Elebuwa, ace actor, buried amid tears

It was a sad day in the movie industry, as actors and actresses gathered on Friday in tears and sorrow to pay tributes to the late  veteran actor, Enebili Elebuwa, at St. Michael Catholic Church, Lafiaji, Lagos Island.
The parish priest, Monsignor Gabriel Osu, in his speech, appealed to the Federal Government to create sustainable and accessible welfare for those in the entertainment industry.        
“I want the government to show commitment to actors and actresses that are getting of age.  Government should provide welfare packages for them. What I mean by welfare is all these little necessities of life that will be beneficial to those in the movie industry,” Osu said.
“I also want the government to find a way of providing insurance with incentives to members of the AGN,” he added.
Dignitaries present included Delta State Commissioner for Youths Development, Mr Ebifa Ijomah, and Richard Mofe Damijo, who is the state Commissioner for Culture and Tourism.
Nollywood artistes present were veteran actor, Justice Esiri with his wife, Charles Okafor; former nollywood actor, Richard Mofe Dmijo, actor cum producer; Murphy Stephen, Mike Ezuronye members of Delta State chapter of the AGN.     
Esiri, who spoke to saturday Tribune, said, “Enebeli was a great artiste and he did well in his days. He will be sorely missed by all in the movie industry. He was a non-compromising, principled professional.”
One of the children of the late actor, who used the medium to thank all that stood by the family,  said, “I want to thank the Delta State government and the Lagos State government for their support and tremendous help they gave to the family. We also appreciate AGN.”
Also, Ezuronye said he was someone I have respect for while he was alive and even in death. I always say that we should always love our neighbours because we don’t know when death will come knocking.”  
“My advice  to the actors guild is for us to be prayerful. We need to move closer to God because of this alarming death rate, that is what we need at the moment,”  he said.
Mofe Damijo advised the deceased’s children to cherish the memory of their father, saying, “with that, they would forget that he is gone.”  Elebuwa  died at the age of 66 after losing his over one-year battle with stroke at the Asian Institute of Medical Sciences, Faridabad Haryana, New Delhi, India. 
He gave up the ghost after efforts to restore his health in Nigeria had failed.
He had battled  partial stroke for more than a year.       
The Ukpane, Delta State-born actor was one of the most experienced actors in the country, having been prominent in the industry for almost four decades.
Many movie buffs still relish the role he played in soaps like Mirror in the Sun, where he featured in the first three editions, after which he worked as assistant producer and director.      
The first movie he featured in was Dinner With the Devil, produced in 1974 by Sanya Dosunmu.
He thereafter featured in another rested TV series, Village Headmaster.
He played prominent roles in countless number of home videos.  
TRIBUNE