The name Obi Madubuogwu is not strange to
teeming Nollywood viewers because he is a
real pioneer of the industry.
teeming Nollywood viewers because he is a
real pioneer of the industry.
Madubuogwu has no doubt seen it all, having
been first an actor, then a producer, and then
an executive producer and sponsor of his
own productions from the early beginnings of
Nollywood.
The highest point in his career was being
cast to play King Musanga in Battle of
Musanga, an epic film still considered as the
most expensive production with the largest
cast and crew in the industry produced by
Gabosky & Chezkay films. He no doubt ate
up the role and still being applauded till date.
At that time, Madubuogwu was almost
tipping at 300kg in weight.
However tides soon turned for him health
wise that all seemed to fall apart like a pack
of cards. Movie business took a nose dive as
he had to stay alive first. He had lost
extreme weight in a whiff of time and was
stigmatized, traumatized and treated like a
leper by even some of his friends and
colleagues who wouldn’t shake hands with
him. Rumours even told of how he had been
dumped in his village to die. Even a notable
news magazine had published in a banner
headline that he was stricken with AIDS.
All these physical and emotional deterioration
went on until he discovered that what was
ravaging him was indeed diabetes, an
ailment he has been managing for many
years now.
He has therefore resolved to invest his entire
life in the education of the world and
especially members of his entertainment
constituency as to the gravity of the ailment
as well as its management.
In this chat, he tells of the sad days when
he did not know what exactly was wrong
with him and how the people felt it was
HIV /AIDS that made him fall from being
hefty to a mere feather weight. He also
talks about the challenges of running Saving
Lives African Diabetes Foundation and his
experiences so far
Entry into the movie industry
Entering into the movie industry for me came
quite early in the years. I started by watching
Okpulu Anyanwu and Mike Orihe Dimma,
popular Igbo sitcom on television in Onitsha
in those good old days. I became a critic of
the production until I joined a theatre group
and shot our film POWER OF LOVE. I had
taken the movie to the most popular
marketer of that era, JBM to market because
he said he loved it.
At that time, he was casting for Evil Passion
but later I missed it as he used Tobechukwu
Anadi who became an instant success
thereafter.
I still took the Power of Love to Alex
Ezeamaku of Zelex who also gave me a role
in his own production Hidden Truth. The
relationship blossomed that we became
friends, mentor and brought down Major
stars down to Onitsha from Lagos to do
Akadilke. It was Zelex that later brought me
to Lagos and always believed that I could
produce a movie but I told him to wait till I
have learnt some more about production.
So we employed Zeb Ejiro to direct Faces
which featured Sidney Diala and a host of
others. It was after understudying Zeb that I
decided to produce Agony which was
directed by Ndubuisi Okoh. That film, to the
best of my knowledge, became the first film
Genevieve did in Nollywood. After then, I
produced Captives for IG Best which was
also the first film for Clem Ohameze. I also
was involved in True Confession which was
another early film of the era produced by
NEK. I featured in it with the delectable Liz
Benson. It was in True Confession that I met
her for the first time after having seen her
act in other films. I must confess that I was
gripped by inferiority complex as someone
who had just come from Onitsha but she
made me relaxed when she said she had
also seen me in other films and hugged me.
Local Champion
It was after True Confession that I became a
local champion in Onitsha. I grew too fast
that I had outgrown my first film or drama
Power of love which was later dumped.
However, I will say that it was Forbidden
that gave me my main identity and it
featured Ngozi Ezeonu while Battle of
Musanga popularized that identity.
Battle of Musanga
I had been close to top movie and
electronics marketer Andy Best during those
years. He had told me about a movie role
which fits me. He said he had recommended
me to Gabosky, one of the producers who
eventually invited me to the audition held at
a venue in Agboju area of Lagos. While at
the audition, I gathered that the role was not
originally for me but meant for Super
Armstrong. But they also told me to rehearse
and read some lines. I did it well. I strongly
believe that my stage training helped me in
playing the role of the cannibal king
Musanga of Musanga kingdom who
intimidated everyone and all his subjects.
Musanga still remains the biggest epic
production in the history of Nollywood. I
think it would be very difficult for any
Nigerian film producer to invest the amount
of money and time to produce that kind of
movie. The cast was massive; the crew
super, the location was indescribable. I
continue to commend Gabosky and Chez Kay
for a big job well done. However it was after
Musanga that Tony Jickson contacted me to
do Karashika followed by Conspiracy. I
would say that my eyes opened up in
production when I did Agunmba which I sold
to Somaco. I must say that coming to stay
in Lagos as made possible by Zelex that
made me learn the ropes and started my
success run.
You seemed to enjoy a very cordial
relationship with movie marketers when your
colleagues antagonize them..How come?
I think my relationship with video marketers
is endearing because I started early with
them before they even encouraged me to
produce for them. It is a long standing
relationship which many other producers do
not have. Again, acting from the early stages
of Nollywood also gave me commercial value
to produce movies. I was sincere with the
marketers and was always seen as a part of
them. That was why when we formed Film
Cooperative of Nigeria FCON, I always told
them it was complimentary and not
antagonistic.
Trouble in the air
When I did Musanga, I was three times the
size I am now. It was in 1998 at the peak of
this rising profile that I started coming down
with different kinds of symptoms that could
be related to HIV/AIDS including extreme
weight loss and what have you. I was
reducing in size daily and was scared with
my image in the mirror. It was not long
before the news started spreading that I had
been down with AIDS. Even a particular
entertainment journalist published the banner
headline that I was HIV positive. It pained
me about the insensitivity of the world to
people’s plight. I have forgiven him and he
has apologized to me. I became scared of
myself. I became worried and did not know
what to do. I wondered what happened to
my cherished life and plans to excel in the
movie industry With my popularity both in
person and name, I knew I was in deep
trouble. I couldn’t go for HIV test because I
was scared of the result. On the part of
Zelex, whom I considered brother from
another mother, he continued to push me to
take a test and he also had several issues
with his wife concerning our continued
friendship and closeness. She was worried
that my continued friend ship would make
her family contact whatever I was suffering
from. She was right. I summoned up courage
and took a test which to my relieve was
negative to HIV/AIDS. My relief came
because the stigma did not fit me after all. It
was not what people thought but I still did
not know what was happening to me.
The big stigmatization
It would be very difficult for me to describe
what it felt to be stigmatized, rejected and
abandoned. I felt it all. Aside from the
journalist who published the story that I was
HIV positive, what about the several clusters
of people who gathered to talk about me
only to stop when I come around? What
about the close friends who won’t shake my
hands or even have any physical closeness
with me? They would throw their greetings
as if they were being forced to say hello to
me. I also recall a pastor who told me point
blank that I had HIV. It was about this time
that I stopped featuring in films. My image
had gone so down.
In Conspiracy 1, I was very big as usual but
in part 2, I was lean. We decided to make me
train and gym regularly in the film as if I
was checking my weight. The audience did
not know what I was passing through and
believed the film story.
In Cassandra, I had trimmed much more
down and the story was everywhere that I
was going to die any time from then. Some
said I had died of full blown AIDS. What
story did I not hear about myself? A cousin
of mine had gone to the bank for transaction
and was told by some one that I had died.
Even in my hometown, people were already
counting days for me. I even heard from
someone that I had been dumped in one
room in the village to die. A childhood friend
who heard the story had traced me to the
village to ask why my mum and family
would keep my illness from him to the extent
that I had been dumped in one room to die in
the village. But I was in Lagos. My mum
had fainted on hearing that story. She had
been managing Diabetes herself for years. I
believe that my health issue must have
contributed to her death at 89 years.
The great revelation
The revelation as to what was worrying me
came to light as we were shooting Ulaga for
Andy Best in Enugu. I was with Andy Chukwu
and a couple of close friends who did not
stigmatise me through out the period. I had
gone to urinate and Andy Chukwu had gone
after me. He came back to where we were
seated and told me that he saw ants trailing
my urine. He said he related it with what his
uncle was suffering from and convinced me
to take a diabetes test. I became excited
that I was close to what may have been
wrong with me. When I went for this test, the
doctor was shocked and insisted that I do
not leave the hospital that day because it
was extremely dangerous for me to do so.
He asked me how I came to the hospital and
I told him I drove myself and he was
shocked. He told me my sugar level was
above 500. Even though he said it was
dangerous, I felt a big relief when they said
it was not AIDS or HIV. So I went for the
diabetes medication and immediately started
getting my groove back. My brother had
visited Lagos to see me and I was not what
they had told him.
Saving Lives African Diabetes Foundation
My experiences had told me many things
about life and death because I was on death
throes for years without knowing what was
wrong with me. Lack of information and
knowledge about the disease inspired me to
form Saving Lives African Diabetes
Foundation in 2009 because I benefited from
knowledge about Diabetes and its
management. I had heard that people had
taken their lives due to the kind of
stigmatization that I had. I now know that
Diabetes is not a death sentence. I will love
to separate our foundation from the ones
many have used to extort money from
people. We started the foundation so as to
prevent many people from passing through
what I passed through before knowing what
is wrong and how to manage it. And even
now they know, medication and management
are all that are required. I have seen several
of my colleagues who are also managing
their own conditions and we share
knowledge.
Symptoms
Symptoms include frequent urination,
dryness of the throat, blurred vision, general
weakness and regular water intake and then
weight loss.
Aside from my mother managing diabetes for
years, I also lived a life that was filled with
sugar intake. I was addicted to Coca Cola. I
would rush a bottle before a meal and then
wash the food down with another bottle. Boy,
it was God that saved me oo. There was a
time I was afraid of sleeping because of the
fear that I would die from there.
Challenges of managing the foundation
The cost of running this kind of NGO is
enormous but by God’s grace we have been
managing it and meeting with the challenges
so far. It is not a family business and the
signatories in the account are not Obi
Madubuogwu and his wife and family. SLADF
is a legacy I wish to leave for posterity. We
provide info through films, seminars and
discussions. I make use of my popularity to
reach out to people and we have been
building up confidence that we have
volunteer members. We print handbooks and
magazines to spread information about
Diabetes and have been sharing this
information. It is very wrong for people to
think that Diabetes is for old people. I have
seen a seven year old who had diabetes. We
have a volunteer medical team to counsel
and advise and consult. I am very happy that
more and more companies are beginning to
understand what we do and we have been
building confidence. We have organised
events like Celebrities Unite against Diabetes
and later Nollywood Health Convention and
Awards because we have lost several
colleagues to the disease which is one of the
fastest killers in the world today that takes
people unaware. We partnered Actors Guild
of Nigeria, Lagos in our first award
ceremonies but the last one which held at
Golden Tulip Festac, Lagos held without that
partnership. We are grateful to all who had
supported us. I am sorry to say that Nigeria
as a country has not given Diabetes the
same kind of interest they have given to HIV/
AIDS.
Sugar Boy
Aside from seminars and workshops and
more, we also make films to direct the world
interest to the disease and continue the
advocacy against diabetes. Sugar Boy is the
story of a little boy who has diabetes. In his
story we treat the issue of type 1 and 2
diabetes. Type 1 affects people from 1 to 35
years while type 2 goes for people above 40
years.
How to stay alive
Immediately take care of any health
challenge that presents itself as headache,
depression and diabetes. Seek information on
how to take care of basic situations. If you
find yourself as diabetic, the first thing to do
is to accept the situation. People die out of
the confusion they notice. Without delay, go
to proper doctors and specialists with
experience and not just anyone. Several
doctors have killed patients because they did
not do proper diagnoses.
Source: vanguard.
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