Dons Eze
WHY NOLLYWOOD STARS ARE DYING – MAMA G
Veteran Nollywood actress, Patience Ozokwor, widely recognized as Mama G, has voiced serious concerns over the increasing number of untimely deaths within the Nigerian film industry.
Speaking to Vanguard in Lagos, Ozokwor attributed these frequent tragedies to what she perceives as negligence and carelessness on the part of the actors themselves.
The respected actress expressed her distress during the emotional funeral of the beloved comic actor John Okafor, known as Mr Ibu, in Enugu State last month.
Mama G said, “When you are doing something you are enjoying, you won’t bother to take care of your health. Once there is life in you, you keep doing what you are doing. And it’s something that pays back on your body.
“Some people are so careless that when they are sick, instead of going to the hospital for a proper check-up, they prefer to visit a chemist or a pharmacy to buy a pain reliever. It’s no longer safe with me. I don’t know how many people are thinking like myself. That’s why I blamed it on carelessness. We are trying to put smiles on the faces of people while forgetting to take care of our health.”
On why she broke down in tears at Mr Ibu’s burial, Mama G said it dawned on her that the actor was gone forever when she went close to his corpse and called him by the name she used to call him, but he didn’t respond.
“At that moment, I broke down in tears. It’s not because I was expecting him to respond, but it was when I realized that this man is gone forever,” she said.
She, however, advised her colleagues to learn to go for regular check-ups and curtail some of the things they do that are detrimental to their health.
Speaking further, Mama G, who’s currently an Evangelist, recalled how she had an encounter with her maker, who transformed her life and asked her to work for Him.
Narrating the encounter, she said, ‘It was in 2016 when God called me to work for Him. Then, I used to be a teacher in the church, but I didn’t climb the pulpit. It’s not something I can explain, God asked me to separate myself so that He wants to talk with me.
“I thought somebody was talking to me, but I discovered it was a voice coming from somewhere. It took me time to accept to submit myself for 21 days and it was extended to 30 days.
“My son reminded me that the owner of my life is asking me to separate myself for 21 days and I didn’t want to yield to his call and that He may make it 100 days.
“At that point, I quietly went in, and by the time I came out from those 30 days, I became a changed person. And how I knew He was the one who called me, he created a platform for me to appear on stage to give a testimony of What He did with me for 30 days. While I was giving the testimony, people started falling under the anointing.“And after the encounter, other pastors and evangelists started inviting me to their programmes. That’s how I became an evangelist.”
