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Father, mentor lament death of kid actor Olamide David

‘It was painful, but we have resigned to fate’ – Olamide David’s father, Adekunle

The Nigerian movie industry was thrown into mourning when Olamide David, Nollywood kid actor was pronounced dead, within 24 hours after he complained of stomach ache. Olamide David, 14, died at about 1.00pm on Saturday, January 16, 2016, at the General Hospital, Ikeja, Lagos, and was buried that same day

Adekunle David
Adekunle David

in the evening at Ikorodu Cemetery, Igbogbo, Lagos.

Olamide who won the Best Kid Actor in 2015 Best of Nollywood Awards had featured in several Yoruba movies. One of his popular flicks is Cobweb produced by Foluke Daramola.

On Friday, January 22, 2016, ENCOMIUM Weekly spoke with the father, Adekunle Feyisola David, and he shared his grief on the loss of his first son, Olamide David (of four children).

“It all started on Friday evening, when he came back from school. He complained of stomach ache to his mother. After the close of school, he went to play football with his friends and one of his friends mistakenly kicked him in the tummy. His mother called me at work and told me what had happened. I told her to allow him rest a while thinking it was a minor ache as a result of the football he played. That he was tired and needed to rest.

“Later, my wife called me again that he could not walk. So, I told her to take him to the nearest private hospital. He was hospitalized and was given drip to suppress the pains unknown that it was more severe. The doctor later told us to allow them run a scan on him. It was revealed that he had internal bleeding. I cannot remember what the doctor said vividly.

“We were referred to the General Hospital, Ikeja. About 15 minutes after we got to the hospital, he collapsed. They tried to revive him to no avail. He passed on. Olamide was 13 plus and would have been 14 in May. He was a student of Bosworth College International in SS1 as a science student.

“We thank God so far. Though it was a great loss, we lost a future icon and star. He started building a career for himself. He was nominated for AAMA awards in 2013. He worked with celebrities and Nollywood actors and actresses.

“It was painful but we are coping with the situation. We buried him that same day in the evening at Ikorodu Cemetery, Igbogbo. We decided to bury him at Ikorodu because his mother hails from there.”

Another source, who happened to be Olamide David’s mentor and guardian, revealed how he felt on the death of the future icon. Mr. Kayode Salako, proprietor of Bosworth College International talked about his grief.

“Olamide David was a very talented kid actor, about 73 Bosworth students were auditioned for the role in Cobweb, but Olamide was chosen out of all to play the role of Sam in Cobweb, as a son of a very poor man, Akija. Out of all the children, Olamide was found appropriate to play the role of Sam. Other children were picked to play other roles, but Olamide was picked to play the role of Sam. Many of the stars reckoned with him due to his performance even the director was so much in love with him.

“My wife, Foluke Daramola Salako was the producer while I was the executive producer. After the promotion, he started acting in other productions. But the one that gave him the Best Kid actor in 2014 was Black Silhouette. Olamide was nominated for Best kid Actor in Africa in 2013 Africa Academy Movie Awards (AAMA) being the biggest award in Africa. He was nominated along three other children in Africa.

“The event was held in Bayelsa State. He did not win then but few months after, he won the award for Best Kid Actor in Africa. He performed in other high budget movies many of which are yet to come out. Olamide was my boy who I loved so much. My wife and I were the ones who were grooming him for future celebration, but we were wrong. He died while onset of a standard soap opera. He was shooting a soap opera when he died.

“Death snatched him from us. Everything that happened to him, happened within 24 hours. The problem started and ended within 24 hours. He was a very talented boy who was loved by all. He was loved by everybody in my school.

“Olamide never died in the school. The problem did not start in the school. It was after school, as we heard, he went to some of his friends to play football. It was during the game that we heard that one of his classmates mistakenly kicked him in the stomach and that was what he complained about. He died in the hospital at Ikeja, Lagos and was buried that same night at Ikorodu. The painful thing is that his death was spiritually orchestrated.

“It was not ordinary. We believed that the star of Olamide was cut by the enemies. Ordinarily, the stomach ache could not have killed him, it was just an excuse for the enemies to take his life. Olamide had a dream on Wednesday, January 13, 2016, that he found himself in a strange village and he was wandering in a bush, and he died on Saturday.

“The mother is a Christian who embarked on fasting and prayer to avert the dream but unfortunately, the enemy killed one of the stars in our midst. It was so devastating. It is like I lost a biological son because Olamide was my adopted son. The boy I was grooming to take up the glory of the industry. He was a brilliant actor, but he was unable to manifest his destiny. It is a big loss to the industry, to Bosworth College International, to Nigeria as well because Nigeria has lost one of the stars of tomorrow. He was celebrated by many because of the awards he won.

“He was hosted by Nike Oshinowo on one of her shows on AIT. He was hosted on NTA and many more. It is only God who understands how He works.”

  • DAMILOLA FOLAMI
Encomium

Written by Encomium

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