Papa Ajasco and company is a Nigerian Television program created by Wale Adenuga. The comedy series have started as early as 1996 and it’s being shown on WAPtv, NTA, Ait.
Regarding the role of Papa Ajasco, in the family program, it was not first played by the person who we all know as Abiodun Ayoyinka.
The first Papa Ajasco in Wale Adenuga TV comedy is a veteran Nollywood actor, Peter Fatomilola, from the start of the comedy.
According to sources, Peter Fatomilola had been Papa Ajasco even before the comedy series started. Peter Fatomilola said that Wale Adenuga has been his very good friend and he usually comes to greet him whenever he goes to Ife to greet his family. There was a time Wale Adenuga wanted him to be part in his magazine floating but Peter Fatomilola did not participate because he didn’t know about writing.
About ten year later, Wale Adenuga came back to tell Peter Fatomilola that he wanted to shoot the TV program. So Peter accepted to be part of it since it was his job and that’s how they acted the first version of Papa Ajasco which was titled “Ikebe super” and that is how people have known him as Papa Ajasco now.
After the first production, Peter was not called for another one again until they wanted to produce “Binta, my daughter” that Papa Ajasco was one of the characters. But things changed.
According to Peter Fatomilola, he said maybe he complained about the amount he wanted to get for the acting. He was replaced with Abiodun Ayoyinka who was thought how to act by Peter Fatomilola in Ife Dramatic Arts Department. Biodun was there for a Certificate in Dramatic Art (CDA).
Abiodun Ayoyinka was later replaced with Femi Ogunrombi who played the role for just two years.
The reason he left, according to Ogunrombi, many years ago, was that lovers of the TV series were connected more with Ayoyinka, the Original Cast. Subsequently, Ogunrombi was asked by Wale Adenuga to forfeit the role to the original actor.
“It was in the interest of Wale Adenuga Productions Company that I left. I don’t feel bad about leaving, but the thing is that quite several viewers tended to be with the other guy, and, as I said before, they see me as an elitist Papa Ajasco.
“Also, considering the market target of the sponsors, they felt they were losing viewers and money, I was nicely told and I reasoned with them and left,” Ogunrombi said during his lifetime.
“He said he was happy to play the role during his time and was friends with Ayoyinka during and after his time as Papa Ajasco”.
Before taking up the role of Papa Ajasco, Ogunrombi was an ethnomusicologist who made his mark in creative activities both in drama and musical scenes, spanning more than 25 years.
He was a recipient of many local and international awards, most notably in 1995 when he was awarded a gold plaque and a Diploma Certificate in Creative Composition in North Korea for performing a song in that language.
During his active years in the industry, Ogunrombi was passionate about creative art education for children in schools. He once said “I feel that if creative arts can be encouraged in schools, particularly government schools, our kids would be able to build a solid entertainment sector. We want to discover them early to train and guide them.”
Ayoyinka Abiodun came back to take the role and has been playing the role till date.
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 of 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 Pa James and Pa Jimoh.