By Nehru Odeh
Femi Ogunrombi, one of the comic actors who played Papa Ajasco in the popular soap opera, Papa Ajasco and Company, is dead.
His death was confirmed by journalist and theatre practitioner, Husseini Shaibu via his Twitter handle on Sunday
He wrote, “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)”
Ogunrombi took over the character, Papa Ajasco, when the former character, Abiodun Ayoyinka pulled out of the show.
Ogunrombi served as the National Troupe of Nigeria’s music director for 10 years. He was the Director of Studies at the Pencil Film and Television Institute, Lagos, and has been working as a musicologist for more than three decades.
A multi instrumentalist, music teacher, a composer, an actor, producer and director of music/film, he studied music and drama at Obafemi Awolowo University in the early eighties.
While at OAU, he founded and conducted a Choral group called The Ayoro Voices. This group was the cultural image of the University between 1980 and 1983 respectively.
Ogunrombi joined the National Troupe of Nigeria as Music Instructor in 1994. By 1998, he rose to the position of Director of Music and inaugurated and conducted the National Choir. In 1998, he left the National Troupe to pursue his own music business.
His departure from public service propelled him to become art consultant to different state governments around the country such as Lagos State Council for Arts and Culture 1999 to 2002, the Ekiti State Council for Arts and Culture, 2014, Cross River State Council for Arts and Culture.
Ogunrombi joined the popular TV comedy program as Papa Ajasco in 2006. At the same time became the Coordinator of Studies for Wale Adenuga’s PEFTI film Institute.