heart and trembling hands. The news still feels like a dream we all wish to wake up from – that you, Alhaji Taiwo Hassan, our own Ogogo, have bowed out after your long and courageous battle with stage four cancer.
Goodbye is too small a word for a man as big as you were.
For over three decades, you did not just act; you lived in our sitting rooms. You were the fierce warrior with eyes that could command an army, the principled father whose voice shook the walls of injustice, the deep Yoruba proverb-spewing elder whose every line taught us wisdom. You made us fear you, respect you, and love you – all at once.
We called you Ogogo from the movie Ogogo and you wore that name with honour. You turned it into a crown. You showed that a Yoruba man could be proud, cultured, and world-class without losing his roots.
I watched you fight this last battle the way you fought all your battles on screen – with uncommon strength, with dignity, with faith. Even in pain, you remained a soldier. You did not complain. You held your head high till the very end. That is the true Ogogo spirit.
The Yoruba say, “Eniyan buru, eniyan re ni, eniyan ni aso ibora eniyan” – It is people who clothe people. You clothed our industry with honour. You paved the way for so many young actors who looked up to you as a father in Nollywood. Your legacy is not in the plaques and awards, but in the countless lives you touched and inspired.
Today, the lights in our Yoruba Nollywood have dimmed. The set will never be the same. The sound of your deep, commanding voice will forever echo in our archives, in our hearts.
To your beloved wife, your children, your family, and your colleagues – we at Aiyekooto Reporters share in your grief. May God Almighty grant you the fortitude to bear this irreplaceable loss.
To you, my brother, my legend…
Sun re o, Ogogo.
Sun re o, Akikanju eda.
Sun re o, Omo Yoruba atata.
You fought well. You lived well. You finished well.
Rest in perfect peace in the bosom of your Creator.
We will never forget you.
Goodbye, Ogogo.
With deepest sympathy and eternal respect,
Prince Tunde Aiyekooto
Editor, Aiyekooto Reporters
