Abiodun Ayoyinka says he cannot use the iconic name or costume without Wale Adenuga's permission — and the financial toll has been devastating

For millions of Nigerians who grew up laughing at his antics on screen, Papa Ajasco is a household name. But the man behind the character has a story that is anything but funny.

Veteran Nollywood actor Abiodun Ayoyinka has opened up about years of quiet suffering behind one of Nigerian television's most beloved faces — revealing that a legal wall around the character he made iconic has effectively frozen him out of the industry's commercial rewards and left him without the basic markers of financial stability.

No car. No house. And a name he cannot even use without someone else's permission.

The Character That Made Him — And Trapped Him

In a candid interview with Lucky Udu, Ayoyinka laid bare the frustrating reality that has defined his post-fame years. The role of Papa Ajasco, the bumbling but endearing patriarch of the long-running comedy series produced by Wale Adenuga Productions, made him a star. But that stardom, it turns out, came with a ceiling.

"Why I'm not moving and why people are not seeing me where they are supposed to see me is because that particular character has been registered by Wale Adenuga," Ayoyinka said.

The registration means the actor who brought the character to life has no automatic right to trade on it. No adverts. No billboards. No commercial appearances in character — unless he goes, cap in hand, to seek clearance.

"I can't use the name 'Papa Ajasco' unless I go and take permission. I can't use the costume," he said. “It's always difficult for me to do it.”

Years of Anxiety, Little to Show for It

What makes Ayoyinka's account particularly striking is not just the legal bind — it is the toll it has taken on his everyday life. The actor, who spent years as one of the most recognisable faces on Nigerian television, describes a present defined by financial anxiety and near-invisibility.

"Things have never been okay for years back now. Always thinking every day," he said.

He has no car of his own. No house of his own. The trappings of celebrity that audiences might naturally assume — that a man so deeply embedded in Nigerian popular culture must surely be comfortable — simply do not exist for him.

It is a situation that cuts to a rarely discussed fault line in Nigeria's entertainment industry: the gap between the fame an actor earns and the rights they hold over the work that made them famous.

Ayoyinka's situation is not unique in Nollywood, but few have spoken about it so directly. Actors who build careers playing characters owned by producers or production houses often find themselves in a bind when those relationships end or evolve — recognisable enough to be stopped on the street, but legally barred from monetising the very identity that made them stars.

For now, the man behind Papa Ajasco remains in limbo — famous in memory, constrained in practice, and finally speaking out about the cost of a life lived inside someone else's creation.