Femi Ogunrombi – Papa Ajasco Biography, Age, Cause of death

Papa Ajasco, whose real name is Femi Ogunrombi, was a Nigerian comic actor popular for his portrayal of the eponymous ‘Papa Ajasco’ in Wale Adenuga’s television series.

Abiodun Ayoyinka initially played the role of Ajasco, a portly wealthy man with funny mannerisms – but Ogunrombi took over the role after he pulled out of the show.

Biography

Femi Ogunrombi was a popular Nigerian comic actor who played the role of Papa Ajasco in Wale Adenuga’s popular television series.

Aside being an actor, Ogunrombi was an accomplished singer, highlifist and trained nurse who was fondly called ‘Uncle Ogurombo’.

His biography on the photo-sharing app Instagram read: “Femi Ogunrombi is a composer, songwriter, an actor, and a Music Teacher. An award-winning film producer and a music producer. A professional Nurse,”

He was born in Ille-Ife although he hails from Abeokuta in Ogun State. Ogunrombi was raised in Ile-Ife and moved to Lagos in the early 70s. He is married with three beautiful daughters.

Ogunrombi trained in Medical nursing and practised at the General Hospital in Ikeja, Lagos. He later left to pursue his real passion of arts.

Femi Ogunrombi was for about a decade the Music Director of the National Troupe of Nigeria. He was also the Director of Studies at the Pencil Film and Television Institute, Lagos. He has an over three-decade experience as a musicologist.

Cause of Death

Veteran Nollywood actor, Femi Ogunrombi died late on Saturday, January 14th 2023.

His death was confirmed by a 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)”

Papa Ajasco

Papa Ajasco and Company (formerly The Ajasco Family) is a Nigerian family television sitcom 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.

Ogunrombi, who was also a producer, worked as the director of Nigerian national music for about 10 years. He was the Director of Studies at the Pencil Film and Television Centre in Lagos.

An indigene of Abeokuta, Ogun State, Ogunrombi was born in Ife, Osun State, and would later move to Lagos in the 1970s with his parents.

He studied Nursing in 1975 and practised at the General Hospital, Ikeja, Lagos, for a short period.

After taking interest in music and the arts, Ogunrombi went back to school in the 1980s to study Dramatic Arts at the Obafemi Awolowo University.

At the 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.

In 1994, he joined the National Troupe of Nigeria, under the Ministry of Information and Culture, as Music Instructor. Despite rising to the position of director of music at the ministry, he left the government to pursue his own music business.

He had worked as a musicologist for more than 30 years.

The late Papa Ajasco was a recipient of many local and international awards, most notably in 1995 when he was awarded a gold plaque and a Diploma in Creative Composition in North Korea for performing a song in that language.

Ogunrombi is said to be married and blessed with, at least three, children. However, details of his age and number of children are not yet verified.

How old is Papa Ajasco?

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.