By the nature of my job over the years, I am not cut out to spend precious time watching make belief. I am a not an avid fan of Nollywood though I cherish the entertainment offered by the comical variety by the likes of Baba Suwe of that industry. But somehow even in one’s lukewarm interest in our home movie industry, I was forced to note the likes of veterans like Oga Bello, Baba Suwe and indeed, late Alhaji Taiwo Babatunde Hassan, popular as Ogogo omo Ikulodo.
That note was of a popular talented and handsome black dude, perfectly in tune with Yoruba culture and norms. Further attraction came on the realization that we are from the same Ilaro in Yewa South LGA of Ogun State and unknown to me actually lived in the same neighbourhood in Ilaro. The later was revealed to me by my immediate biological senior, Tunji who was a contemporary of Ogogo and told of stories of their participation together in ‘Egungun’ masquerade festivals in Ago-Isaga close to our house. I cannot recall such as I was probably too young then to join them in the frolics of ‘Egungun’ masquerade that is part of our family heritage of Alaagba extended family of Ilaro.
It was however, the yearly Oronna Ilaro Festival that finally brought us close around 2012. With the ascension to the throne by His Royal Majesty, Oba Kehinde Olugbenle as Olu Ilaro and Paramount Ruler of Yewaland, the then young, educated and modernizing monarch had the vision of turning the Oronna Ilaro Festival to a major cultural tourism attraction for the town of Ilaro and other Yewa communities towards community development. Even while resident in Abuja, the royal father head hunted me to chair the committee for the actualization of the vision. Amidst my protest and persuasion of merely being an overseer, I was inaugurated as the Chairman of a 50-member Oronna Ilaro Festival Central Planning Committee with Omoba Segun Adewale (OSA) and Chief Thomas Lala as vice chairmen for Lagos and Ilaro respectively. Other members of the committee were Alhaji Taiwo Ogogo and High Chief Ibrahim Egungbohun Dende.
With little more than a seed fund of N200,000 and no blue print on ground of what a modern cultural festival should look like, I set out to fashion out a cultural celebration that departed from the previous era of a lackluster community get together of over 20 years to a festival that I got into national recognition as a cultural tourism festival in the annual calendar of the federal government through the Nigeria Tourism Development Corporation, NTDC.
To his credit Ogogo was pivotal to the development and all achievement garnered by the Oronna Ilaro Festival during my 4-year tenure. While myself and other members of the committee like Dende concentrated on raising fund and sponsorship for the festival, Ogogo as the chairman of the Cultural Sub-Committee took charge of developing old content for the festival as well as introducing a new one. Hitherto, the week -long festival had different cultural display like ‘Egungun’ ‘Gelede’ and ‘Igunuko’ masquerade display but it was Ogogo that conceptualized and innovated the new display of “Onigba Aje”, an all- white attire procession event that spiritually solicits for economic development and progress. The only comparable procession of such can only be found in the Osun Osogbo festival of Ile- Ife. Ogogo was indeed a cultural exponent and icon that devoted his talent not just for his own personal ends but the development of the society and in this instance his immediate community of Ilaro. The Onigba Aje cultural procession is an enduring and colourful aspect of Oronna Festival just like the Sisi Ilaro, an ethnic beauty pageant, that was introduced and had his input during my tenure as chairman.
Ogogo like myself sacrifice a lot for the development of the festival with his coming in from Lagos and leaving his acting set while I flew in from Abuja to preside over meetings that eventually paid off outstandingly and remained a unifying force for community development. Indeed, it was the festival that connected Ogogo and I to Senator Solomon Adeola CON aka Yayi, who was always the highest financial donor to the festival and physically participated in all editions of the festival. And expectedly, Ogogo was a fervent believer in the political vision of Senator Adeola for Ogun West and indeed, Ogun State. He was part of the senator’s campaign team in Lagos and Ogun State and always organizes thespians to join in the campaign. Indeed, he is a core member of the Yayi Political Family and a firm believer that Ogun West deserves to be governor of Ogun State after over 50 years of the state’s creation.
In all his community development efforts, Ogogo never ask for compensation as I can vouchsafe for him while we worked together on the Oronna Festival project. At some point, when we had grown the festival with some substantial financial reserve, pressure was mounted on me for members to “take care” of themselves. The argument was that members of committee like Ogogo and I should be able to defray our cost in terms of commuting and airfares. I resisted and he was an ally in the resistance. The resistance yielded tangible results as the fund accrued was used in the development of parts of the Asade Agunloye Pavilion and the Open University Centre, in Ilaro among other community development initiatives. Such was the man being buried today in Ilaro. A great actor, film maker, community development activist, cultural and tourism icon and a fighter for justice for his Ogun West people. Ogogo Omo Ikulodo. You did your part locally, statewide, nationally and internationally through the life you lived and the work you did. You will be sorely missed. Rest Well Compatriot.
High Chief Kayode Odunaro
BAAROYIN of Imala
MAJEOBAJE of Olu Ilaro
OSORUN of Isaga-Orile
