The Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of NIGERIAN NEWSLEADER Newspaper, Celestine Okafor, has lost his mother, Benedette Okafor.
Mrs. Okafor transited to eternity in Lagos on February 19, 2025, aged 75 years.
She hails from Ishi-Ozalla Autonomous Community in Nkanu West Local Government Area of Enugu East Senatorial district, Enugu State.
The deceased journalist’s mother, who died from age-related illness, was a civil servant, an educationist, and retired school headmistress in Enugu State.
She was the widow of Patrick Nwununta Okafor, who, in the Second Republic, before he passed on in January 1985, was a renowned educationist, school administrator, and foremost trade union activist.
Her husband was the leader of the Nigerian Union of Teachers between 1980 and 1985 in the old Anambra State, who led the famous and longest teachers industrial action over the poor condition of the NUT workforce, which brought the then government of Chief Jim Nwobodo to its knees.
Until her death, Mrs. Okafor, popularly known among her children, friends, associates, family, acquaintances, and community people as Mama G, was a devout Christian and Catholic mother; a leader-mistress in the Enugu State Girls Guide Association, and a beloved matriarch of the erudite and respected Patrick Nwununta Okafor’s family.
She was also known for promoting community causes in her hometown, Ishi-Ozalla.
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A mother and grandmother, Mrs. Okafor has five surviving children, including Celestine Okafor, a renowned senior journalist in Nigeria, a seasoned media editor and communication scholar and currently the Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of Nigerian NewsLeader Newspaper, a prominent online and print news organisation based in Maitama, Abuja.
According to a press statement by Okafor, her first son and head of the family, her burial plans are ongoing and would be announced later by her family.
Other children she left behind are: Mathew Sunday Okafor, a Senior Police Officer; Hycienth Uchenna Okafor, a bank officer; Patrick Obiora Okafor, a corporate executive manager; and Jennifer Njideka Okafor, a civil servant.
She also left behind several grandchildren.
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