Ifeoma Ononye 
Last week started with the sad news of passing away of Veteran journalist and author, Dr. Ngozi Fidelia Anyaegbunam. Since her unfortunate demise at 67, tributes have been pouring in to condole with the family she left behind. That included a tribute from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who joined the Nigerian media industry in mourning the late Amazon, who was described as a dedicated and hardworking professional. The President, according to a release issued on Monday by his Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, paid tribute to Dr Anyaegbunam’s tireless contributions to the media profession in Nigeria, celebrating her journalistic excellence and award-winning works, which helped shape the standards of the profession.
President Tinubu extended his heartfelt condolences to Dr Anyaegbunam’s family and friends, including former colleagues at the Champion newspaper, Daily Times and in the media generally, as well as at UNICAL. He prayed God Almighty to grant the soul of the departed eternal rest and comfort those she left behind. According to a statement by the deceased’s family signed by her son, Rocky C. Agbese, Anyaegbunam died at age 67, after a brief illness. Her son described her as a trailblazing journalist who had editorial stints with Champion Newspaper at its pioneer female editor and later with the Daily Times, where she authored the book titled, ‘Waziri Ibrahim: Politics Without Bitterness’. “Subsequent to these, she became a full-time media management consultant to numerous blue chip companies,” the statement said. She held the distinction of being a female print media journalist to interview two sitting Nigerian Presidents – Chief Olusegun Obasanjo and Muhammadu Buhari. Beyond her journalism career, Dr Anyaegbunam was a lecturer at the University of Calabar (UNICAL) and rose to head the Department of General Studies in the institution. She was also the author of the popular book- “Waziri Ibrahim- Politics without bitterness”. She served as a consultant to several institutions, including the National Population Commission, National Electric Power Authority and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The statement signed by her son, Agbese further described her as a dedicated and loving mother, grandmother, sister, cousin and friend, noting that, “Auntie Ngozi will be sorely missed by all who came across her and were impacted by her larger than life presence.
