24th December, 2012
Nigeria’s veteran actors, Enebeli Elebuwa and Pete Eneh, will be buried in January, 2013.
National President of the Actors Guild of Nigeria, AGN, Ibinabo Fiberesima, said the two icons will be given befitting burials.
Pete Eneh died on 18 November, a few days after his leg was amputated at the Enugu State Teaching Hospital due to an infection.
The Enugu-based thespian had been down since last year after sustaining an injury on his left leg. The injury was said to have been worsened when Pete could not get proper medical attention, and the leg got infected.
To prevent the infection from spreading to other parts of his body, the doctors decided to amputate the affected leg on 24 October. But the actor died even before he was discharged from the hospital.
Pete Eneh, starred in many films, but he was popularly known for mostly playing the role of a father.
Enebeli Elebuwa died on 4 December in a New Delhi, India hospital where he was receiving treatment for stroke. He had been down with the ailment for about one year.
Enebeli hailed from Upkane in Otagunu Local Government, Delta State. He lost his dad at a tender age and relocated to Lagos to seek greener pastures.
He started acting in 1967 and the first soap opera he featured in was Mirror in the Sun. He also featured as a police officer in Village Headmaster which was the most popular soap opera back then. His first film, which was a celluloid, Dinner With The Devil , was produced by Sanya Dosumu in 1974.
He joined the movie industry fully in 1994. Formally working with the National Television Authority (NTA) as a producer/director, he had been in the movie industry for over 30 years. He was married with four kids.
Elebuwan had featured in Heavy Rain, Arrows, By His Grace, Ngozi:Abeg Marry Us, Naomi, The Suitors, Not Your Wealth and many others.
Reacting, Ibinabo said: “The state of most motion picture practitioners is pitiable, even though we are in the limelight with loads of fans and accolades.
“It is for this reason that I am pursuing the health plan, pension scheme and insurance for AGN members across the nation. The idea of running cap in hand to government at any level when incidents such as this occur isn’t the solution, though necessary under the present circumstance. I pray that under my watch, the necessary uplift of actors would be achieved.”