By Olamide Jasanya
The past few months have seen the Nigerian entertainment industry lose some of its active members to death. Sadly, some of these deaths have been as a result of ill treated ailments, which deteriorate over time. Based on this premise, it may be understandable the keen interest the public has developed in the health of many celebrities.
In recent times, the likes of Ngozi Nwosu, Olumide Bakare, Kayode Dosunmu and Natty have had health scares. The latest on the list is veteran actor, Richard Mofe Damijo, who claims to be well, but still has some of his fans bothered about his health. A few days ago, a picture of a slimmer RMD surfaced on the internet and soon became a trending topic.
The fear became intense when a facebook account supposedly owned by actress Stella Damasus alleged the politician was practically at death’s door. The account wrote, ‘One of the popular Nollywood actor and a brother from another mother Richard Mofe Damijo A.K.A RMD is currently battling with live (sic) threatening sickness now. This is evident from this picture. May God preserve his life and heal him for us’
As expected, fans of the actor have taken to different social media sites to express their sympathy. While a few pitied him, others advised him to seek proper medical attention as they have never seen him looking that pale, ‘What is wrong with RMD? He is very lean’, a certain @fifipru asked on twitter. Similar comments like ‘RMD is sick and we pray it doesn’t lead to death, type amen if you love him and wish him quick recovery’ by @igboist and ‘All is not well with RMD #pray4him’ by @timonie88 further strengthened the rumor.
But the 53-year-old says he’s doing just fine. He told the Vanguard Newspaper recently that his new look is because of a change in his lifestyle and advised the public to stop spreading the story about his failing health, saying ‘What else do you need? You saw me on stage, did I look sick? People are probably so disappointed to see me looking so much better they want the news to be true. Unfortunately for them, I am in the best shape of my life.’
As though determined to douse the fear the rumour has caused, he continued, ‘Have you not taken photos of me? It amazes me how people cling to bad news. I am a public servant in Delta State, I go to work every day. I am not sick. I changed my lifestyle and lost weight and I am looking better than I have ever looked in my adult life. For the record, I am not on Facebook and my colleagues that they used their names as those who posted the stories have all denied it’.
One of his fans, @iotama22 confirmed his claim via twitter. He wrote ‘And on RMD’s rumoured sickness. Don’t mind this photo here. I saw him in Lagos two weeks ago looking very ‘kampe’
While we cannot rule out his claim of a change in lifestyle as responsible for his new look, it’s also not out of place to ask if all is truly well with Mr Damijo. Unlike most of his colleagues, he comes across as one who has his health properly monitored. Coupled with the fact that until recently, there hadn’t been any reports of health issues, alarms of this nature are, no doubt, worrisome.
RMD, who is presently the Commissioner of Culture and Tourism in Delta State, was recently given a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2014 edition of the Delta Entertainment Awards held a few days ago. Until his appointment, he unarguably was one of Nollywood’s leading actors and had featured in over 50 movies, including Violated produced by late film-maker, Amaka Igwe.
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