When Alex O, Blackky, Zubby, Lula Okposo serenaded Nollywood legend, Kingsley Ogoro @60

By Anote Ajeluorou

IT was a birthday celebration fit for a king. And Kingsley Ogoro (fondly called Sir K) is no less a king in his chosen field, as his ‘subjects’ thronged the stage to pay homage to him for his sterling inspiration and mentorship over the years, men and women who have become professionals in their own right. And he basked in the adulation of one seeing the products of his creative genius gather to celebrate him. They were many, as the vast hall of The Podium Event, Lekki, Lagos, hosted both music and moviemakers for Mr. Ogoro’s 60th. One of the highlights of the birthday event was the unveiling of a book-in-making, Kingsley Eloho Ogoro: The Man Who Saw the Future, which would be ready for readers in a few months’ time.

Crooner of ‘Rossie’ Blackky confessed to how producers and record companies told him his brand of music at the time would go nowhere, but adventurous Ogoro took it on and literally flipped it such that e thought his music had been irretrievably destroyed. But ‘Rossie’ would turn out a monster hit that dominated the airwaves at a time when rave musicians like Majek Fashek, Ras Kimono and Orits Williki held sway. But a certain University of Lagos undergraduate held his head high among these music heavy weights, all thanks to Sir K’s creative genius, a producer with an uncommon eye for original sound and rhythm! And when a grateful Blackky gave vocal filip to ‘Rossie’ that evening, Mr. Ogoro, champion dancer in his heyday, couldn’t sit still, as he rocked with Blackky. It was a moment to treasure, as musician and producer took to the dance floor in evident re-enactment of that bygone, nostalgic era when Mr. Ogoro’s magic fingers turned sound into gold.

Alex O was no less mercurial in honouring Ogoro with his own vibes. He simply performed his stuff with Mr. Ogoro still on his feet shuffling alongside him. Sammie Okposo’s daughter, Lula, took the stage too and stood in the stead of her father and jazzed up one of Okposo’s soulful, inspirational songs in typical GenZ fashion. Okposo and Ogoro, apart from sharing same Isoko ethnic nationality, came way back, with his daughter’s presence somewhat making up as some sort of substitute, but his scratchy, baritone voice obviously missing. But only just, as Okposo’s former manager and childhood friend Rev. Martins Ogbeivor would bring down the essential Sammie Okposo’s vocal and performative spirit into the celebration, as he ushered Mr. Ogoro, decked in his native Isoko traditional garb – wrapper, jumper shirt, hat and decorated hand fan – into the hall with Okposo’s signature ‘Wellu Wellu’ anthem, with white handkerchiefs waving in the air in a festive flair.

Yinka Davies crooned the happy birthday song while the cake was being cut, just as Fela protege Dede Mabiaku joined her to also performed a Lagbaja song in honour of Mr. Ogoro. However, it was Zubby Enebeli who raised the performance curtains with his soulful renditions to kick off an evening of celebration and fun.

It was indeed a roll call of Nollywood greats, a creative subsector where Mr. Ogoro has made most impact. Ace actor Segun Arinze who would done an Isoko traditional attire to usher in his long-time friend into the arena, ace movie director, Mr. Zeb Ejiro (OON), Stella Damasus, Fidelis Duker and his wife, Temitope, ace actor, Patrick Doyle, producer, Zik Zulu Okafor who lent an intellectual aspect to proceedings with a incisive lecture, Justice Atigogo who paired with broadcaster, Cordelia Okpei as comperes, and her husband and musician, Alex O, who would serenade Mr. Ogoro and the audience; ace producer and director, Mr. Tunde Kelani, Ibadan-based technologist, Dr. Tunde Adegbola, Dr. Teco Benson, Izu Ojukwu, Francis Onwochei, Dr. Bayo Adepetu, Dr. Kola Munis, Tunde Ajidedudu, Mr. Ogoro’s sister, Flora Lemeke, movie director, Kingsley Omoefe, actor Norbert Young and his wife, Gloria, movie director Charles Novia, special effects specialists, Mellanby Iloegben and Uzodinma Okpechi, who learnt at Mr. Ogoro’s feet, and lots more. The wife of culture conservationist Chief (Mrs.) Elizabeth Ifeyinwa Jibunoh stood in as mother of the day and chaired Mr. Ogoro’s birthday in place of his beloved sister, Senator Stella Omu, who is bereaved with the loss of her husband, Gen. Paul Omu.

Mr. Kingsley Eloho Ogoro (Sir K) dancing into the arena with his long-time friend and actor, Segun Arinze to his left

First to pay tribute to Mr. Ogoro was moviemaker Mr. Novia who reached deep into his memory bank and extoled Mr. Ogoro’s creative ingenuity that spanned music, movies and technical Nollywood. He recalled a particular music group that Mr. Ogoro brought into being, reminiscing how that group briefly lit up the music scene. Comedian and River State’s culture administrator, Mr. Yibo Koko, also poured encomiums on Mr. Ogoro’s unstinting generosity, saying the man would give out his equipment free to just about anybody who wanted to use them. He described Ogoro’s as a rare spirit in a mercantilist society like ours.

Mr. Ajidedudu also recalled their younger days together while learning the rubrics of film and studio engineering and advertising. What came through for all was Ogoro’s passion for cutting-edge technology at that early time and how he was always abreast of developments in his zeal to give the industry the best equipment for premium production outcomes. His passion for technology and innovation was if it was going out of fashion, a testament to a man who is deeply innovative in thinking and for whom technology is part of his culture-making DNA.

When Mr. Okafor stepped up to give his lecture, it was evident the man Ogoro deserves a scholarly chair for his immense contributions to the entertainment industry. Mr. Okafor would summon one of Mr. Ogoro’s friends and two of his acolytes as witnesses to his greatness in his enchanting, incisive piece before giving his own verdict, as he called Mr. Ogoro a ‘creative hermit.’ First on Mr. Okafor’s witness box in defence of Mr. Ogoro’s creative genius is his long time friend, Mr. Segun Arinze:

“Kingsley ogoro is a bohemian,” Mr. Arinze said. “Take that from me. But he’s fiercely focused. You don’t hear him talk much. He just strives to get results, and he likes his space. And don’t make the mistake of asking him not to try anything because that’s when he will dare that particular thing. And he will achieve his purpose. He is a man of courage and conviction. Above all, he is a tech geek. He has an intense passion for technology and a deep interest in learning and experimenting with it. Sir K is excited by innovation, and during the nascent stages of Nollywood, he was always the first to explore new devices, cameras, sound systems, software, apps, and all that. Amazing guy he is.”

Another witness Mr. Okafor called is Uzodinma Okpechi, whose own creative genius is described as ‘insane’ on account of his level of creative adventurism, who said of his former boss:

“Sir Kay is a dangerous resource. He was amongst the first in our creative space to realise that strength is in authenticity, not in dominance. Fearless and resolute, Sir K would be remembered for raising a battalion of bohemian filmmakers and technicians in Nollywood, and that includes yours truly. He doesn’t talk much. You see his action. You feel it. He is a dangerous creative resource.”

Alex O (left); his wife and broadcaster, Cordelia Okpei; Blackky and actress, Stella Damasus at Kingsley Ogoro’s 60th birthday event PHOTO: CORDELIA OKPEI

Fellow Deltan creative spirit and co-compere for the evening, Justice Atogogo, who Mr. Okafor described as ‘maverick, dissenter, and free thinker’ is no less a faithful acolyte of Mr. Ogoro, who he also called to witness:

“Big bros? Oh, he’s not normal. How can people be going from left to right to get results, and he alone would go from right to left and then get even a better result? Is that a normal person? But what baffles me most is that when this bros begins to make it big in one venture, and you then start to think he would stay there and maximise his advantages and make all the money, the man go just waka. E don move to other things. Name it, from dance and choreography jingles, then music, studios, equipment, movie production, advertising, shooting commercials, all. He is permanently on the move. That man? Forget him. We haven’t told his (story) yet.”

“Kingsley Ogoro is invisible!” is Mr. Okafor own confession of the personality of Mr. Ogoro, a man he shares same neighbourhood with for 15 years, but who you would catch in any known rendezvous around, “Because he is cocooned in his office or studio dealing with inanimate objects, and catching up with trends in technology. He is a visionary, an impassioned dreamer, and an ultra-committed change-maker. Simply put, he is a hermit, a creative hermit. He is a rare spirit who has chosen the silence of solitude over the noise of fame. Sir K does not seek the limelight, yet his artistry illuminates every frame he touches. His absence from the public eye only deepens the mystery, while his work stands as an undeniable testimony that a genius does not need to shout. He simply creates, and the world listens and watches. This is Sir K!”

Mr. Okafor traced Mr. Ogoro to the beginning of what is now known as Nollywood after Living in Bondage film was made in 1992, saying Mr. Ogoro would create the backbone on which the industry runs, describing him as “the guardian of the unseen, the force that gave Nollywood its technical backbone.”

Sir K in his sartorial elegance

“Let’s take our motion picture industry, for instance,” Mr. Okafor told his audience. “The creative revolution and ascendancy of the industry that would come to be known as Nollywood was triggered in 1992 when Nek Video Links released the movie, Living in Bondage, produced by a young, reticent but resourceful filmmaker, Okey Ogunjiofor. Many young creatives, film, television, and theatre graduates and broadcasters took a plunge into the nascent home video industry after the astounding commercial success and popularity of Living in Bondage.

“Almost everyone at this time wanted the spotlight – to be an actor basking in applause, a producer commanding sets, or a director orchestrating stories and calling shots. But not Sir K. His gaze was never on the stage. It was fixed on the engines behind the curtain, the hidden levers that powered the illusion. He was a razor-sharp thinker, a visionary trailblazer who understood that for cinema to breathe, it needed lungs of steel — technology, production infrastructure, post-production finesse, and technical mastery. Sir K chose this silent path.

“His appetite was not for the fleeting glamour of red carpets but for the enduring originality of craft. While others chased fame, he chased machines, lenses, edit bays, and signal paths. He became the guardian of the unseen, the force that gave Nollywood its technical backbone.

“It was Sir K who became the very face of production equipment, dictating the transition from one cinematic epoch to another. Under his watch, Super VHS gave way to BetaCam, and BetaCam bowed to the digital revolution. He was the conductor of technological shifts, ensuring the industry marched in step with the world.

“His office was not an office; it was a laboratory, a film school without walls, a rendezvous of restless young dreamers who found in him both a mentor and a compass. Cameramen, editors, gaffers, sound engineers. They streamed into his space, eager to learn under the man who understood that the future of African storytelling was not just in the script, but also in the camera’s gaze, the cut of an edit, the glow of a light and the hum of a microphone. And so quietly, but decisively, Sir K became the architect of cinematic possibility, the silent auteur who never called “Action!” on set, yet ensured that when it was called, the world could see and hear Africa’s magic with clarity, precision, and power.”

The Return, The Widow, The Battle of Love, Dangerous Babe, Across the Niger, Osuofia in London and Veno are Mr. Ogoro’s film credits while Blackky’s Rossie and King Sunny Ade’s Authority are a few of his music credits.