By Tolulope Oke

Veteran Nollywood actor Yinka Quadri has opened up on an emotional final encounter with his longtime friend and colleague, Taiwo Hassan, popularly known as Ogogo, revealing the words the late actor spoke to him as he struggled to hold back tears beside his hospital bed.

Quadri said he had gone to see Ogogo in hospital before his death and became overwhelmed by emotion after seeing his friend lying sick.

According to him, Ogogo noticed his tears and tried to reassure him despite his own condition.

“Yinka, don’t cry. Nothing bad will happen to me,” Ogogo told him.

Quadri said he simply replied: “Yes, Amen.”

Recalling the encounter in a tribute after Ogogo’s death, the veteran actor said the moment had remained deeply etched in his memory.

“I will never forget the last time I saw you at the hospital. You were lying on your sick bed, and when I saw you, I could not hold back my tears,” Quadri said.

“You looked at me and said, ‘Yinka, don’t cry. Nothing bad will happen to me.’ I responded, ‘Yes, Amen.’ Deep down, I know this was not your wish to leave us so soon.”

Quadri also expressed gratitude for the life Ogogo lived, saying he was thankful that his friend did not endure a prolonged period of illness that would have placed his family and colleagues under continuous financial pressure.

“I thank God for the beautiful life you lived, my bosom friend, Taiwo Hassan Ogogo,” he said.

“I thank God that you did not have to go through a prolonged struggle that would have left us constantly seeking financial assistance to care for you. May the Almighty forgive your shortcomings.”

The actor also looked back on a friendship that stretched more than four decades.

According to Quadri, he and Ogogo had known each other since 1984, with their relationship growing beyond ordinary professional friendship despite occasional rumours that they had fallen out.

“We have known each other since 1984 and with time, our friendship grew beyond ordinary,” he said.

“Many people tried to create a distance between us but God never allowed it. Neither of us ever went to the public to speak against the other.”

Quadri said whenever reports circulated that they were at loggerheads, neither of them publicly fuelled the speculation.

“Whenever people heard rumours that we were fighting, they were only guessing. They never heard it from us,” he added.

He described Ogogo’s death as a loss that had created a void impossible to fill, while recalling their years together on movie sets, journeys, disagreements and moments of laughter.

“Your departure has left a space that words cannot fill but I will forever cherish the memories we shared, the laughter, the journeys, the movie locations, the disagreements we overcame and the countless moments that made our friendship special,” Quadri said.

“You may have left this world but you will never leave my heart.”

Ogogo died on Sunday, August 23, 2026, at the age of 66 after battling stage-four cancer.

He was buried the following day in his hometown of Ilaro, Ogun State, according to Islamic rites, with family members, friends and several Nollywood colleagues in attendance.

Quadri was among the mourners who became visibly emotional as the veteran actor was laid to