Two years after he had a successful
kidney transplant in India, popular music producer and singer, Babatunde
Okungbowa, aka OJB Jezreel, is still battling to stay healthy.
Although the artiste claims, in an
interview with our correspondent, to be in a better condition and a lot
stronger than he was in 2013, he is engaged in a silent struggle to
overcome the challenges that set in after the transplant.
A few weeks ago, it was rumoured,
especially in the social media, that OJB had suffered a kidney relapse.
The rumour had caused quite a stir in the entertainment industry, as
always. But the singer had quickly dismissed it and informed his
numerous fans that he was alright.
Recalling
that episode, he says, “Normally there are challenges that come with
the post-transplant or recovery period. Some of them have to do with
issues related to hygiene. Also, the drugs I use – which are meant to
fortify the immune system so that my body can accept the kidney – make
me vulnerable to all kinds of infection and diseases.
“So from time to time, I always go for
medical checks. Sometimes I may undergo treatment at the hospital for a
longer time than usual. During one of such periods, some people must
have concluded that I had entered another relapse and they felt it was
time for me to undergo another transplant. I think that was what led to
the rumour. Let me use this occasion to assure them that I am not in
that stage at all. What I am facing right now are the normal challenges
that come with the transplant.”
As part of the healing process, OJB’s
doctors had prescribed a special diet for him. But the artiste considers
it a little too difficult to maintain. “The problem with the dieting, I
must confess, is that it is not an easy thing to maintain. If one
should go by their (doctors) standard, everything I eat should be fresh.
If you look at it critically, it also means, for example, that when I
want to eat meat, it should be fresh meat. Let’s be very frank, I am
sure that even Dangote himself cannot pull this off. Not in Nigeria at
present,” he says.
Unfortunately, it seems that OJB’s
health problems are far from being over. This time, he is saddled with
the additional burden of dealing with a case of induced diabetes.
Describing this as a complication arising from some of the prescribed
drugs he has been using, he says, “Some of the drugs are steroids and
they are full of sugar. Now I have to undergo treatment for diabetes at
the same time as I am treating other ailments. But the major problem is
not really the physical pain I suffer; it is the emotional trauma that
results from the illness.”
Also, the producer has been battling to
meet up with the financial costs of staying healthy. Since he returned
from India two years ago, he tells our correspondent, he has been
spending a lot of money on medical bills.
“Right from the day I had the
transplant, I have been spending close to N350,000 every month on my
drugs, treatment in the hospital, dieting and every other thing,” he
says, adding that the expenditure includes the cost of treating himself
for diabetes.
OJB laments that, since one of the
greatest challenges that people who have kidney transplant face in
Nigeria is hygiene, he is not so free to mix with other people or to
play with his own children. Also, he has not been at liberty to leave
his residence for fear of getting contaminated and risking a kidney
relapse.
“The truth is that it is not every
kidney transplant that ends smoothly. It is not easy to have a
transplant and then go back to normal life. When I returned from India,
some people were aware that I had to wear a mask whenever I was going
outside my home. But how long am I going to keep doing that?” he asks.
In spite of these challenges and the
implied strain on his health, the artiste has returned to what he loves
doing best: entertainment. Also, he has appeared in a new film titled Anjola, produced by Sophie Ejiga.
But, aware that this has not gone down
well with some of his fans who feel that he should be recuperating
instead of going back to work, he explains, “If you have to cough out
over N350,000 every month to pay medical bills, you cannot afford to
rest. I am definitely back to work, but I do more of entertainment
consultancy than music production nowadays. This is what I do for now.”
To assist patients diagnosed with kidney
failure, as well as to educate other Nigerians on the seriousness of
the ailment, OJB has founded a Kidney Trust Fund. But it will be
administered, he says, by government for the purpose of transparency.
Explaining why he wants government to
take charge of the Fund, he says, “A lot of donors have complained of
the trust deficit in Nigeria. Our main target is to open dialyses
centres in different parts of the country.”
Still, OJB believes that if he continues
to take his drugs, go for regular medical checks and maintain a healthy
hygiene, his condition will improve in a short time.
Punch
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