FEMI ROBINSON PASSES ON

                                                                  

On  May 21,2015,the legendary actor of the now rested  popular soap opera-‘Village Headmaster ‘ whose baritone voice ,astute command of the English Language is phenomenal and a  household name with viewers passed on .The cause of the death of the popular actor known as ‘Ife Araba ‘as at press ti me was not known.

As a director of the programmes on TV and a pioneer Soap Opera ,he was keenly interested in the promotion of local arts and culture at home and beyond  until his death.After the departure of Ted Mukoro in 1973 he became the headmaster of ‘’Oja Primary School’’ferociously connected with the viewers through his oratory,perfect delivery of lines,pun and sound diction.

With his departure the entire generation  of foremost Nigerian thespians is finally coming to an end.The departure of Ambassador Olusola ,the founder of African Refuge Foundation –AFREF who wrote the Village Headmaster  down to late Funsho Adeolu-‘’Oba Eleyinmi ‘’who was later crowned as Alaye Ode of Ode Remo in Ogun State ;the late Wole Amele who also became the traditional rule of Aramoko-Ekiti;and Justus Esiri.

Others include Dejumo Lewis , Lari Williams , Jab Adu-Bassey Okon, Layode and Sisi Clara like Pa Robinson  had registered themselves on the minds of Nigerians for a long time to come .This is most interesting as an event that took place in an era that was unlucky without a certain level of technology now available to the young generation of today .

The Nigerian acting setting has lost a special breed and a culture ambassadors at a time in in which the thespian was working on a special projects  .Experimenting with new adventure and development of community theatres ,making Nigerians enjoy the theatre at the community level ,without having to come to the national theatre before they can enjoy plays.This consumed his attention before departure.It was a painful loss- a shocker.

According to the former Director General of NANTAP –Mufu Onifade  speaking to Nigerian Entertainment –NET lamented ‘’Now that he is gone who will carry on with the vision ?’’

The late Pa Robinson though studied Botany  at OAU but settled for acting at a later stage ,playing the first role as ‘Odewale’Ola Rotimi ‘s ‘Gods are not To Blame’.A pioneer director of  Programmes at Ogun State Television ,also initiated Shopper’s Guide and stage a big theatre production titled ‘’Ajan  Tala’’ was sponsored five years ago by Lagos State Government .He passed on at Ayodele Hospital ,Fagba ,Lagos State at age 74.Adieu ! Robinson.