Celebrated U. S. based lawyer, astronaut Owolabi Salis, has narrated an account of his last-minute effort to save the life of Kehinde Olusegun Akinremi, renowned Nollywood Actor whose demise was announced only a few days ago.

Narrating his last moment encounter with the departed theater celebrity affectionately referenced as “Chief Karan” his popular stage name,  the Nigeria-born epoch-making astronaut recalled that on July 11, 2025, the renowned Nollywood star sent a voice note, notifying him that he wanted to celebrate both his 70th birthday anniversary and 55 years on stage.

On July 27, he sent two voice notes that he was severely plagued by appendicitis, which had subjected him to intensely unbearable pains, and would therefore need to under-go an urgent medical operation, that would cost a sum of N700,000 and that he needed N350,000 to balance the hospital bill.

“On the same July 27, I immediately dispatched a sum of N350,000 to him as requested,” said the Lawyer-Astronaut popularly referenced as “Oba Mekunu” “King of the Poor”, because of his humanitarian propensity for care of the needy.

“On July 28, he sent a voice note of appreciation thanking me for my timely kind assistance. On August 1, he sent another voice note of appreciation” said the epoch-making polar explorer who also scored a spectacular distinction as the first Black, both in Africa and the diaspora, to have travelled to the South and North Pole within a season.

However in a dramatic turn of events, the popularly acclaimed explorer and humanitarian icon revealed “that the announcement of the sudden death of the celebrated theater impressario barely three days later, got me completely swept off feet in inexpressible shock from which I am yet to recover.”

Expressing a deep pathos of lament, he revealed that “on learning about the sad news of his death, I had promptly despatched a sum of money, on August 18, as my token assistance for his burial.

He called on Nollywood and government including well meaning Nigerians, Corporate bodies and notable institutions across the nation to make fervent effort to immortalise the theater legend

He described his exit not only as the passing of an era, but also “shocking, lamentable and devastating.”

“To worsen the pain was the fact that this man died at the threshold of his 70th birthday, a very significant milestone of existence that everyone had often looked forward to.”

He remarked that his death was “one tragedy too many, a very sad loss and indeed, the last thing I had ever expected to hear.”

“To be sure, Chief Kanran was an iconic prodigy who bestrode the thespian firmament like a colossus. He was simply unique in his own sphere, and unsurpassed, throughout his eventful sojourn on the Thespian space.

“His glorious passing rings with irresistible nostalgic passion, in his exploit that took after the tradition of departed grandmasters in the mould of Hubert Ogunde, Duro Ladipo, Kola Ogunmola, Oyin Adejobi, among others who had carved an indelible footprint on the sand of time, on account of their legendary thespian exploits which remains always evergreen in memory,” Salis stated further.