Veteran Nollywood actor, Olumide Bakare, has passed on after a failed battle with a heart and lung disease.
His personal assistant, who said he died in the early hours of Saturday on his way to the hospital, announced his death.
Mr. Bakare has been sick for over a year and reports say aside from suffering low blood flow into the heart, there were also indications of a lung-related disease.
He suffered cardiac arrest earlier in the year and was rushed to the emergency unit of University College Hospital where he was placed in intensive care.
Mufu Onifade, former president of the National Association of Nigerian Theatre Arts Practitioners (NANTAP), has confirmed his death in a statement.
“He had a successful surgery and after the surgery, he talked to people and told them he was fine. But two hours later, he passed on. It is very painful because I had actually been wishing him a quick recovery,” he said.
“Olumide Bakare is someone who was a hundred percent committed to the theatre profession. He started on stage and then from there, went on TV, did radio and then film which was where he settled.
“Of course he became much more popular for his stint of TV in Oluwa Langbe Lodge. That was what brought him to limelight. You can’t fault him as a professional. He is someone who was very discipline. I see him as the last of the second generation of actors in Nigeria.”
When the news of his ill health broke in 2014, the actor denied being ill. Incidentally, the actor was also booked for a movie shoot in the U.S., putting to rest insinuations he went for medical checkup.
In several interviews he granted at the time, the veteran actor said he did not require help from the public to foot his medical bills.
In fact, the actor denied then that he had anything serious other than the normal age-related ailments that required constant medical check-up.
However in February, the thespian confirmed his illness and begged not to be allowed to die just yet.
His worsening medical situation also prompted him to call on public-spirited Nigerians to come to his aid, on his sick bed, at the University College Hospital, UCH, Ibadan.
The actor was reported to have spent over N1 Million so far, and still required about N30, 000 daily for treatment, including dialysis.
He had four children namely; Olabode, who is a pastor in the United States; Oluwamayowa, a businessman in Lagos; Oluwatofunmi who is a graduate of Ekiti state University and Halimat.
Mr. Bakare, 65, is famous for his role as Chief Koko in the rested TV series, Koko Close.
A crossover actor, he also starred alongside Genevieve Nnaji and Hollywood’s Isaiah Washington in Tony Abulu’s 2013 film, Doctor Bello.
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