‘I’ve regained memory… I feel okay’ — Zack Orji speaks on health

Zack Orji, the ace Nigerian actor, has shared an update on his health — after undergoing successful brain surgeries.

The 64-year-old Gabon-born film star slumped on December 29 and was admitted to the intensive care unit of the national hospital in Abuja.

In January, Hannatu Musawa, the culture minister, revealed the actor underwent brain surgery.

Orji also underwent another successful brain surgery and required further evaluation abroad.

Shortly after his second surgery, rumours circulated on social media that the actor had passed away.

The Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), however, dismissed the speculations while Chiwetalu Agu, the ace actor, also hurled curses at rumour-peddlers.

In a recent interview with Channels TV, Orji, who is presently in the United Kingdom for post-surgery assessment, spoke about his recovery, adding that “I feel alright. My memories were back”.

He also addressed rumours of his death, saying he received calls from several concerned colleagues and friends who wanted to confirm if it was true.

Orji slammed the people who spread the “fake stories” while describing the rumours as a “lie from the pit of hell”.

“I do not know who originated that lie. I call it a lie from the pit of hell that, not myself, they had passed away,” he said.

“I saw it and I started receiving all kinds of calls, even calls from people I had not heard from for years, most of them were just concerned. They wanted to find out if it was true and all of that.

“I can only say that sometimes social media has made people to be so reckless and callous to the point of spreading fake news just to grow their page. I believe that is what that person did.

“And it happened at a time when we lost some of our colleagues when somebody started spreading this lie about me. Thank God that our lives are not with men. Our lives are with God. It is God that is the keeper and strength of our lives.

“I will just let it go because I have more important things to do with my time.”

Orji said due to the magnitude of the surgery, “it took quite a while to recover” and that he could not recognise the people who came to greet him on his sick bed.

The film star said his wife became sure he had recuperated when he asked about the date they were at the hospital.

“Immediately before the surgery, I could not recognise people. The people who came to the hospital to greet me, even though they came and we were talking, I could not remember them. It was my wife who told me that this person came, this person came. But immediately after the surgery, when they brought me out, the question I asked what day are we today? My wife said ‘New Year’s day’ and I started wishing everybody a happy New Year. She said that was when she knew that I was back,” he added.

“But because I needed some time to recover because there were stitches done all around here (head), bandages and stuff like that. So it took quite a while to recover. But I was feeling alright. My memories were back.”