07042018 - Investigate your ministers
Vanguard Newspaper 07 April 2018
Vanguard Newspaper 07 April 2018
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SATURDAY Vanguard, APRIL 7, 2018 — 27<br />
By BENJAMIN NJOKU<br />
08111813022<br />
Ordeal of a reggae<br />
star, Yellow Banton<br />
who’s battling<br />
skin cancer<br />
Says: ‘My wife left me<br />
because of my<br />
condition’<br />
Front-line Nigerian reggae star,<br />
Uti Kennedy Nduka popularly<br />
called, Yellow Banton, has narrated<br />
his battle with skin cancer, even as<br />
he fears he would leave his children<br />
with no father.<br />
Yellow Banton, who’s best known<br />
in the late 90’s and early millennium<br />
with his style of infusing pidgin<br />
language into reggae and<br />
successfully blending both in a<br />
unique way, says he has been<br />
battling the deadly disease for about<br />
eight years now.<br />
The ghetto singer was diagnosed<br />
with skin cancer in 2010. He’s<br />
popularly known for his track, “ Na<br />
Who Dey Make Them Dey Happy<br />
Onyibo.” Holding back tears, while<br />
narrating his ordeal to Sidebeat, the<br />
Delta State-born reggae star, said “It<br />
has been there for over eight years.<br />
But it wasn’t as noticeable and big as<br />
it’s today. It was like a mosquito bite<br />
that was growing gradually. I noticed<br />
it at the early stage but I never knew<br />
it would get to a point that it would<br />
become a threat to my life. I thought<br />
it was something I could handle on<br />
my own because I had taken<br />
different drugs but to no avail. I<br />
never knew it would grow as big as<br />
this. My doctors have advised me<br />
that if I don’t undergo surgery as<br />
soon as possible, it would spread to<br />
other parts of body. That’s why I<br />
can’t continue to rely on the drugs<br />
that I had been taken to<br />
suppress it. I have to<br />
open up on my condition<br />
so that I can get a<br />
solution.”<br />
Yellow Banton was<br />
speaking for the first time<br />
since his diagnosis with<br />
Basal Cell<br />
Carinoma,BCC, an<br />
aggressive skin cancer ,<br />
which he believes was<br />
caused by sunburns. The<br />
reggae star is pleading<br />
with Nigerians to come to<br />
his rescue, though the<br />
ordeal has had a huge<br />
impact, all the more<br />
painful because he lost<br />
his elder brother to<br />
cancer some years back.<br />
“The wound has been<br />
there for long and its<br />
been growing gradually.<br />
They told me it’s cancer.<br />
The same cancer that<br />
killed my elder<br />
brother,” he said in a<br />
low voice.<br />
Banton also added<br />
that his doctors at<br />
LASUTH have warned<br />
that if nothing is done<br />
urgently he might lose<br />
the battle to cancer.<br />
The reggae star,<br />
however, is<br />
lamenting that<br />
his loved ones<br />
have<br />
abandoned<br />
him following<br />
his<br />
condition. “<br />
Since I was<br />
diagnosed<br />
as suffering<br />
from skin<br />
cancer,<br />
nobody wants to associate with me<br />
again. “I’m a reggae musician and I<br />
have released some albums in the<br />
past. But the<br />
challenge I’m having<br />
today is because of the<br />
sunburns that I have. I<br />
went to LASUTH<br />
where I was<br />
diagnosed with Basal<br />
I am<br />
begging<br />
Nigerians<br />
to come to<br />
my rescue,<br />
I don’t want<br />
to die<br />
Cell Carinoma(BCC).<br />
I have no money to<br />
foot my medical bill. I<br />
was asked to do a<br />
particular test before I<br />
would undergo<br />
surgery. And the<br />
surgery must be<br />
carried out within two<br />
weeks after the test. I<br />
have not done the test<br />
because I am yet to<br />
raise the money for the<br />
surgery.”<br />
“I am begging Nigerians to come to<br />
my rescue. I don’t want to die.<br />
Sometimes, when I’m performing on<br />
stage, and I go close to my fans.<br />
Immediately they sight the wounds<br />
on my neck, they begin to withdraw<br />
from me. This is common among my<br />
female fans.”<br />
Narrating further, Yellow Banton<br />
who’s also an albino said “My<br />
colleagues hardly invite me to their<br />
shows these days. They don’t feel<br />
comfortable seeing me around them<br />
with cancer on my skin. Sometimes,<br />
when I’m invited to perform at a<br />
birthday party, some mothers don’t<br />
allow their children to dance with<br />
me. I have been living with this<br />
stigma for the past eight years. Some<br />
children would be asking me what<br />
happened to my neck. It makes me<br />
feel very bad and it affects my<br />
business as an entertainer. Nobody<br />
wants to invite me again for a show.”<br />
Most painful of it all is that his wife<br />
divorced him few years back because<br />
he could no longer fend for the<br />
family. “ My wife left me because of<br />
my condition. If you are living with a<br />
woman, and you start experiencing<br />
difficult times, she starts<br />
misbehaving. She walked out of the<br />
marriage about seven years ago,”<br />
he said.<br />
Given his condition, Yellow Banton<br />
is homeless and he hardly can take<br />
care of his needs.<br />
Meanwhile, veteran actress and<br />
broadcaster, Mabel Oboh through<br />
her non-governmental organization,<br />
Centre for Save Our Stars- the first<br />
NGO caring for Nigerian<br />
entertainers is championing the<br />
campaign to save the ailing reggae<br />
star.<br />
At a recent press parley, which was<br />
graced by top Ajegunle musicians<br />
including Baba Fryo and<br />
Chinagorom Onuoha better known<br />
as Africa China, Oboh said Yellow<br />
Banton needs the support of wellmeaning<br />
Nigerians to stay alive.<br />
“We have done series of tests for<br />
Yellow Banton and we would still do<br />
more. We might lose him if nothing<br />
is done urgently. But we don’t want<br />
that to happen. So, we are pleading<br />
Nigerians to come to his rescue. A lot<br />
of entertainers are dying today<br />
because nobody is taking care of<br />
them.<br />
This begging must stop. Many<br />
entertainers are in terrible health<br />
conditions and we just have to end<br />
this scourge. We are also<br />
encouraging them to save for a rainy<br />
day and stay off drugs and other<br />
ugly activities that would drain their<br />
pockets,” he expalined.<br />
According to her, the reggae star<br />
needs about N6 million to undergo<br />
surgery as soon as possible before<br />
the cancer spreads to all parts of his<br />
body.