This was made known by his godmother and fellow actress Vera Kanu (pictured below).In an exclusive chat with icampus, Vera Kanu said Muna Obiekwe in his lifetime was a chain smoker and an alcoholic. She said his addiction contributed to his kidney damage.
Vera said Muna lost his parents a while ago in a fatal car accident and since then he has been using alcohol and smoke to console himself.
In the process, Muna reportedly consulted a doctor who suggested that he should do at least 20 kidney dialyses to re-energize his kidney.
He was then told to avoid alcohol.. Vera said that the actor didn’t quit drinking until the time of his death.
Vera continued:
“I was with him to the last hour. He was to do up to 20 dialyses; the doctor said if the dialysis improved his condition, the worse would certainly be over. He will be okay only if he stays away from alcohol but you know our artiste,” she concluded.“the dialysis was expensive for Muna.
He was doing two in a week sometimes. And he would need blood injection on each occasion. Each appointment was costing him between N250, 000 to N300, 000; money he did not really have to spend. His health was eating deep into his purse yet Muna refused to go cap in hand begging for alms. He was a private guy who didn’t want the press or his colleagues to feast on his pain.
“He was managing it on his own. As a matter of fact, he has been managing it for a while until Ejiro Okurame and I came on board to help. We were combining resources to help him but there was very little we could do to save him. We had to enlist the help of Patience Ozokwor and Kanayo O. Kanayo (KOK) at a point. They rendered the help they could until he died.
Vera Kanu says Muna Obiekwe Lived A Very Private Life
“The guy was private. He kept to himself a lot and most importantly, kept his private life private; for instance, many people did not even know he was married with two children. Such was his life. He didn’t want press or his colleagues to start prying. He was particularly afraid of the press, hence his shutting his colleagues out of his pain. He knew if some Nollywood people got to know about it, the press would also get to know. He refused to beg to save Nollywood’s image, he in-turn, lost himself.”
Vera Kanu
“Everybody in the industry knows Muna drinks a lot; even when he’s shooting in the North, he has a way of finding alcohol. He fell into it, after he lost his parents in a ghastly motor accident. ‘As a matter of fact, he was supposed to be in that car with them but by stroke of luck, he wasn’t and was spared. Afterwards, Muna took solace in liquor but that never affected his job. He was just like Sam Loco; he could drink the whole sea but when he hears the director shout ‘action,’ he gets into character. Muna was a method character despite his flaws’’
