What I expect from the government for abandoning my acting career to care for Agbako — Daughter

Motunrayo ‘Iwalewa’ Charles, a daughter of the recently deceased veteran actor, Abdulsalam Sanyaolu, popularly known as Charles Olumo and Agbako, has said that she expects the government to compensate her for abandoning her acting career to take care of her father.

According to Iwalewa, she put her career on pause for four years to tend to the ailing actor who died on Thursday, October 31, at the age of 101.

In a recent interview, Iwalewa said, “The government should do whatever it deems fit for the family. But, they should understand that the person who took care of the old man, just like I did, won’t be able to do any other thing. I am also an actor but I did not go to any location for four years, because I had to take care of him. So, the family should be taken care of, and the person who cared for baba should also be well treated.”

She dismissed claims that the veteran actor died on a movie set, stressing that Agbako died in her hands at their home.

“He died in my arms. After I bathed him, I put him on a chair and brushed his teeth. I then gave him water to rinse his mouth and he went quiet. I took him to the bed, gave him the tea I prepared but it spilt as I was trying to feed him. I had never experienced anything like that (a person’s death) before. Then, I called for help. People are saying he died on set, but he died on his bed in my arms.”

On whether he had any premonition of his death or did anything in his last days that indicated that, she said, “He did not say anything. He was just sick briefly and passed on.”

Speaking on further plans to commemorate Agbako’s death, she stated, “The funeral rites will be concluded on the seventh day. The ceremony will be held at the same place he celebrated his 100th birthday in the Iju-Atan area of Ogun State.”