Nigerian filmmaker, Zeb Ejiro has recounted his journey with the late Nollywood actor, Obinna Nwafor, popularly called Saint Obi.
OsunDaily News reports that news about the actor’s demise broke last Saturday after battling an undisclosed ailment and he was said to have died on May 7, in the home of one of his siblings in Jos.
While reminiscing on how their paths crossed, Ejiro said Richard Mofe Damijo (RMD) introduced Saint Obi to him in 1998.
The filmmaker said he spoke to the late actor two weeks before his demise and promised to reach out to him until the news of his sudden death broke last week.
Narrating the encounter, Ejiro, as gathered from Vanguard, said he was remaking his popular TV series in the 90s, ‘Ripples’, and had wanted Saint Obi to be part of the production.
However, for a week, he could not reach him so he proceeded to Ibadan for the production of the series.
Ejiro said “Two weeks before his demise, my phone rang and it was Saint Obi on the other end. I asked him where he had been; that everybody had been looking for him. That was when he told me that he had been down and was admitted to a hospital. He added that he had done multiple surgeries and his condition wasn’t improving. His elder sister then made arrangements to move him to Jos, where he could be given proper treatment. That was the last time we spoke, as I promised to reach out to him again. But I never did, as the next thing I heard was that Obi is no more.”
The filmmaker, who blamed Obi’s death on his failed marriage, noted that the actor couldn’t survive the shock living apart from his family.
He disclosed that “Obi told me a couple of times that his marriage was crumbling and it was eating him up. He was a family man, somebody that loved to stay with his kids and build a happy home.
“But when his marriage crumbled, it really affected him and he never recovered from the shock till death.
“When a man is not together with his family, he will be depressed. No man wants to go into that kind of situation and be happy. So, that contributed to his death.”
It was however learnt that the late actor and his wife, Linda Amobi, got divorced last year after a running battle over the custody of their three children. The couple got married in 2006 and have three children, two boys and a girl, together.
Recalling how their paths crossed in the industry, Ejiro narrated that “We had completed casting and were getting ready to hit the location, when a tall handsome young man strolled into my office in Surulere.
“RMD was supposed to play the lead character, alongside Hilda Dokubo. We had concluded plans to commence production but, two weeks to hit location, RMD’s wife, Mee, passed on.
“It was obvious that RMD would not be part of the production after we had put everything in place. So, I was considering a lot of actors to replace RMD as he was bereaved.
“Suddenly, a well-built handsome guy, light in complexion, just walked into my office in Surulere and told me that somebody had directed him to me. But immediately I set my eyes on him, I told him that you were the one I was looking for. And he said wow!
“At that point, I didn’t know if he had acted in any film before, but I just asked him if he could fit into the role and he answered in the affirmative.
“I immediately auditioned him, and he performed excellently well. That was the beginning of our story. The movie was a monster hit as Saint Obi acted alongside Dokubo. It was one of the best movies I have ever done in my life. That was my first contact with Saint Obi. After ‘Goodbye Tomorrow’, we did a lot of other movies together including “Candle Light”, TV series among others. Though Saint started his acting career in 1988, after starring in “Behind The Clouds,” a soap opera being shot in Jos.”
