Almost as if rushing to meet datelines and satisfy a stern Editor, three of the nation’s gems within the media family exited by the front door to eternity. All of this happened within just ten days – Biyi Bandele: 7th August; John Chiahemen: 10th August; and Chief Duro Onabule: 16th August. Of them all, I knew John Chiahemen the most and would like to start these tributes with him.
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Legendary actor and broadcaster Sadiq Daba, who since 2017 had been fighting a losing with prostate cancer and leukaemia, eventually succumbed to death by these ailments on Wednesday, March 3. Okechukwu Uwaezuoke writes
This was how it used to be like back then: Nigerian Television Authorityâs estimated 30 million viewers would hear Bongos Ikwueâs sonorous voice and know that it was time for Cockcrow at Dawn. That voice, which was accompanied by the strum of his guitar, had the effect of a pheromone on families across Nigeria, keeping them glued to their television sets.
Cockcrow at Dawn â which shared the same title as its music â used to feature many colourful characters, among whom was Bitrus. And the character Bitrus â played by Abubakar Sadiq Daba who died on Wednesday, March 3 â had remained evergreen in the television audienceâs memory.
Sadiq Daba, renowned actor and broadcaster, dies at age 69
A little over three years after announcing his recuperation from prostate cancer and leukaemia in a London hospital, renowned actor, broadcaster, producer and director, Sadiq Abubakar Daba died on Wednesday evening in Lagos. For more than four decades, Dabaâs name has been engraved in public consciousness, thanks to his role as âBitrusâ in the rested Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) soap opera, âCock Crow at Dawnâ. As one of the few professionals who could give a good account of themselves either on live stage or on television and silver screen, Daba plied his trade with admiration. At the emergence of the Nigerian film industry, Daba was also not afraid to offer his experience and versatility.
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For Sadiq Daba, a native of Kano, born in Kumasi, Ghana and raised in Freetown, Sierra-Leone, stardom was more than a dream come true. In the early days, it was radio that enchanted him. And without a single TV station in Sierra-Leone then, what else but being on radio would he have thought of?
“I used to listen to William Roberts on Radio Sierra-Leone,” he recalls, smiling broadly. “He was my role model. Being on-air, for me, became an obsession.” That was in the early 1960s, a time he used to go around with the pop star, Giraldo Pino, who practices just behind their house to dance halls. But it was not till he met Khalifa Baba Ahmed on his return to Nigeria around 1967 that he was able to actualize his childhood dream. And it was by happenstance!