“Action Pọ̀ Bi Ogogo”: Remembering the Life and Times of Taiwo “Ogogo” Hassan

As a child who didn’t grow up watching many movies, certain names in the film industry were inescapable. No matter how little exposure you had to films, your friends in the neighbourhood would share the names or pictures of actors who dominated Nigerian screens, either by the popularity of their characters or by the names they had become known for. Taiwo Hassan, popularly known as Ogogo, was one of them. Anytime I had the chance to watch a film at a neighbour’s house, I would always ask, “Can we watch an Ogogo film?” It didn’t matter what role he played, as long as he was in it.

Memory doesn’t serve me as well as it used to, so I can no longer remember the roles he played in many of the films I watched. But his charisma, and the image he carried with him, remain permanently sealed in the house of memories. There was Ogogo the boxer. Ogogo the handsome man. Ogogo the friend of Yinka Quadri. And, of course, Ogogo the actor.

The Nigerian film industry has been in mourning since the news broke that Taiwo Hassan had passed away. Once again, the industry has lost one of its most decorated legends — an actor whose presence helped make Nigerian films appealing to generations of viewers.

To explore the life, times and legacy of this Nollywood icon, I invited people who knew and admired him to share their memories of Taiwo Hassan.

‘Yemi Ajala

Taiwo Hassan did not merely act in the Yoruba film tradition. He carried its ghosts, stagecraft, humour and immense populist imagination across generations. For many of us, he arrived not just as a name or even a face, but as a force that showed the very ethos of Omoluabi, especially restraint of physical prowess in the face of multiple alternatives….