Femi Robinson (September 27, 1940 – May 20, 2015) was a Nigerian film and television

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

, famous for his lead role in ''

The Village Headmaster ''The Village Headmaster'' (later renamed ''The New Village Headmaster'') is a Nigerian television drama series created by Olusegun Olusola and produced by Dejumo Lewis. Originally a radio drama series, the programme was Nigeria’s longest-runn ...

'', where his stage name, "Ife Araba, The Village Headmaster", was coined. Chief

Eddie Ugbomah Eddie Ugbomah (19 December 1940 – 11 May 2019) was a Nigerian film director and producer. He directed and produced films such as the Rise and Fall of Oyenusi in 1979, The Boy is Good and Apalara, a film about the life and murder of Alfa Apalar ...

, former Chairman of the Nigerian Film Corporation, called him "an icon of the industry".

Early life

Robinson was born on September 27, 1940, at Bodo, a village in

Abeokuta Abeokuta is the capital city of Ogun State located at the south western part of Nigeria. It is situated on the east bank of the Ogun River, near a group of rocky outcrops in a wooded savanna; north of Lagos by railway, or by water. , Abeokut ...

, the capital of

Ogun State Ogun State is a state in southwestern Nigeria. It is bordered to the south by Lagos State and the Bight of Benin, to the east by Ondo State, and to the north by Oyo and Osun states while its western border forms part of the national borde ...

, southwestern

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

, into the family of an

Ifá Ifá or Fá is a geomantic system originating from Yorubaland in West Africa. It originates within the Yoruba religion, traditional religion of the Yoruba people. It is also practiced by followers of West African Vodun and certain African diaspo ...

priest. He obtained a bachelor's degree in botany from

University of Nigeria The University of Nigeria, commonly referred to as UNN, is a federal and public research university located in Nsukka, Enugu State, South-east Nigeria. Founded in 1955 by Nnamdi Azikiwe who was Governor-General of Nigeria between 1960 and 1963 ...

Nsukka Nsukka is a town and a Local Government Area in Enugu State, Nigeria. Nsukka shares a common border as a town with Edem, Opi (archaeological site), Ede-Oballa, and Obimo. The postal code of the area is 410001 and 410002 respectively, re ...

(1962-1966) in the early 1960s before joining the Nigerian film industry.

Career

He began his acting career playing the lead role of Odewale in '' The Gods Are Not to Blame'', a 1968 play by the Nigerian playwright

Chief Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the boat ...

Ola Rotimi Olawale Gladstone Emmanuel Rotimi, best known as Ola Rotimi (13 April 1938 – 18 August 2000), was one of Nigeria's leading playwrights and theatre directors. He has been called "a complete man of the theatre – an actor, director, choreograp ...

. The play was an adaptation of the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

classic ''

Oedipus Rex ''Oedipus Rex'', also known by its Greek title, ''Oedipus Tyrannus'' (, ), or ''Oedipus the King'', is an Athenian tragedy by Sophocles. While some scholars have argued that the play was first performed , this is highly uncertain. Originally, to ...

''. He also played the lead role in ''The Village Headmaster'', Nigeria's longest-running television soap opera from 1968 to 1988, scripted by Olusegun Olusola. On October 11, 2012, Robinson called on the Federal Government of Nigeria to ban

Chinua Achebe Chinua Achebe (; born Albert Chinụalụmọgụ Achebe; 16 November 1930 – 21 March 2013) was a Nigerian novelist, poet, and critic who is regarded as a central figure of modern African literature. His first novel ''Things Fall Apart'' ( ...

's novel ''

Things Fall Apart ''Things Fall Apart'' is a 1958 novel by Nigerian author Chinua Achebe. It is Achebe's debut novel and was written when he was working at the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation. The novel was first published in London by Heinemann (publisher), ...

'' in Nigerian schools, following the publication of Achebe's controversial memoir '' There Was a Country: A Personal History of Biafra''.

Death

Robinson died of a heart attack on May 20, 2015, at Ayodele Hospital in the Ifako Ijaiye local government area of Lagos. Robinson's death drew the attentions of many notable Nigerians. According to ''

Vanguard The vanguard (sometimes abbreviated to van and also called the advance guard) is the leading part of an advancing military formation. It has a number of functions, including seeking out the enemy and securing ground in advance of the main force. ...

'', a veteran Nigerian film actor, Prince

Jide Kosoko Jide Kosoko (born 12 January 1954) is a veteran Nigerian actor, director and producer. He was born into a royal family, hence his traditional title of prince or "omoba" in the Yoruba language. Early life Jide Kosoko was born in Lagos State, ...

, said in his tribute, "Femi Robinson was a true professional. He has contributed immensely to the growth of the entertainment industry in Nigeria". The President of the

Federal Republic of Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

Goodluck Ebele Jonathan Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan (born 20 November 1957) is a Nigerian politician who served as the president of Nigeria from 2010 to 2015. He lost the 2015 presidential election to former military head of state General Muhammadu Buhari and w ...

, conveyed his condolences to Robinson's family in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Dr.

Reuben Abati Reuben Adeleye Abati (born 7 November 1965) is a Nigerian journalist, politician, TV presenter and newspaper columnist. He was the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)'s deputy governor candidate in Ogun State in the 2019 Gubernatorial election. Abati ...

References

2015 deaths 1940 births Nigerian male film actors Nigerian dramatists and playwrights Yoruba male actors 20th-century Nigerian male actors Male actors from Abeokuta Obafemi Awolowo University alumni 20th-century Nigerian dramatists and playwrights Nigerian male television actors Actors from Ogun State University of Nigeria alumni {{Nigeria-actor-stub