It was a sad day in the movie industry, as actors and actresses
gathered on Friday in tears and sorrow to pay tributes to the late
veteran actor, Enebili Elebuwa, at St. Michael Catholic Church, Lafiaji, Lagos
Island.
The parish priest, Monsignor Gabriel Osu, in his speech,
appealed to the Federal Government to create sustainable and accessible welfare
for those in the entertainment
industry.
“I want the government to show commitment to actors and
actresses that are getting of age. Government should provide welfare
packages for them. What I mean by welfare is all these little necessities of
life that will be beneficial to those in the movie industry,” Osu said.
“I also want the government to find a way of providing insurance
with incentives to members of the AGN,” he added.
Dignitaries present included Delta State Commissioner for Youths
Development, Mr Ebifa Ijomah, and Richard Mofe Damijo, who is the state
Commissioner for Culture and Tourism.
Nollywood artistes present were veteran actor, Justice Esiri
with his wife, Charles Okafor; former nollywood actor, Richard Mofe Dmijo,
actor cum producer; Murphy Stephen, Mike Ezuronye members of Delta State
chapter of the AGN.
Esiri, who spoke to saturday Tribune, said, “Enebeli was a great
artiste and he did well in his days. He will be sorely missed by all in the
movie industry. He was a non-compromising, principled professional.”
One of the children of the late actor, who used the medium to
thank all that stood by the family, said, “I want to thank the Delta
State government and the Lagos State government for their support and
tremendous help they gave to the family. We also appreciate AGN.”
Also, Ezuronye said he was someone I have respect for while he
was alive and even in death. I always say that we should always love our
neighbours because we don’t know when death will come knocking.”
“My advice to the actors guild is for us to be prayerful.
We need to move closer to God because of this alarming death rate, that is what
we need at the moment,” he said.
Mofe Damijo advised the deceased’s children to cherish the
memory of their father, saying, “with that, they would forget that he is
gone.” Elebuwa died at the age of 66 after losing his over one-year
battle with stroke at the Asian Institute of Medical Sciences, Faridabad
Haryana, New Delhi, India.
He gave up the ghost after efforts to restore his health in
Nigeria had failed.
He had battled partial stroke for more than a
year.
The Ukpane, Delta State-born actor was one of the most
experienced actors in the country, having been prominent in the industry for
almost four decades.
Many movie buffs still relish the role he played in soaps like
Mirror in the Sun, where he featured in the first three editions, after which
he worked as assistant producer and
director.
The first movie he featured in was Dinner With the Devil,
produced in 1974 by Sanya Dosunmu.
He thereafter featured in another rested TV series, Village
Headmaster.
He played prominent roles in countless number of home
videos.
Source: Tribune
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