Popular actor Alex Ekubo’s final journey home began in Lagos on Wednesday, as scores of entertainers attended his service of songs.
PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported that the family announced burial arrangements for the actor, who died at 40 after battling advanced metastatic kidney cancer.
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His colleagues, friends, and dignitaries filled The Monarch Event Centre for the service of song, dressed in white as requested by the Ekubo family in the burial arrangements.
Attendees included Funke Akindele, Kate Henshaw, Chioma Akpotha, Ebele Okaro, Nancy Isime, Ruth Kadiri, Nkechi Blessing, Stan Nze, Blessing Obasi, Ik Ogbonna, Ebuka Obi-Uchendu, singer Chike, and socialite Cubana Chief Priest.
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Other attendees included Nigeria’s former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili; Ini Edo; Nigerian pastors Ituah Ighodalo and Jerry Eze; and Moses Bliss, among others.
Bliss, Peterson Okopi, Ebuka Songs, Nathaniel Bassey, Mercy Chinwo, and the Laud Urban Choir led worship and ministration at the event.
Tributes
At the event, friends and family used their speeches to share what they knew about the late actor.
Isime described him as a kind, good man who lived for God.
She said Ekubo treated everyone around him well, including his domestic staff and people he had only just met.
“He had a strong heart for people, and this was clear. One thing he definitely did was live for himself, and he always did things his way. It gives me joy that he lived a life that felt good to him,” said Isime.
Also, Mrs Ezekwesili said in her speech that it is very difficult to serve as a song leader for someone younger than her generation.
The 63-year-old added that nothing anyone says could comfort the late actor’s mother, wife or siblings.
“Look at the wife, look at the sisters, the brother, the mom, especially with whom I spoke, and have anything meaningful to say. When deaths like this happen, the only thing that a child of God would be able to do is to remember the sovereignty of God.
“That’s the only thing that explains the kind of death that we’ve all come to honour the soul of the one who’s gone to be with the father. Nobody carried that child other than the mother. Nobody has the word for you”, she said.
Death of the saints
The economic policy expert added that only God can offer the late actor’s family true comfort.
She stated that the actor accomplished so much in his career while remaining steadfast in his faith, and that his passing at just 40 could only be attributed to God’s sovereignty.
“The one that I want to tell you is that in Psalm 116, I think verse 15, He says, Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of the saints. When we think of all that has been spoken of your son today, of your husband, of your daughter, we call them saints. And so those who truly follow the Lord, He sees them as saints.
“So precious in God’s sight is Alex. I think Isaiah 57.1 says the righteous perish and no one knows. No one considers that God has taken them away from the evil that is to come”, Mrs Ezekwesili said.
“My friend”
Furthermore, Ik, one of the late actor’s closest friends, said in his speech that he never imagined a day would come when he wouldn’t see him again.
Ik added that Ekubo taught him everything, including how to get close to God and do things at the right time.
“He would call me and advise me like I was his child, and I’d fight him for always talking to me like I was a child. I’d tell him we’re adults and that I’m not him, and that he should let me make my mistakes, but he never agreed. The next call would come with the same advice. That’s why we fought a lot.
“You always tell me Ogbo get closer to God, but sometimes I’d try to explain to Alex how close I am to God and tell him God and I have a different kind of relationship, but the next day would come with the same advice. Alex always looked out for those he loved. He’d call me to go and get my visa, anything could come up with me, Mr Last Minute, I’d wait till the call came and then start looking for my visa,” he said.
The actor confessed that he still catches himself reaching for his phone to call Ekubo, hoping against hope that the call would somehow go through.
He said he keeps wishing for one more conversation, even though he knows it can never happen again.
Ogbonna also questioned whether he would ever truly get over the loss, noting that the pain stands as a constant reminder of life’s harsh realities.
Ekubo’s wake-keep will hold on the 17th at No. 7 Ekubo-Okwaraeke Avenue, Aziukwukwa, Ujari Village, Arochukwu, Abia State.
The actor will be buried in his hometown, Ujari Village, Abia State, on 18 June.
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