Platinum Times has learned that popular Nollywood veteran Chief Adedeji Aderemi nicknamed Olofa Ina has died.
Saidi Balogun, an actor, revealed his death in an Instagram post on Thursday, January 4.
“Goodnight legend Chief Deji Akinremi (Olofa Ina) RIP,” he wrote.
The film producer and CEO of Best of Nollywood (BON) also verified his death.
Aderemi, Edeland’s Sobaloju, was 73 years old.
Chief Aderemi is a well-known name in the Yoruba theatrical and film circles.
He is also well-known for the numerous Yoruba proverbs and idioms that adorn his lines in various films and theatrical plays.
On May 15, 1950, he was born into the family of the late Chief AbdulSalam Aderemi and the late madam Aisha Aderemi of Jagun- Olukosi compound, Ede, Osun State, during the reign of the late Oba John Adetoyese Laoye, the then Timi of Ede.
Between 1957 and 1962, he attended St. Peters Anglican Primary School, and from 1963 to 1965, he attended Baptist Secondary Modern School, Ode-Omu.
Between 1965 and 1970, he received vocational training in carpentry and joinery at Olukorede Furniture Industry.
Prior to 1980, he founded the Olofa Ina Theatre Group in 1972 with Erinfolamin, Dasofunjo, Gbolagade Akinpelu, and the late Oyetunji of the Esinnla complex in Ede. He was trained in theatre by the late Oyetunji.
The Olofa Ina Group pioneered the staging of epical histories of Yoruba warlords of the 18th and 19th centuries, including Basorun Ogunmola, Balogun Ibikunle, Ogedengbe Agbogungboro of Ilesha, Aare Kurunmi of Ijaye, Kakanfo Afonja, and a host of others.
These programs were produced by Nigerian Television (NTV) Ibadan in the 1970s and narrated by the late Dr. Babayemi, then of the Institute of African Studies at the University of Ibadan and later the Oba Olufi of Gbongan, Osun state.
Olofa Ina has also recorded a number of television productions, including Odetedo, Lakaaye, Kogun Maja, and Ade Oba.