Blog

“A star can never die. It just turns into a smile and melts back into the cosmic music, the dance of life.”

• Michael Jackson
  Remember him? Femi Ogunrombi was a television icon, popular comic actor that serenaded the fantasies of television viewers in Wale Adenuga’s television series, Papa Ajasco.
  He was God’s gift to Nigeria. He was multitalented. By education, he was a nurse that trained at the General Hospital Ikeja. By calling, he was an actor, singer, and music teacher. He was an award-winning film and music producer.
  Born in the ancient town of Ile-Ife when the parents moved from their ancestral home in Abeokuta, Ogun State. His early years on earth was in Abeokuta, before moving to Lagos in the70s. He is a father of three beautiful and successful daughters.
  Though trained as a nurse, the urge to grace the screen and make people laugh was indomitable. After practising for some years at the General Hospital Ikeja, he had to submit to the almighty’s call to the world of arts. For almost a decade the Director of Music of the National Troupe of Nigeria. In the Pencil Fil and Television Institute, Lagos, he was also the Director of Studies. His contribution to the Nigerian music space cannot be easily forgotten. This experience spans over three decades.

Death
This veteran actor, Femi Ogunrombi died on Saturday, January 14, 2023. The exit of this icon was confirmed by Husseini Shaibu, a theatre practitioner via his Twitter handle on Sunday. In the terse statement he said, ““I have just been reliably informed that the ethnomusicologist, former Music Instructor with NATIONALTROUPE and one time stand in for the ‘Papa Ajasco’ character on the popular waleadenugaprod comic series ‘Papa Ajasco’ Mr. Femi Ogunrombi is dead.
“I am told that the actor, singer, highlifist and trained nurse whom we fondly called ‘Uncle Ogurombo’ (not to his hearing though) passed on this evening (Saturday)”
Papa Ajasco
Before the explosive growth of Nollywood, Papa Ajasco was like the staple in every home in Nigeria. This successful drama series was created by Wale Adenuga in 1996. The show is a spin-off of a feature film of the same title produced by Wale Adenuga in 1984, which in turn is based on the comic Ikebe Super.
The story revolves around the Ajasco family and their comedic interpretations to major societal issues.
The main characters include womanising patriarch Papa Ajasco, his long-suffering wife Mama Ajasco, their mischievous son Bobo Ajasco, local playboy Boy Alinco, promiscuous gold-digger Miss Pepeiye, and illiterate ne’er-do-wells Pa James and Pa Jimoh.

At its prime, Papa Ajasco was widely considered to be Nigeria’s most watched comedy series, viewed weekly in twelve African countries.

Richard Abiodun Ayoyinka played Papa Ajasco for years but left the show at a point, during which Femi Ogunrombi took over.

Femi left the role in December 2008.

Age

Femi Ogunrombi’s age is not readily available online but he was over 60 years old. He pegged his age at ‘over 50’ during an interview in 2009, making him ‘over 60’ now.