Outside the modest house of the late actor sits his picture atop a table. On the table is a condolence register, which although was opened only a few days ago, is almost full with tributes and other kind words.

On Thursday morning when our correspondent visited the house, his grieving widow, Grace, sat forlorn in the living room while her daughters occasionally popped in to check on her. Surprisingly, she soon exhibited admirable strength in spite of her grief and so it was not a herculean task getting her to speak. Relieving the last moment of the man with whom she was married for 25 years, she says in an emotion-laden voice, “We were always ‘gisting’ and talking before he went into a coma. I used to make fun of him, saying, ‘See how you look like the old man you portrayed in ‘’Wasted Years’ in which you starred alongside Justus Esiri’ He too responded, ‘Look at where your mind is going. It’s travelling too far.’ He said I should not bother my mind too much,. I should just shave for him.”

Mrs. Nwosu also reveals that her husband was responding to treatment initially. However, she began to have fears when, a day before he went into coma, he launched into a puzzling conversation.

“Can you see that gate?” the late actor asked his wife.

“What gate?” the confused woman asked and, according to her, he asked him to stop talking in that manner.

She further narrates to our correspondent, “He then said I should take his bed close to the window where he could hear what ‘they’ were telling him, that they were calling him but he couldn’t hear them well because I was interrupting. When the pastor came in the evening to pray for him, he also asked him if he could see “his mansions” which had been prepared for him. All this while, I did not know that he was already gone. After that he stopped talking and just kept looking at us. Unfortunately, before the pastor came in the following day he died. I was even trying to shave for him when he passed away in my arms.”

Nwosu’s accountant and legal practitioner daughters, Ucheoma and Nneoma, had nice things to say about him. Nneoma, who was by her late father’s bedside when he died says, “He had been battling with a liver problem which had been on and off. The illness had been on for some time but the family had been managing it before it escalated two weeks before his death. He did have a lot of wishes, for his children, he had four daughters and he had not seen his grandchildren. He had a lot of projects left unexecuted and a lot to offer to the movie industry before he passed away. We miss him dearly”

The Umugu, Abia State-born actor, who studied Insurance at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, tossed his certificate aside to pursue a career in acting.

Although he initially worked in an insurance firm, he also did a bit of modelling before he ventured into soap operas and subsequently home video. Although Nwosu did not entirely break into the league of A-list Nollywood actors, he had dedicated fans.

Solidly behind her husband’s career, his wife revealed that her late husband’s larger than life movie roles put so much pressure on her in real life and also rubbed off on her. Describing herself as a very private person she said, “I don’t show off but I have to project a good image of my husband. Everybody expects so much from me because of the roles he plays. So I try not to look rugged but presentable at all times.”

Ashley Nwosu, died at 58, leaving behind unrealised plans to launch a career in gospel music and an NGO in his home town. Incidentally, he died April 21, the same day the most recent movie he stirred in was being premiered. His own movie, ‘Shield of Faith’, was also premiered on December 12, 2010 and, sad enough, he did not live long enough to reap the fruit of his labour.

She debunked rumours that her late husband was owed a lot of money by producers and that she had to seek financial assistance to pay his hospital bills, saying “We did all we could and the doctors tried their best considering whom he was as a celebrity. Even if there was no money they were ready to go all out. It was a military hospital. They were ready to go all out to do their best so it was not money.

“Everything they wanted we paid and he never told me anyone owed him or I should go after them. So, the story that he was being owed is a complete fallacy.”

With his burial tentatively fixed for early June, many, including his newspaper vendor of two years, Festus Igwe, is yet to come to terms with the reality of his passage.

Igwe says, “I miss oga o. I no fit believe that im don die. Im bin dey buy paper well well for my hand and im dey very jovial now im don die. ,I dey very sad.”

Even in death, his wife and children say they will miss his sense of humour and orderliness. Although he also did not belong to any clique in Nollywood, his wife says she is surprised at the support Nollywood has shown to him and the family.

“He didn’t have any real friend or group around him when he was alive so the children and I were surprised at how “Nollywood” rallied around us and came around in full force. They were calling, wanting to find out how they could help. Stella Damasus, for example, called me to ask how she could assist. They all wanted to assist and we were very surprised because when he was alive we never saw him around them. His home was his home and after acting he came home to be with his family


http://news2.onlinenigeria.com/latest-addition/93108-ashley-nwosus-last-words-to-his-wife.html

Incidentally, he died April 21, the same day the most recent movie he stirred in was being premiered. His own movie, ‘Shield of Faith’, was also premiered on December 12, 2010

I was in Nigeria in december for this movie premiere. The last time I saw him. I still cannot believe he's dead.