By ESE DANIELS

The founder of Urhobowood, Lord Mayor, Chief Orekereke Udusan, is dead.

The family of the Urhobo actor confirmed his death on Thursday afternoon, stating that the cold hands of cancer had snatched their son, brother, husband and father into the land of no return.

Mr. Akpobome Ibebe, who worked closely with Chief Orekereke, stated that the news of his death was a rude shock and surprise.

He went further to say that the Urhobo icon had believed that he would not lose to cancer.

“As one of his confidants, I know how long and how much he fought to stay alive,” Ibebe said.

Throughout his remarkable life, chief Orekereke worked to build the image and sustain the heritage of the Urhobo nation through performing acts (Urhobo movies), a passion that led to the birth of the Urhobowood International and to project the Urhobo nation and Identity to the world.

Mr. Rume Daniels, a close friend to the diseased also expressed shock over the demise of Orekereke, stating that he (Orekereke) had a dream to build a film village where Urhobo movies would be created and exported to the world.

“But sadly, the great son of the soil has fallen,” he said, with a heavy heart.

Some members of the public who did not know that the great icon was battling with cancer have also expressed shock at the sad news, as they agreed that the Urhobo icon would be greatly missed. (Delta State News Bulletin)