This shouldn’t have happened – Saint Obi’s widow breaks silence

Linda Nwafor, wife of the late actor Obinna Nwafor, best known as Saint Obi, has broken her silence on her husband’s untimely demise.

Saint Obi passed on 8 May in Plateau State at 57 after battling a protracted ailment. He was buried on 18 August in his hometown, Umuezealaeze, Alaenyi Ogwa, in Mbaitoli Local Government Area, Imo State.

Mrs Nwafor, a chief enterprise business officer at MTN Nigeria Communications Plc, married the movie star in December 2006. Until his death, the couple were involved in a messy divorce controversy which hit the internet in February 2022.

Yes! Magazine captured her on video at the funeral. There, she said it was difficult to accept that her children would no longer have a father.

Narrating their love story, Mrs Nwafor said, “I believe our meeting was divinely orchestrated. You were highly domesticated; you could cook, bake and clean. I miss you. I still don’t know how to feel.

“You told our mutual friends immediately after you set your eyes on me that the only reason I wasn’t married was because I was waiting for you. You called me your wife even before you spoke to me. It was everything spiritual and a part of God’s plan. You told me that you knew that I would be your wife that very first day we met at the airport on my way to see my parents; it was October 2006.”

She also spoke about his death and the effect on their young family.

“This should not have happened. It is tough to accept that you are gone, that my children will no longer have a father, and that I will not hold your hulky frame again. My children and I pray for you daily. Your death has left us despondent. Losing you to the cold hands of death is my deepest sorrow. Nothing can heal the pain inside. I love you and always have.

Shortly after Saint Obi’s death, a close associate of the late actor, Zik Zulu Okafor, set the internet agog with a lengthy post about the late actor’s marital life and how it may have led to his demise. 

However, the family, in a statement signed by two of his sisters, Ugoeze Edith Chinyere Obichuku and Freda Nwachukwu, debunked Mr Okafor’s allegation, describing them as “false” and “malicious”.

Saint Obi, the family man

The late movie star was a father- of- three, with two sons and a daughter, Chideta, Obinna, and Nnemdi.

At his funeral, his first son, Chidera, noted that his dad’s death forced him to become a man.

 He described his late dad as an ‘amazing actor who brought smiles to the faces of people’ and thanked him for impacting his life.

“Thank you for teaching me the way of life. I know you are watching over me. I have been forced to grow up into leadership. I will lead, Dad. I will protect my mum and siblings, especially from the preying press, as you did while you were here. I will always love you till we meet again,” he said.

More tributes

It was revealed that Saint Obi spent his last days with his sister, Nancy Jawfu, in Jos, Plateau State, where he later died.

The actor was the only son of his parents and had six sisters.

His immediate older sister, Hope Nwafor-Okpala, opened up on his last days and reminisced on their childhood.

She described the movie star as her twin brother, despite their age difference, saying they were fond of each other and even started school on the same day since they were inseparable.

“During the last years of his life, Obinna and I were in constant communication, reminiscing over old friends, our family and our childhood. Even while I drove to work in the morning, we would speak on the phone, and in the evening, we would even have group calls with some of our sisters.

“I will always remember the last prayer we prayed to one another. Just as I will always remember and cherish the last text you sent to me, just the night before you passed, we even called each other by our childhood nicknames. I called you ‘Obikisa’, and you called me ‘Abunti’.”

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