Renowned comic actor Charles Inojie has shared the rollercoaster of emotions from his visit to the ailing John Okafor, popularly known as Mr. Ibu, on his sickbed, describing him as “an indomitable humorist.”
Mr Ibu is still lying on his sickbed after one of his legs was amputated last week.
Inojie, as a colleague in the same Nollywood boat, opted to swing by the hospital where he is currently receiving treatment on the Lagos Island, after leaving a movie set alongside actress Chinyere Wilfred.
In an all-encompassing Facebook post, Inojie spilled the tea, recounting the moment he walked into the hospital ward and witnessed Mr. Ibu’s eyes lighting up. Charles, in awe of his unwavering spirit, said rather than Mr Ibu feeling the excruciating pain that comes with the amputation of his leg, he ended up entertaining him and his visitors as if nothing happened him.
Narrating the encounter, Inojie partly said;
“I never thought I could ever be able to relate this chapter of my encounter with Mr Ibu on his sick bed. This is because I had this funny feeling that it had the potential of making light of a very dire situation as his condition presented.”
In their customary banter, Charles cheekily inquired why Ibu consented to the amputation of his leg, and Inojie spilled the beans on the amusing response he received.
Our conversation:
“Ibu: “Idiot, what are you doing here?”
“Inojie: “Mumu, why you carry your leg go give mallam to dey cut?”
“Ibu: “I get sense?”
“He would go on to quibble a few friendly banters with Chinyere. In fact, suffice to say that if a total stranger walked into that room that minute, he would never be able to tell who, indeed, was the patient.
“From one joke to the other, Mr Ibu literally entertained us. For a moment, I peered into his eyes as if searching for the secret of his willpower, and again, he levelled me out,” .
Inojie revealed that as he clasped hands in prayer with Mr. Ibu, tears streamed down his own eyes. Despite Mr. Ibu’s earlier facade of strong will, witnessing Inojie’s emotional moment triggered a release of tears from him as well, rendering both actors in a shared and poignant emotional state.
Inojie continued;
“Then came the moment. I picked his hands from his sides and held them tightly as I muttered,
“Let’s pray.
”We gazed intently at each other and connected on the fading highways of nostalgia, and upon the instance, I felt a mad rush of hot tears welling up beneath my quivering eyelids. I quickly turned away for fear my animal weakness was threatening to have the better of me, but too late. Ibu was crying, too!
“We prayed and cried freely and came to, unconsoled. He wiped his eyes as I did mine, and out of the blues, the Mr. Ibu in him reared its head again.”
The thespian concluded by sharing that he departed the hospital with a crucial life lesson etched in his mind.
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