 After leaving his job as a police constable, Ogunde moved away from his earlier focus on religious themes and started writing plays that were nationalistic and anti-colonial in outlook, a trend in Lagos during the furious forties.During this period, many of his early operas were co-directed by G. B. Kuyinu.In early 1945, he produced "Worse than Crime", a political play infused with Yoruba dance and ancient folk songs.