The Nigerian film industry lost one of its veterans, Sadiq Abubakar Daba, on March 3, 2021. His acting career came to into limelight in the late 1970s when he featured in Cockcrow at Dawn.
Among the movies he featured in was October 1, which won him the 2015 Africa Movie Academy Award for Best Actor. He bagged this award for his role as Inspector Waziri. Sadiq Daba also played a role in Citation.
He was an alumnus of St. Edward’s Secondary School and Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. Furthermore, he was a broadcaster with Nigerian Television Authority.
Illness & battle with cancer
In 2017, Sadiq Daba stated that he had been diagnosed with leukaemia and prostate cancer. However, funds were raised for him by some Nigerians. The veteran Nollywood actor joined Project Pink Blue on February 3, 2018, to walk against cancer. This was in commemoration of World Cancer Day.
In a statement, Joe Odumakin said,
“We have lost Sadiq. It is so painful because I spoke to him a few days ago when his wife became a Permanent Secretary. I called his number some hours ago but his son picked it. So I told him to give the phone to his father but he told me that his father is gone. I had to ask; gone to where?
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“His wife just called me now and we spoke. She told me that about a week ago, he had been ill but he had been home and that he went to the hospital late afternoon today. She explained that he had not been eating much and that as soon as they got to the hospital, they put him on oxygen but he died around 8:30 pm.”
Sadiq’s death followed the death of other Nollywood stars – Chico Ejiro and Ernest Akusu who passed on earlier in the year.
May his soul rest in peace.
