Nollywood actor IK Ogbonna has penned a heartfelt 27-page tribute to his late best friend and colleague, Alexx Ekubo, opening up about the pain of loss and the memories they shared during their years-long friendship.

In an emotional Instagram video, Ogbonna reflected on the devastating reality of losing someone so close, describing how the experience has changed his perspective on life, death and faith.

Sharing his thoughts on grief, he wrote: “I’ve come to realise these past few months…

Every day we see an ambulance drive past us. Sometimes it’s moving fast, sometimes slowly. We look up for a second, whisper, ‘God have mercy,’ or ‘Rest in peace,’ then continue with our day. Because somehow, we always believe the person inside belongs to somebody else.”

Ogbonna said people often fail to grasp the true weight of death until it strikes close to home.

He added that one never truly understands the weight of death “until it’s their own person inside an ambulance or until the phone stops ringing forever or until the conversations you thought you had time to finish suddenly become memories.”

The actor revealed that the loss of Ekubo had led him to spend the past two months reflecting deeply on life and seeking answers to difficult questions.

“For the past two months, I’ve been trying to understand life. Trying to understand loss. Trying to understand God. Losing Alexx forced me to ask myself questions I’d never really asked before,” he wrote.

Ogbonna also looked back on the dreams and plans he shared with his late friend, noting that they often spoke about the future and the lives they hoped to build.

“Alexx and I spoke about everything.

We laughed about growing old. We dreamed about businesses—movies we wanted to create.

Places we wanted to travel. The lives we imagined for our children. Success. Legacy, Family. We truly believed we had time.

Neither of us imagined one of us would leave first. Life had another plan.