LEGENDS OF THE ARTS: GRACE OWOOLA OYIN-ADEJOBI (IYA OSOGBO)

December 04, 2023

LEGENDS OF THE ARTS: GRACE OWOOLA OYIN-ADEJOBI (IYA OSOGBO)

IYA OSOGBO

Veteran Yoruba actress Grace Owoola Oyin-Adejobi popularly known as Iya Osogbo officially retired from acting when she clocked 90.

She received a surprise from younger colleague, Toyin Adegbola on her birthday on the 23rd of August.

Nollywood actress Toyin Adegbola, popularly known as Asewo to re Mecca, won her way into the hearts of Nigerians and lovers of Nollywood home and abroad when she held a birthday bash for veteran actress, Grace Oyin Adejobi, who clocked 93.

A viral video captured when Iya Osogbo was dancing heartily as they sweetly celebrated her birthday.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8qJwt-DDJ0

There were a number of veteran entertainers who started the Nigerian film business with stage plays, music and other forms of entertainment. They were the forerunners of what became Nollywood today.

One of them is Grace Owoola Oyin Adejobi popularly known as Iya Osogbo.

Iya Osogbo started acting through her late husband, Chief Oyin Adejobi. He was a composer, playwright, actor and more.

Grace Oyin Adejobi hails from Osun state’s capital, Osogbo. Her father was from Osogbo while her mother was from Offa in Kwara state. The veteran actress’ father was a bricklayer while her mother used to sell palm wine and solid pap popularly known as ‘eko’ in Yoruba.

Owoola’s father used to travel a lot due to his profession as a bricklayer and this made him able to speak many languages including Hausa, Igbo and English.

Iya Osogbo revealed that she and her husband attended the same school; All Saints School, in Osogbo and they also used to live very close to each other. Despite them being in the same school, he was her senior by many years and he eventually left school in 1948 while she was still there.

Oyin Adejobi went to Lagos to stay with his older sibling, Primate Adeleke Adejobi and that was the period he started entertainment. His group was called the Adejobi Musical Party.

Oyin Adejobi returned to Osogbo in 1953 and by that time Iya Osogbo was already part of the All Saints Choir and he would come around to teach them music in school.

According to Iya Osogbo, when he would come to the school, students used to play with his walking stick and it used to anger her. The aged actress said she never knew that she and Adejobi would get close to the point of getting married but then both of their families knew each other.

According to Grace Oyin Adejobi, her husband was not disabled from birth. According to her, he had been that way since he was about seven-years old.

The late Adejobi never liked people to look at him with pity as he did not let his disability hinder his life. The actress said that before her husband passed on, he used to say that disability should not turn people into beggars. Iya Osogbo married her husband despite his disability and she said that he was from a good home.

Before the veteran actress quit acting, she was a part of her late husband’s drama group. According to her, stage is king.

Iya Osogbo explained that unlike in stage acting, anybody can be in film due to the editing that happens after recording. Meanwhile it is not that way with stage because they stand and act in front of large crowds while performing their memorised lines.

Iya Osogbo is of the opinion that anybody who could not sing at the time her career started could not dare to join acting. This was because most of the lines in their plays were sung to each other but later on people started to dialogue.

The veteran movie star grew up in a time when acting was considered as a job for riffraffs and her mother in law did not want her son to act because he was also from a royal family. However, she eventually agreed. At the time, there were not many female actors and men used to play feminine roles by dressing up as women. This was generally because of the way the society perceived actors and many of them did not want their daughters mingling with such crowds.

Iya Osogbo’s parents were part of such people but they eventually allowed her to act because she was married and it was also her husband’s job. The first play they did together was Paradise Lost.

Grace and her husband’s drama troupe used to tour many states in the country and he used to pay them. She revealed that she used to collect N10 and from that money she would buy clothes, save and enjoy herself. According to her, acting is really sweet and sometimes when they go on tour for two months, it feels like they should not return home.

Iya Osogbo’s husband, Oyin Adejobi, was known to have married many wives but the veteran actress seemed to have no issues with it. According to her, she wasn’t a person who had any rivalry inside her. The actress explained in an interview that whenever they traveled on tour, they would meet many ladies and give them roles in their play after teaching them all the lines. However, it might be a day to the event when the ladies’ parents would come and take their children away so she advised her husband to marry the ladies if they were willing so they will become a part of their family.

Iya Osogbo said her husband used to take turns eating the food of his wives and she, as well as her kids, also used to eat from their food without any fear.

Iya Osogbo said that her husband’s acting skill was a gift from God. According to her, nobody taught him how to act. She said Adejobi and Ogunde used to act at Glover Hall in Lagos and they both respected each other

The veteran actress, who is also a staunch Christian, stopped acting in movies so as to use the rest of her life for the glory of God. According to her, she is no longer interested in doing secular drama. She explained that the world already knows her and she wants heaven to know her too.

According to her, there’s nothing in the world and a person should not suffer on earth and still suffer in heaven.