A new report detailing how Muna Obiekwe actually died has surfaced online.
In a chat with ICampus, actress Vera Kanu who was a mother figure to
the late actor, disclosed that he discovered his kidney problem a long
time ago but like most people, he thought he could manage it.
According to her, he ignored the pain and continued working without
paying much attention. He only took his drugs and medication once in a
while as ‘Muna never believed the ailment could lead to his death. He
believed he would survive it like he did the gunshot and death of his
parents. He was not a man given to worrying about things. He believed it
was not a coincidence his parents named him Munachimso, a name which
means God is walking with me.’
The kidney problem persisted and Muna was eventually forced to seek
the help of a doctor in a Lagos. The doctor gave him a ray of hope. He
assured Muna that his worst fear of Kidney transplant might not happen
if only he could do up to 20 dialyses.
“I was with him to the last hour. He was to do up to 20 dialyses;
the doctor said if the dialysis improved his condition, the worse would
certainly be over. He will be okay only if he stays away from alcohol
but you know our artiste,” she concluded.
Another source told the online news portal that “the dialysis was
expensive for Muna. He was doing two in a week sometimes. And he would
need blood injection on each occasion. Each appointment was costing him
between N250, 000 to N300, 000; money he did not really have to spend.
His health was eating deep into his purse yet Muna refused to go cap in
hand begging for alms. He was a private guy who didn’t want the press or
his colleagues to feast on his pain, and cast aspersions on Nollywood’s
industry of beggars’.
Vera, his godmother corroborated the point. “He was managing it on
his own. As a matter of fact, he has been managing it for a while until
Ejiro Okurame and I came on board to help. We were combining resources
to help him but there was very little we could do to save him. We had to
enlist the help of Patience Ozokwor and Kanayo O. Kanayo (KOK) at a
point. They rendered the help they could until he died.
“The guy was private. He kept to himself a lot and most importantly,
kept his private life private; for instance, many people did not even
know he was married with two children. Such was his life. He didn’t want
press or his colleagues to start prying. He was particularly afraid of
the press, hence his shutting his colleagues out of his pain. He knew if
some Nollywood people got to know about it, the press would also get to
know. He refused to beg to save Nollywood’s image, he in-turn, lost
himself.”
Further more, it was reported that he was a chain smoker and heavy
drinker. Despite his condition, it was revealed he was still consuming
alcohol on a regular basis.
“Everybody in the industry knows Muna drinks a lot; even when he’s
shooting in the North, he has a way of finding alcohol. He fell into it,
after he lost his parents in a ghastly motor accident. ‘As a matter of
fact, he was supposed to be in that car with them but by stroke of luck,
he wasn’t and was spared. Afterwards, Muna took solace in liquor but
that never affected his job. He was just like Sam Loco; he could drink
the whole sea but when he hears the director shout ‘action,’ he gets
into character. Muna was a method character despite his flaws’’ a source
tod the online portal.
Speaking on the drinking habit despite his ailment, his godmother,
Vera Kanu said ‘It’s not like he drinks heavily like you guys said. He
drank but not as you are putting it. Muna even called me during the
holiday that he is now okay and ready to work so I should start bringing
jobs because I was his producer. I told him thank God and that I would
start as long as he does not do what the doctor told him not to do,
which was drinking. The problem came back and he has been on it since
then till he died.”
May his soul rest.