Music fans are hopeful as ailing producer, OJB Jezreel, prepares to jet out to India for kidney transplant, writes CHUX OHAI.
Emerging feelers indicate that ailing
music producer and songwriter, Babatunde Okungbowa, aka OJB Jezreel, may
be travelling to India for a kidney transplant and treatment in India
before the end of this week.
Although the identity of the Indian
hospital that will handle the producer’s surgery has not been made known
to his numerous fans, our correspondent gathered from close sources
that all arrangement, regarding the hospital bills, travel expenses, his
feeding and accommodation in the Asian country, has been concluded.
Jezreel was said to have spent the past
weeks undergoing dialysis at the Lagos State University Teaching
Hospital in Ikeja. Each operation allegedly cost about N90,000 and this
excludes the drugs prescribed for him by the doctors.
A timely donation of $100,000 to the OJB
Fund Raising Committee by Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State,
early in July, had finally guaranteed the much-needed trip to India.
Amaechi’s kind gesture ended several weeks of anxiety for the relatives,
fans, friends, colleagues and well wishers of the producer, who were
involved in a campaign to raise the sum of N15m required to cover the
expenses for his treatment.
However, the donation put paid to the
controversy that had previously sneaked in on members of the fund
raising committee and consequently, threatened the progress of the
Save-OJB campaign.
… as Vast of Bracket returns
Interestingly, the music industry
experienced a surge of relief as Nwachukwu Ozioko, aka Vast, the member
of the Afro Pop group known as Bracket, who was earlier diagnosed with
lymphoma, a type of blood cancer and treated in an English hospital in
London, returned to Nigeria on Friday, August 16.
The singer’s previous condition had
earlier thrown a scare around the Nigerian music industry and left his
group in a lurch. In his absence, other artistes and music fans had
prayed fervently for his recovery.
Ever since Vast returned, other music
stars, including the P-Square, Iyanya, 9ice, Dammy Krane, DJ Jimmy Jatt,
have been rejoicing with him on the success of his treatment.
In an interview published online during
his convalescence in London, Vast had expressed his gratitude to God for
surviving the ailment.
“I’m grateful the cancer was an early
discovery, even though it should have been earlier than when it was
discovered. It actually took more than three months for Nigerian doctors
to discover I had cancer after taking several pain-killers and medicine
for headache; we had to fly to London for treatment after it was
discovered. We spent a whole lot of money, but we thank God for Life.
“My greatest weapon is God and then
training. I train a lot even when I was sick. I discovered that it is
one of the biggest weapons to fight sickness. One thing about Cancer is
once discovered on time, with the right medication, it will be cured
forever,” he said.
The singer had also expressed the
optimism that the Bracket, which had been temporarily inactive while he
was receiving treatment in London, would bounce back soon.
OJB Jezreel is the third Nigerian
artiste to be flown abroad for medical treatment between 2012 and now.
Before his case was made public, Nollywood actress, Ngozi Nwosu, who
clocked 50 on August 1, had undergone a successful surgery in a London
hospital after battling with a kidney ailment for several months.
Nwosu is said to have returned on the set of the popular TV drama series, Fuji House of Commotion.
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