The Nigerian entertainment industry was again thrown into
mourning when talented and popular actor, Olumide Bakare, passed on in
the early hours of Saturday.
According to reports, the 65-year-old thespian died on his
way to the University College Hospital in Ibadan, Oyo State, after his
health suddenly took a turn for the worse. It will be recalled that the
veteran actor had been ill for some time with lung and heart disease.
Reacting to his death, actor and President of the Theatre
Arts and Motion Pictures Producers Association of Nigeria, Dele Odule,
lamented that Bakare died without reaping the fruits of his labour.
He said, “It is very saddening. I know that death is
inevitable and everybody would go someday. The most unfortunate thing
about his death is that he did not reap the fruits of his labour. He
never enjoyed the dividends of stardom. What is the essence of being
very popular without having money to take care of himself? He spent his
life entertaining people and making them happy and I’m sad that his life
ended that way.
“He was a member of tampan and we would try to work out some
things to immortalise him so that people wouldn’t forget him easily
because he made a lot of contributions to the industry.”
In a similar vein, ace role-interpreter, Kareem Adepoju, aka Baba Wande, expressed shock at Bakare’s death.
“I was very saddened when I heard the news of his death
because he was a young man. I heard that he was sick and had recovered
so I was shocked to learn that he was dead.
“He was a very good person and we worked together several
times during his lifetime. He was a very jovial and humorous person who
was committed to his job. We still worked together recently and he
doesn’t like bothering people whenever he was on location,” he said.