Veteran Nollywood actor Yinka Quadri has opened up about his final encounter with his longtime friend and colleague, Taiwo Hassan, popularly known as Ogogo, recalling the emotional words the late actor spoke to him from his hospital bed.
Quadri shared the memory in an emotional tribute published on Wednesday, August 26, 2026, following Ogogo’s death three days earlier.
The veteran actor said he could not hold back his tears when he visited Ogogo in the hospital and saw him lying on his sick bed.
But rather than allow his condition to overwhelm the moment, Ogogo reportedly looked at Quadri and tried to reassure him.
“Yinka, don’t cry. Nothing bad will happen to me,” Quadri recalled Ogogo telling him.
Quadri said he responded simply, “Yes, Amen,” holding on to hope that his friend would recover.
The actor said the moment has remained deeply etched in his memory, particularly because Ogogo appeared determined to remain hopeful despite his condition.
Quadri recalled another detail from the hospital visit that gave him renewed hope.
According to him, Ogogo later asked him to hand over a bottle of water that was on the table. Quadri said he gave it to him, and the late actor drank from it.
Ogogo also indicated that he had eaten earlier that morning. Quadri said he sought confirmation from the doctors, who confirmed that the actor had indeed eaten.
The development strengthened Quadri’s hope that his friend might still recover.
“At that moment, I said, ‘Glory be to God,’” Quadri recalled, adding that the doctors advised them to remain prayerful.
For Quadri, the hospital encounter was painful but also filled with moments that made him believe Ogogo still had a chance.
He said he knew his friend did not want to leave them so soon, making his eventual death even more difficult to accept.
Beyond their careers, Quadri and Ogogo shared a friendship that stretched back more than four decades.
Quadri said their relationship began in 1984 and survived rumours, disagreements and attempts by others to create a rift between them.
According to him, although people sometimes suggested that the two actors were no longer on good terms, neither of them publicly engaged in a bitter dispute with the other.
Instead, their friendship continued to grow through years of working together, travelling, sharing experiences and navigating the challenges of the Nigerian film industry.
Quadri described Ogogo as his “bosom friend” and said he was grateful to God for the life they shared.
In his tribute, Quadri expressed gratitude that Ogogo did not endure a prolonged period of suffering that could have placed an additional financial burden on his family and loved ones.
He prayed for forgiveness for the late actor’s shortcomings and thanked God for the life he lived.
Quadri also acknowledged the painful reality that the friendship that began in 1984 had now come to an end with Ogogo’s death.
For him, Ogogo was much more than a colleague in Nollywood. He was a friend, confidant and companion whose presence had become part of his life for more than 40 years.
Taiwo Hassan Ogogo died on Sunday, August 23, 2026, at the age of 66, following his battle with stage-four cancer.
His death triggered an outpouring of tributes across the Yoruba film industry, with colleagues and fans mourning one of the prominent figures of the old generation of Nollywood.
Ogogo was buried on Monday, August 24, 2026, in his hometown of Ilaro, Ogun State, according to Islamic rites. Family members, friends, colleagues and sympathisers gathered to pay their final respects.
Among those who attended the burial were Yinka Quadri, Jide Kosoko, Femi Adebayo, Ireti Osayemi, Faithia Balogun, Mr Latin and other members of the entertainment industry.
The actor’s death has left a significant void in Yoruba cinema, but for Quadri, the loss is particularly personal.
The memory of that final hospital visit when a visibly ill Ogogo tried to comfort the friend who was crying for him is likely to remain one of the most poignant memories of their four-decade friendship.
“Yinka, don’t cry. Nothing bad will happen to me.”
Those words, spoken shortly before Ogogo’s death, now carry a painful meaning for the veteran actor who was left to mourn the friend he had known since 1984.
