Olumide Bakare didn’t reap the fruits of his labour –Dele Odule

The Nigerian entertainment industry was again thrown into mourning when talented and popular actor, Olumide Bakare, passed on in the early hours of Saturday.

According to reports, the 65-year-old thespian died on his way to the University College Hospital in Ibadan, Oyo State, after his health suddenly took a turn for the worse. It will be recalled that the veteran actor had been ill for some time with lung and heart disease.

Reacting to his death, actor and President of the Theatre Arts and Motion Pictures Producers Association of Nigeria, Dele Odule, lamented that Bakare died without reaping the fruits of his labour.

He said, “It is very saddening. I know that death is inevitable and everybody would go someday. The most unfortunate thing about his death is that he did not reap the fruits of his labour. He never enjoyed the dividends of stardom. What is the essence of being very popular without having money to take care of himself? He spent his life entertaining people and making them happy and I’m sad that his life ended that way.

“He was a member of tampan and we would try to work out some things to immortalise him so that people wouldn’t forget him easily because he made a lot of contributions to the industry.”

In a similar vein, ace role-interpreter, Kareem Adepoju, aka Baba Wande, expressed shock at Bakare’s death.

“I was very saddened when I heard the news of his death because he was a young man. I heard that he was sick and had recovered so I was shocked to learn that he was dead.

“He was a very good person and we worked together several times during his lifetime. He was a very jovial and humorous person who was committed to his job. We still worked together recently and he doesn’t like bothering people whenever he was on location,” he said.