'I just want to be healed' — Nollywood actress reveals cervical cancer battle, begs colleagues for forgiveness

• Veteran actress Omotunde Ogundimu says she has been battling cervical cancer since 2024.

• She appealed for financial help, saying her children have exhausted their savings on her treatment.

• The actress also asked Nollywood colleagues to forgive her for any past offences and appealed for support.

Veteran Nollywood actress Omotunde Ogundimu has broken her silence over a painful battle with cervical cancer, revealing that she has been fighting the disease largely alone after colleagues in the industry turned their backs on her.

Omotunde, who has spent 35 years in Nollywood, made the emotional disclosure during an interview on the Talk to B podcast with fellow actress Biola Adebayo, where she appealed to Nigerians for financial support to continue her treatment.

She said she was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2024 following a series of medical tests, and has been managing the condition with help from her children, who she said have since exhausted their own finances caring for her.

"I'm going through severe pain. I was diagnosed with cervical cancer. I don't know where I got it from. I don't look for people's trouble; I'm an easy-going person," she said.

"My children have also spent all they have. They can no longer care for themselves, but I thank God for blessing me with them."

The actress said she had resisted making her situation public for as long as possible but felt she had no other option left.

"I had refused to seek help from the public, but as it is now, I don't have any option other than to do it. I know people will bully me and some will help me. I just have to cry out for help so that I can survive this deadly disease," she said.

Beyond the financial appeal, Omotunde Ogundimu also addressed what she described as years of being sidelined in Nollywood, saying she had called colleagues to beg for movie roles but received no response.

She used the interview to seek forgiveness from anyone she may have offended in the industry, saying she had not always been treated fairly despite her decades of service to the profession.

"If I offended anyone in the industry, please forgive me. I use God to beg you. I have been doing this job for 35 years," she said.

A widow since 2012, she said she has been raising her three children alone since the death of her husband, adding that the financial burden of her illness has made an already difficult situation significantly worse.

Her disclosure comes days after fellow Nollywood actress Cynthia Anijekwu made a similar appeal, revealing that her own cancer battle had worsened after the disease spread to her bones, with monthly treatment costs running as high as ₦600,000.

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