The now-talked-about professional movie industry, which some considered a pleasure or at most a career, was once taken as a calling, ministry and tool to address societal menace by the pioneers of Nigerian theatre who laid the foundation for modern dramatic arts in the mid-20th century.

Some of the names that cannot skip the lips are Hubert Adedeji Ogunde, Kola Ogunmola, Duro Ladipo, Oyin Adejobi, Ola Rotimi, Moses Olaiya, Akin Ogungbe, Enebeli Effiong, Zulu Sofola, James Ene Henshaw, and of course our revered Noble Laureate Wole Soyinka, among others who transitioned from traditional performance to professional, commercial and literary theatre.

Presently referred to as the father of the modern Nigerian theatre, Hubert Adedeji Ogunde was born on July 10, 1916, in Ososa, near Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State, Nigeria to the family of a Baptist shepherd, Jeremiah Deinbo and Eunice Owotusan Ogunde, who was a daughter of an Ifa priest. Ogunde briefly stayed within the compound of his grandfather and was exposed to both the Christian and traditional religion of the Yoruba which influenced his upbringing.

Ogunde attended St John School, Ososa, in 1925–28, and later moved to St Peter’s School, Faaji, Lagos in 1928–30 and also Wasimi African School in 1931–32. It was during his elementary school days he came in contact with performance art where he was a member of Egun Alarinjo. Despite having performing art at heart, Ogunde worked as a pupil-teacher at St. John’s School and was also a church choirmaster and organist.

In March 1941, he joined the Nigerian Police Force in Ibadan and in 1943 was posted to the Denton Police Station, Ebute-Meta, where he joined an African Initiated Church. For his unquenchable love for performing art, Ogunde created an amateur drama group called the African Music Research Party in 1945, the first contemporary professional theatre company in Yorubaland.

Like many of his contemporaries, in 1944 his theatre career began in church where he co-produced The Garden of Eden and The Throne of God with G. B. Kuyinu, his first folk opera commissioned by the Church of the Lord, Aladura, established by Josiah Ositelu. The performance was sanctioned to aid contributions to a church building fund. The Garden of Eden was loved by all and was premiered at the Glover Memorial Hall with the chairman of the ceremony, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, in attendance. The play infused realism and dramatic action in the acting, dancing and singing of the performers, which made it different from the common Native Air Operas known in Yorubaland at the time, an innovation that contributed to its success.

The then Alake of Abeokuta requested Ogunde to perform The Garden of Eden at the Ake Centenary Hall. It was the success of the play that motivated Ogunde to write more operas. Ogunde then distinguished his group by using promotional methods such as advertisements and posters, and by changing the round stage used by alarinjo performers to one with a proscenium.

After he left the Nigerian Police Force, Ogunde focused more on theatre and shifted his focus from religious themes to nationalistic and anti-colonial plays. Ogunde’s use of traditional Yoruba folklore improved through Worse than Crime in 1945, The Black Forest, and Journey to Heaven.

In November 1945, he was motivated by the events of a general strike organized by the labor unions led by Michael Imoudu and within 1946 to 1947, he went on to write and produce more plays like Tiger’s Empire, Devil’s Money, Herbert Macaulay, and Towards Liberty.

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Before 1948, Ogunde, whose plays had been growing in popularity having been staged constantly in Lagos and occasionally in Abeokuta, thought about traveling with his theatre troupe to other cities in Western Nigeria provinces where his plays were inaccessible. By 1948, he went on a tour with his group to Abeokuta, Ibadan, Oyo, Ede, and Ogbomosho. However, he had two major encounters with the police when he took his tour to the north following the political content of Worse than Crime and Tiger’s Empire. His first tour outside Nigeria was not well received by the Ghanaian audience due to the language barrier and his ignorance about the tastes of the people.

Ogunde then wrote his first satire, Human Parasites, around the time he first changed the name of his troupe to Ogunde Theatre Party. From then, his plays were folk operas in which the actors on stage sang their lines with limited dialogue.

In 1947, Ogunde with his wife Adesuwa had become popular to the extent that he traveled to London to seek promotion from theatre agents for his shows in England. The talks were not fruitful, but while in London they had the opportunity to take waltz and tap dance lessons which later helped him beautify his plays by blending the waltz with the traditional Batakoto dance and tap dance with the traditional Epa dance.

Hubert Adedeji Ogunde was the most prominent of the dramatists of the folk opera during his period and still holds the title of the industry doyen for his efforts to take his plays to every part of the country. In 1950, he changed the name of his theatre from Ogunde Theatre Party to Ogunde Concert Party.

The advent of Western Nigeria Television (WNTV) in the 1960s helped Ogunde a lot because it gave him the opportunity to reach a wider audience without traveling. Following this, he produced his plays Ayanmo and Mama Eko for the television audience.

However, in 1964, his two political plays Yoruba Ronu and Otitokoro, especially Yoruba Ronu, which spoke about the political events in Western Nigeria, got him a suspension after it was staged at an Egbe Omo Olofin meeting in the presence of NNDP leaders such as Akintola. During the performance, Akintola and a few others, who considered the play as a direct attack on their role in the Western crisis, walked out of the event. It was then banned in Western Nigeria for two years between 1964 to 1966 but enjoyed success in other countries.

In the late 1970s, Ogunde transitioned to films and co-produced Ajani Ogun with actor Ade Love. His second was Ija Ominira and he then invited Ola Balogun, a film director, to direct an adaptation of one of his stage plays, Aiye, which was premiered in 1979 and within a year made its money back.

His second movie was Jaiyesinmi. Aropin N’Tenia was the third, another adaptation of a stage play premiered in 1964. His fourth film was Ayanmo, originally adapted from a play that had been dedicated to his wife, Adesuwa, who had died previously. At the time, Ogunde provided the funds for the production of all of his movies without exception.

In 1982, he established a film village in his hometown for the shooting of his films. Before his demise, his last two films, Aropin N’tenia and Ayanmo, were shot at the Ogunde film village. It was during the shooting of Mr. Johnson that Ogunde got ill and eventually died on April 4, 1990, at the Cromwell Hospital in London.

During his lifetime, Hubert Ogunde wrote and produced over 60 stage plays and operas throughout his career. He was decorated with many honors including the Member of the Order of the Niger (MON) conferred on him in 1983, Honorary Doctor of Letters (D.Litt) by the University of Ife and the University of Lagos in 1985 and 1986 respectively, Ogun State Excellence Award received in 1987 and 1988 for his outstanding work in drama and film production, BBC Man of the Theatre awarded by the BBC in 1983. He was celebrated as Africa International Music Ambassador, Musical Legend of the Commonwealth, and Music Ambassador Plenipotentiary among many other honors and titles.

Hubert Ogunde was not just a dramatist, playwright and producer; he was also a professional singer, with many of his songs still being studied and speaking to national issues till now.