Veteran Nigerian filmmaker, Zeb Ejiro, has disclosed that late actor Saint Obi’s failed marriage contributed to his untimely death.
Recall that the veteran actor, whose real name is Obinna Nwafor, passed away on Saturday, May 13, after a prolonged illness.
In an interview with Vanguard, Ejiro, a close friend and colleague of the late actor, spoke about Saint Obi’s life, stating that the collapse of his marriage affected him deeply, and he never recovered from the shock until his death.
According to him, Obi couldn’t bear the shock of being separated from his family.
“Obi told me several times that his marriage was crumbling and it was eating him up. He was a family man, someone who loved to be with his kids and build a happy home. But when his marriage fell apart, it truly affected him, and he never recovered from the shock until his death. When a man is separated from his family, he becomes depressed. No man wants to be in that kind of situation and be happy. So, that contributed to his death,” he said.
Ejiro further revealed that he received a call from Saint Obi two weeks before his death, where he informed him about his prolonged illness.
“Two weeks before his demise, my phone rang and it was Saint Obi on the other end. I asked him where he had been; everyone had been looking for him.
That was when he told me that he had been unwell and admitted to a hospital. He mentioned undergoing multiple surgeries, but his condition wasn’t improving. His elder sister then arranged for him to be moved to Jos, where he could receive proper treatment.
That was the last time we spoke, as I promised to reach out to him again. Unfortunately, I never did, and the next thing I heard was that Obi was no more,” Ejiro narrated.
This revelation comes after filmmaker and journalist Zik Zulu Okafor narrated how Saint Obi’s marriage distanced him from his friends and acting career.
According to Okafor, Saint Obi’s marriage to a financially successful woman significantly altered the trajectory of his life.
He revealed that the woman held a high-ranking executive position in a telecommunications company, and her siblings viewed Obi as a “gold digger.”
Okafor stated that Saint Obi faced constant harassment from his wife’s siblings, which ultimately led to the dissolution of their marriage. Read here.
