Obi Madubuogwu 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.Read more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/04/day-my-mother-fainted-on-hearing-i-had-died-of-aids-obi-madubuogwu/
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