According to Yemisi Ilo, CEO Ileke Media & Battabox, she too has MS
and she's currently in Singapore – where by God's grace she will finally
halt the progression and hopefully and prayerfully reverse some if not
all disability. She spoke to Zara on Tuesday. Yemisi....
Zara said she was being given ‘Agbo’ to drink by her family and that it
was killing her. Those were her exact words. I told her to NOT drink it.
With an already compromised immune system – Agbo is bullshit. It is
poison. MS is not malaria. I gave Zara clear details of exactly
what she needed to do to try to get well. It isn’t
easy AT ALL – I should know but unfortunately for her, she was
surrounded by very ignorant people at the end who felt that they knew
best.
I first heard of Zara when I read about her on Linda Ikeji‘s blog a year
ago. I got in touch with her immediately and started a Skype
friendship. I was in London and she was in the States (US). We spoke
regularly. When I went back to Lagos, we would WhatsApp and I would call
her. When she came to Nigeria in October last year, I went to see her
and she was surprised that she could move better than me!
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| Yemisi Ilo's 4 kids |
I organized the Battabox interview (which we did at my parents house).
She said she didn’t want to live with her mum in the States – yet she
had no one to look after her there apart from her mum. She needed
someone. She even wanted to come and stay with me, but I am married with
small children and my own MS issues were already enough for one house.
I am so pissed off, so angry, so fucking sad, teary and frustrated. If I
had been in Nigeria, I would have gone to pick her up on Tuesday when I
spoke to her. She was so desperate to leave Ogba. She said she had a
return ticket to America and would try to leave ASAP. I gave her my
neurologist’s number so she could get some steroids to help her get over
the horrible relapse she was having. Also to get her to explain the
condition to Zara’s family so they would realize that this was not an
‘Agbo’ matter.
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| Yemisi Ilo |
I have had MS for nearly 10 years. My walking has deteriorated and I am
currently alternating between a walker and a wheelchair. Zara was
worried that she wouldn’t get married and have kids – I told her that I
had 4 kids and was happily married and continued to work and that there
was hope.
I have always been vocal about MS and even appeared on a ‘Moments with
Mo’ episode talking about it. There are many Nigerians with MS – I know a
few but they want to keep quiet. Their families are embarrassed. Why? I
don’t know? It can happen to anyone at any time. Granted, I am
extremely fortunate to have the strength of character and a loving and
supportive and enlightened family to deal with this HORRIBLE condition
that has led to this opportunity for me to undergo Hemapioetic Stem Cell
Transplant (HSCT) – Google it. It has taken donations from over 100
people to do this. It costs over $150k (N24,727,501). I told Zara that
since she was a US citizen, she could get on a trial at the University
of Chicago under Dr. Burt for free.
I just want people to know that MS didn’t kill Zara – ignorance did. As
well as our fatalistic attitude in Nigeria where everyone prays and no
one takes action. Thanks Bless Yemisi....
Here's the video of the interview Yemisi talked about. Sadly, before
they could release the video interview Zara Gretti passed away last week
Friday, aged 28.
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Anne-Marie Palmer-Ikuku (Mrs.)
For the Clarus Babajide Joseph Family
Zara was a great addition to the Nigerian music industry, she will be missed by all.
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