Ngozi Nwosu is dying. She has lost it all; weight, strength and
vigour but not her talent and deep sense of humour which she displayed
during the over one and a half hours we spent together recently. Her
emotions ranged from profound despair to occasional outbursts of
laughter at her own jokes.
When I got a call from the organisers of ‘Who Wants To Be A
Millionaire’ to come play in the special ‘Celebrity Edition’ last week, I
did not know it was the cause of our Dear Ngozi i will be playing for
until I got there. The director revealed this to me few minutes before
recording began as Ngozi sauntered in.
One of the first signs that things were no longer right with Ngozi
was the fact that we had to delay recording because while everybody else
was virtually fanning themselves due to the studio lights, Ngozi was
shivering from cold so much that the producers had to get her cardigans.
I was flustered.
When the programme eventually got underway, Ngozi still helped to
answer some questions. She summoned every ounce of strength in her body
to look good for the cameras. Then, it occurred to me that she might be
withering, with life slowly ebbing away from her before
our very eyes, that acting talent is still intact.
As we made our way out of the studio after the recording, she turned
to me, despair etched on her brows as her eyes glistened with tears, and
said, “Seun, do you know I was here (WWTBAM) few years back to play
this game for Samanja and I didn’t know that I will be here years later
for people to play for me to survive. See life,” she burst into tears.
I fought back tears myself. I had never been so close to crying in a
long while but Ngozi’s story will break the steeliest of hearts.
Moments later, we sat down to talk in the ante-room of the studio.
Her nurse told me that despite the fact that she has lost half her
original weight, she was better than three months back when she could
not even get up from bed in her Surulere, Lagos apartment. Thanks to God and medical attention, she is willing to give living again a chance by fighting,” the nurse said.
When we probed further on what exactly her ailment is, Ngozi wouldn’t
say but instead invited me to her home. Last Sunday, I was Ngozi’s
guest, where she showed me results of tests stating that she had kidney
and heart-related issues.
I spent hours in her house as she led me by the hand through the
whole gamut of her illness. She told me she decided to divulge
everything because of widespread speculation that she was HIV positive. “I don’t have AIDS o,” she declared.
The bottom line now is that Ngozi needs N6m to treat herself abroad.
And she needs it fast. Ngozi is willing to live longer but we have to
support her.
BON has therefore decided to collaborate with well-meaning Nigerians
to save this celebrated thespian who brought laughter to many homes
especially as the cantankerous peaceful Peace in popular sitcom, ‘Fuji
House of Commotion’.
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