Top newspaper report-More tributes as Esiri begins final journey.

More Nigerians paid glowing tributes to the late Nollywood actor, Justus Esiri, as his homeward journey kicked off with a service of songs and a burial mass on Tuesday and Wednesday in Lagos.

Esiri passed on at the age of 71 in his hometown, Abraka in Delta State on Monday, February 18, 2013. He was said to have died after a brief battle with an illness suspected to be diabetes.

At the service of songs, which took place at the Catholic Church of the Ascension on Murtala Muhammed International Airport Road, many of the late actor’s colleagues in the entertainment industry were absent. Only two actors, Patrick Doyle and Norbert Young, as well as the boss of Mavin Records, Don Jazzy, and artistes signed on to the label, were in attendance.

The burial mass, held in the same church on Wednesday morning, was fairly attended with the likes of Senator Florence Ita-Giwa, the Deputy Governor of Delta State, Amos Utuma, and the President of the Actors Guild of Nigeria, Ibinabo Fiberisima, joining other Nigerians and members of the Esiri family to pay their last respect to the deceased.

Ita-Giwa described

the late actor as an “exceptional and gracious gentleman”. The senator, who was a former Special Adviser on the National Assembly to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, told the gathering that her late mother and her self were great fans of Esiri.

She said her mother had so much admiration for the deceased that she expressed the desire to meet him in the flesh.

“Esiri granted her wish when on a visit to Calabar, he made out time to see my mother,” she said.

Utuama acknowledged the late actor’s contributions to the growth of the entertainment industry in Nigeria and described him as an ‘Iroko.

He said, “He was a man that so passionately contributed to the development of the country through the entertainment industry. May his soul rest in perfect peace.”

Also, Fiberisima said that while he lived, Esiri played a key role in the positive transformation of the AGN and was a source of inspiration to younger actors and actresses, as well as the guild.

“He was not just humble and kind-hearted, he was supportive to up-and-coming actors. To us, he departed too early. But in the eyes of God, he was due to come and rest,” the AGN president said.

In his homily, Rev. Michael Eteghene urged members of the congregation to engage themselves in meaningful pursuits rather than negative things.