Razaq Olayiwola, the Veteran Nollywood actor, popularly known as Ojopagogo, has recounted how his late first wife, Funmilayo, died while he was on a movie set.
According to actor, the painful event occurred in 2000 while he was on location in Abeokuta, shooting a film titled Osuwon, directed by his colleague, Ebun Oloyede, also known as Olaiya Igwe.
The veteran actor mentioned that his wife was in good health when he left home, and there were no signs of any problems.
Before he traveled for the shoot, Funmilayo had encouraged him to take the job and even helped him find an umbrella the night before because of the heavy rainfall.
“It is not something I like to remember. I lost someone who was like my backbone. It was my wife, the wife who gave birth to our children. I was not supposed to go for that work. The reason is that my wife herself has been telling me to go for the shoot. At the time, we were also planning to make our movie ‘Ejo Ori Apata’. This rain started the night before the shoot.
“When the rain was so much, my wife went out to borrow an umbrella for me to be able to go out for the shoot. She told me Olaiya had never called us for the job, and now he has called me. Till I got to the place, my body was not calm. I was not too playful at the outing.
“They said one of my brothers should come meet me at Abeokuta. They did not tell me until my brother came to Abeokuta. We did not even start the work the night I got to the location.
“Other people at the location told me to go home. As I was travelling down, because the plan I had with my wife was that she should go to Oyo town and buy some yam flour, I just felt a breeze inside the bus. When I got to Oyo, I saw my father outside, trying to console me. As soon as I entered the house, many people gathered around me to express their condolences.
“I told them that nothing was wrong with her. Until I left that house and went to the park, and then returned to Ibadan, I was still in shock and dismay when I travelled to Ibadan from Oyo and returned to Ibadan,” he said