Veteran Yoruba screen actor Taiwo Hassan, popularly known by his stage name Ogogo, has died at the age of 66 following a battle with stage-four cancer.
The news broke through an emotional Instagram Live session in which his daughter, Kira Taiwo, appeared visibly distraught, repeating “My daddy is dead” as she addressed followers. In the video, Kira was visibly emotional and said she wanted to see her father before he would be buried.
The clip spread rapidly across Nigerian social media, prompting an outpouring of condolences from fans, colleagues and public figures within hours.
What makes this story especially wrenching is how publicly the family’s ordeal unfolded. Only days earlier, Kira and her sister, variously identified as Lima or Haleemah Taiwo, had taken to social media themselves to reveal their father’s diagnosis and plead for help.
The news was made public by his two daughters, Lima and Kira Taiwo, in emotional Instagram videos, where they appealed for help in finding treatment for their father. His daughters broke down in separate Instagram videos as they begged Nigerians, cancer specialists and medical facilities to help save their father.
Central to that appeal was a claim that hospitals had grown unwilling to continue his care. One daughter said the hospital had indicated it could no longer treat him, explaining that they could not administer further chemotherapy.
The family stressed repeatedly that they were not soliciting money but searching for any medical professional, conventional or otherwise, willing to take on the case.
The daughter said the family was not seeking financial donations but was desperately looking for medical assistance to give her father a chance to survive.
One especially painful detail from the appeals: Kira disclosed that her father had spoken about his fear of passing away, saying he did not want to die and that she had never seen him in that kind of pain before.
Hassan’s death, would mark the end of one of Yoruba cinema’s most enduring careers. Born on October 31, 1959, in Ilaro, Ogun State, Hassan initially trained as an automobile mechanic and worked with the Lagos State Water Corporation before leaving government employment to pursue acting full-time.
He began his acting journey in the early 1980s, combining stage performances with his regular job, before becoming a full-time actor in the 1990s as Nigeria’s home-video industry expanded. His career eventually broadened well beyond the screen.
His career spanned acting, film production and directing, and he became particularly recognised for his commanding performances in Yoruba-language films, gaining wider prominence following his role in Owo Blow.
By the numbers, his body of work was substantial: the 66-year-old actor had appeared in more than 300 films over a four-decade career, cementing his place as one of the most recognizable faces in Nigeria’s Yoruba-language film industry.
As of this writing, neither Hassan’s management team nor his family has issued a formal statement confirming the death, and further details — including funeral arrangements.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
Veteran Yoruba actor Taiwo Hassan (Ogogo), 66, is reported to have died after a rapid battle with stage-four cancer, news that broke through his daughter Kira’s tearful Instagram Live announcement, just days after the family had publicly appealed for medical help.
