Just like a number of other artistes of Nigerian origin, Oladipupo Olabode Oladimeji, famously known as Oladips, gave up the ghost on Wednesday 14, November, after he was noticed to have been mildly under the weather few hours to the unfortunate event. There is a similarity of event with other celebrities like him which makes it so obvious that it is no longer news to us about how many celebrities, such as actors/actresses, rappers, singers, and many more who had died before the great rapper, pathologically shared a cause of preventable death.
By Samuel Odunayo Afolabi – Ibadan
Buttressing the aphoristic statement, “health is wealth”, it is self-explicatorily understandable to note that there is no other profit nor other asset that man should ever be proud of possessing than having sound health; thus, it helps to establish the importance of health above anything else.
When speaking of survival, longevity, and prosperity in every respect of life, the place of health cannot be undervalued as every man does not have any other duty prerequisite to the fulfilment of life’s main purpose than carrying out the simple and original obligation of avoiding things, food, and activities that may negatively affect one’s sustenance.
Following the several unfortunate events of the deaths of Nigeria’s many stars, popular artistes who during their lifetimes were not only exciting the happiness of Nigerians back home but also shaking the world with their exceptional knacks for infusing quality perspectives which range from socio-cultural values of African heritage, existent political ethos to the aesthetics of the African arts and music.
But is it not a shame that even with the many values which these important figures, most of them young and vibrant, portray in their arts, each of them found it much too difficult to rise above the deadening clout of their ailments, pitiable condition, avoidable situations, and many more?
The deaths of Tola King, a performing artiste from Osogbo, Murphy Afolabi, Adah Ameh, Osinachi, Saint Obi, Ernest Azuzu, Mohbad, Majek Fashek, Julius Agwu, Victor Olaotan, Ifeanyi Ezeoke, Dejo Tunfulu, to name but a few are proven evidences that having access to the paradise of elite connections and to the luxury of physical substance or wealth like many of these artistes do is no guarantee to longevity, nor is it an immunity to falling victims to the fatality of sickness.
Hence, it rather enlightens us to understand that as a human community, our sole preserve is to pay attention to our body system, how it works, what to feed it with, and of course how avoid developing ill-health. Put more simply, it is high time artiste made evitable some of the health-taunting activities which they engage in.
Among many other measures necessary, yielding to the foregoing idea is the only way we can effortlessly put a stop to the menace of consistent deaths which are rooted in repeated conditions in our society.
Rest on, Oladips!
