Don’t praise me when I’m no more, but praise me now that I’m still alive.” This is what veteran actor Enebeli Enebuwa seemed to be telling the government, even as he lambasted the powers-that-be, following its inability to accord respect and recognition to his colleague and veteran actor, Sam Loco Efe, while he lived.

•Enebeli

Laying this complain recently to his younger colleagues at a hangout in Surulere, Lagos, the veteran actor expressed worries that government at all levels are busy recognising people with lesser track-records while deliberately ignoring to acknowledge the meaningful contributions made by notable Nollywood stars.

“Can you imagine the government is busy recognising riff-raffs? Will they honour me when I’m no more like my colleague and friend, Sam Loco? It’s unfair. We deserve to be honoured during our lifetime. Until his death, government did not deem it fit to honour Sam Loco. What a shame!” he said.

Lamenting further, the movie legend said despite the contribution he has made towards the development of the nation’s entertainment industry, the government has not refused to honour people like himself.

Enebeli popularly known as Andrew who wanted to check out of Nigeria in an advert film took the country by storm about 27 years ago(1984), when he acted the role of a man fed up with problems of the country and was leaving.