Daughter of veteran Yoruba actor, Taiwo Hassan, popularly known as Ogogo, Kira Taiwo, has accused some Nigerians of trying to make money from her father’s battle with stage-four cancer.
Kira made the allegation during an emotional TikTok live session on Saturday, where she shed tears while speaking about her father’s condition and the financial demands made by some people offering to help the family.
She said, “My father is good. Some people are even trying to make money with us in this whole situation. Fear God. This one will come and bring a solution: N800k, N5m, 11,000 dollars, N18,000 dollars. Do you want to make us broke? We are not billionaires”.
Kira said the family was not financially capable of meeting such demands, stressing that their priority was to find treatment for the actor.
She also disclosed that the situation was taking a toll on her own wellbeing.
Kira, who is also an actress, said the actor’s illness had also deeply affected her uncle, whom she referred to as her “big daddy”.
“I want to check my BP; I am not okay too,” she said.
She said she learnt about her uncle’s reaction from a family group chat where relatives regularly discuss her father’s health.
“That was the video my big daddy saw, and on the group chat, where we always have our discussion about daddy’s health, I saw my cousin wrote something like, ‘ My big daddy was asking, ‘Is Taiye going to die?’” she said.
Kira said her father and his brother shared a particularly close relationship, making the situation difficult for everyone in the family.
“My big daddy and my daddy, we are the children; we don’t even know who they love more. We don’t even know if it is we who are being or themselves. It is too much. My big daddy loves my daddy too much,” she said.
She said she was also worried about her uncle, adding that she believed he was struggling to cope with the situation.
“I am sure my big daddy is not okay; he is not fine. He is not fine. I don’t know,” Kira said.
The actor’s daughter noted that she had become withdrawn and avoided social media because she found it difficult to see pictures of her father while dealing with his illness.
“I don’t know how I will feel. I don’t even know how I will see the world again. If anything happens to my daddy… Please don’t think I am here to ask for sympathy or anything,” she said.
Kira said she had gone online to “cool off” but became emotional because of how deeply connected she was to her father.
“I am so connected to my daddy. Nothing can be okay, ever. He just wants the best for everybody. He just wants everybody to be okay,” she said.
Recall that Kira and her sister, Lima Taiwo, last Monday appealed for help for their father, disclosing that he was battling stage-four cancer.
Since the disclosure, help has come in the form of the actor, as it was announced, Senator Solomon Olamilekan ‘Yayi ‘ has supported, getting a hospital to meet the critical need of Ogogo.
66-year-old Ogogo is a veteran of the Nigerian film industry whose career spans more than four decades.
