He cut a pathetic picture; helplessness was written all over him.
It was hard to imagine that someone who had gained national popularity on the
rested New Masquerade series and home videos could be cut down
by illness, poverty and neglect.
That is the story of Mr. Romanus Uchenna Amuta aka Natty. It was a
tough job getting him to speak, as a stroke had left him with slurred speech
and sluggish movements. Sitting before the reporter was a shadow of the crafty
and witty character, which he cut as Natty.
“If government does not come to help me now, then I will die very
soon,” were the few words he let out with great effort.
The comedy show didn’t just disappear
from the tube gradually, it took some of its stars along.
Cast such as James Iroha (Giringory
Akabuogu), Christy Essien-Igbokwe (Apena), Claude Eke (Jegede Shokoya) have
died, while Davis Offor (Clarus) is currently blind.
In Natty’s case, stroke caught up with
him in 2006, and left him bedridden. When he miraculously managed to regain his
steps in 2010, he could only manage to limp, as the right side of his body had
gone numb.
Currently, he doesn’t just limp or
manage to walk and move with only the left side of his body, he is almost a
vegetable. Reason: he is slowly losing his memory of past events, old friends
and his surroundings.
As he struggled in slurred and
un-coordinated speech to narrate the story of his life as a stroke patient,
Natty told Saturday People that he had become tired of life
and needed urgent medical attention.
He laments that though he is just in
his 60s, he is already looking like a 90-year-old due to the partial paralysis
that has confined him within the walls of his “old three bedroom flat” on 7,
Umuchi Nwoko Street, Off One Day Road, in Agbani Road, Enugu, Enugu State.
He says poverty has further worsened
his case, as he can’t afford to eat good food, buy drugs or receive medical
attention.
He cannot even afford good clothes or
the good things of life, he says, adding that virtually all the property in his
residence was acquired in the 1970s and changing them has become a mission
impossible.
“Even the best clothes in my
wardrobe were bought in 1984 when I made some reasonable money working with Daily
Times Newspaper as an Advert Representative in Enugu. Since then, to
buy even pant na war,” he stated.
At a point during the interview with
our correspondent, Natty began to cry.
“Will I be poor in New
Masquerade and still be poor in real life, and even now that I’m about
to die?” he wondered, with tears dropping from his eyes.
He struggled to add, “I’m … … so, so,
so, so poor that I could not even cure the stroke when it was just starting.
Now that it (the stroke) is even worse, there is no money to even enjoy myself,
even if na small enjoyment before I quench like my mama wey die a long time
ago.”
Natty’s recurring comments about being
poor would definitely take not a few Nigerians down memory lane to how he
(Natty) came into limelight starring as a true representation of the ‘poverty
class’ of the Nigerian society in the New Masquerade series,
which was aired on the Nigeria Television Authority for many years.
What attempt has he made to overcome
poverty and stroke, even now that he is supposedly in his twilight years on
earth?
“I have reached out to my friends, but
it appears they have abandoned me to die.
“For my people (his relatives), they
have tried, but they can’t kill themselves. My children have also done their
best for me,” he stated.
He, however, says that the major source
of his worry is that he has been left to his fate despite several overtures to
government officials and political appointees through notable personalities in
Enugu State.
He said, “I believe that if government
comes to help me my problems will be over. But the more they delay in coming,
the more my body dies, and soon the entire Natty will just die and leave you
people.
“If they (government) can send me to
any of the best hospitals in the world, I will surely get better and bounce
back to life.”
Alternatively, Natty is calling on the
Enugu State Government to give him land and money.
“They should give me land. I need
a land and money from government. I need money; plenty money,” he pleaded.
On what he would do with the land and
money, Natty says, “I will invest in the land or sell it so that I can treat
myself or at least take care of myself instead of this poverty.”
For the money, he says, “They should
give me plenty money, enough to take me out of this country for treatment.”
Natty is married to Mrs. Cordelia
Amuta, a primary school teacher and they have two male and four female
children. They are all living in different places.
He hails from Udi Local Government Area
in Enugu State and his children are all grown-ups. Unknown to many, he has a
12-year-old son from another woman whose identity is not known.
Natty’s wife, Cordelia, was not at home
on the two occasions Saturday People visited his residence, as
she was said to have gone to work. But on the second visit to his residence,
the little boy, Okechukwu, was at home and had a lot to reveal.
According to him, his mother hails from
Ogugu in Awgu Local Government Area of the state and he is the product of the
affair his father (Natty) had with her in 2000.
On his experience with his sick father,
Okechukwu, a student of Army Children School 1, Enugu, says he feels pain that
he is not experiencing the care of a father.
He said, “Any time my friends in school
tell me about what their fathers did or bought for them, I usually feel like
killing myself because my father is not only sick, he doesn’t have the money to
shower me with that kind of love also.
“Sometimes, I stay in my room and cry.
My stepmother has been very good to me, but then I have always wanted to enjoy
the tender touch and care of my father.
“He would have loved to do that but he
is sick. The things he would have loved to get for me, he can’t because there
is no money. My father is dying and I am appealing to people, Nigerians and the
people in government to come and help my father.”
Okechukwu added, “My mother is in her
village in Awgu, so I don’t get to see her all the time. That is why I really
need my father to be alive and healthy for me.”
One of the surviving members of the New
Masquerade cast is Chief Chika Okpala, aka ‘Zebrudaya’. Zebrudaya, who
was the lead cast of the series, was approached for comments on Natty’s state
and he said, “It is really unfortunate that Nigerian actors have been left to
die. I don’t know why calamity has chosen to befall the film industry,
especially the cast of the New Masquerade that is almost wiped
out.”
Shaking his head, the comic actor
added, “If Natty dies without the government coming to his aid, it will be so
bad. But I know that death is a necessary end that must come when it will and
so we will not run away from death.
“We don’t know how we came into this
world and we don’t know what we signed with God when we were coming.
“All we know is that we came into this
world, we met each other and we propagated the show and the show worked. So
anywhere God plucks one off, so be it.
“I will keep praying for Natty and we
hope something good will come, and early, before it might become late.”
Source: Punch
No comments:
Post a Comment