Kola Ogunmola was a driving force behind the rise of Yoruba folk opera, shaping it as a dramatist, actor, and director. In 1948, he founded the Ogunmola Travelling Theatre, turning local performances into a celebrated art form. His troupe’s adaptation of Amos Tutuola’s The Palm-Wine Drinkard, called Omuti Apa Kini, won praise and featured at the First Pan-African Cultural Congress in Algiers in 1969.

Renowned for playing Otunba in Taiwo Shango, a 1965 TV film jointly produced by the Bavarian Broadcasting Corporation (BR), West German Broadcasting Corporation (WDR), and Nigerian Television Service (NTS), Ogunmola was part of a significant moment in Nigeria’s cultural production.

His 1965 play Ife Owo (’Love of Money’) cleverly satirised materialism, weaving mime, music, and Yoruba storytelling into a vibrant theatrical experience.