Popular TV series, ‘The Village Headmaster’, is set to return to the screen in April, years after it was rested.
The revised series by Wale Adenuga Productions in conjunction with the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) will feature some original cast who would be joined by new artists.
Veteran, Dejumo Lewis, will retain his original Oloja role as would Ibidun Allison as Amebo and Melville Obriango as Oghene.
Actor Jide Kosoko, who clocked 67 on Tuesday, will be playing Chief Eleyinmi while Chris Iheuma is the famous Oja village headmaster.
Other Nollywood actors joining the cast list to play new key roles includes Racheal Oniga as Iyalode, Mr Latin as Councillor Kogberegbe, Ronke Oshodi as Iya Oloja, Rykardo Agbor as Iginla and Yemi Sodimu as Dr Lekan.
Kate Adepegba will be playing the new role of Folake, a sewing mistress replacing Sisi Clara. At the same time, Tunde Aderinoye will be Lakunle Ojo’s son, Junior.
Acclaimed as Nigeria’s first and longest-running TV drama series, ‘Village Headmaster’ started as a radio programme in Ibadan, Western Nigeria in 1958. The late Chief Segun Olusola was creator and producer.
It debuted on TV in 1968 under the direction of Sanya Dosunmu, now the Olowu of Owu Kingdom, Ogun State. Dosunmu and other producers and scriptwriters including Dejumo Lewis, the inimitable Uncle Ted Mukoro, Demola James, Fela Davies, Nelson Olawaye and Alex Akinyele, turned it into a toast of Nigerians.
In 2019, the original production’s living cast and crew members, in partnership with the NTA, celebrated its 50th anniversary. It was themed ‘Sustaining our heritage’. It featured the command performance of stage play, ‘Double Speak’ and a roundtable, ‘Drama- a tool for National Development’.
Though most Nigerians wanted a rerun of the original series, most of its tapes have been reported lost over the years because of poor archiving practices.
