By Odogwu Emeka Odogwu
The award-winning literary
figure and journalist announced this on his social media handle on Tuesday, and
had, in a recent interview with our correspondent, described his life as one
full of with testimonies, looking back to where and how he started from.
Recalling and recounting how
hideous it was for him in his early years, particularly in his teens; he
appreciated God for His marvelous work and infinite mercies.
Okafor went memory lane to
narrate how he had his primary school
education (at the Community Primary School, Ebenator) and some parts of his
secondary school (at the Community Secondary School, Ebenator) barefooted, and
with tattered school uniform, to the credit of his family's background.
According to him, being a son
of a palm-wine tapper, hunter and electrician in a rural village; he started
struggling his way out early in life, precisely during his secondary days when
he began to do some handiworks, such as cutting palm-nut, hunting, clearing
bushes for farmers, tilling the ground/farmland, packing/dumping sands at village
rivers, among menial jobs.
According to him, it was from
these he was doing after school hours and on non-school days, that he saved
money to publish his first book, ‘Ikem's Adventure’ (a novelette) back then in
2012 during his secondary school days. This, he said, was a single feat that
did not only pave way for metamorphosis in the taste of his life story, but
also eventually landed him on the track of greatness where he rides and resides
till date.
A second son and third child in the family of Mr. Josephat Okafor Udeze and Mrs. Susan Okafor Udeze in Ebenator, Nnewi South Local Government Area of Anambra State, Izunna Okafor, is a novelist, poet, essayist, journalist, editor, translator, publicist, Igbo language activist and an administrator.
He graduated from the Nnamdi
Azikiwe University Awka, where he studied Public Administration. He also holds
O.N.D in Public Administration from the same school. He also holds
Post-graduate Diploma in Mass Communication and is currently pursuing her
Master's Degree in Mass Communication at the Paul University.
A published and international best-selling author, his books include 'Ikem's Adventure' (his first book) published in Nigeria in 2012, during his secondary school; 'The Curse of A Widow' (his second novel), published in 2013; 'The Faithful Children' (his third book), published in 2014 (which received outstanding recognition in the Ezenwa Ohaeto Prize for Young Nigerian Novelists 2015); ‘Ajọ Enyi’, his debut Igbo novel and fourth book, published in 2015; ‘Step-by-step Guide to Creating, Publishing and Selling E-book and Paperback on Amazon: A Lecture Note’, among other books.
With 'Ajọ Enyi', he became the
first person to win the Nigerian Writers Award 2015/2016 as the Indigenous
Writer of the Year. Also, with Ajọ Enyi, he won the Pita Nwanna Award for Igbo
Literature in 2015; and also got shortlisted for The 2015 Young Nigerian Writer
of The Year, and the 2017 Nigerian Writers Award.
He has edited and co-edited
over 30 books and anthologies (published nationally and internationally).
He has been published in many anthologies, nationally and internationally; has thousands of articles/essays as well as poems and short stories published online and on many platforms, to his credit.
A diglot writer, Okafor writes
perfectly in Igbo and English languages, and has published widely in both
languages.
He has won and been
nominated/shortlisted for a number of awards, which include:
Nigerian Writers Award/Indigenous
Writer of the Year 2015/2016
Pita Nwana Prize for Igbos
Literature 2015
Society of Young Nigerian
Writers Award Nigeria
Heritage Icon Award/Young
Writer of the Year Federal Republic of Nigeria, 2016
Merit Award from the Society of
Young Nigerian Writers (2016)
Award of Recognition from
Students Union Government, Unizik (2017)
Nigerian Writers Award/Young
Writer of the Year 2015/2016
N.Y.S.C. Essay Competition 2012
SLAM Hero Youth International
Award/Innovative Youth of the Year 2016
First Prize Winner, NAPAS Essay
Competition, 2016
The Future Award Africa 2016
Anambra Exclusive Youth Choice
Award/Youth Writer of the Year 2016
Award of Academic Excellence
from National Association of Public Administration Students (2016)
Inspire Award /Outstanding
Youth in Academics 2017
NAPAS Academic Icon of the Year
2017
Anambra Campus Award 2017/Campus
Writer of the Year 2017
Award of Excellence from the
Society of Young Nigerian Writers 2016
Anambra Exclusive Youth Choice
Award/Outstanding Youth of the Year 2017
Youth Writer of the Year 2016
Starlett Entertainment Award/Creative
Writer of the Year 2016
Young Author Award, 2018
Creative Crew Africa/Young
Talent of the Year 2018, among others
Campus Best Writer of the Year,
2018
Campus Best Journalist of the
Year 2018
Young Achievers Award/Best
Young Writer of the Year 2019
National Light Staff of the
Year 2019
Anambra Media Excellence Award/News
Reporter of the Year 2019
Recognition Award, Anambra
Through A Lens, 2020
Amazon Masterclass Award/Most
Resilient Male Student 2021
Anambra Media Excellence
Award/Best News Reporter of the Year 2021
ACORA/Awka Diocese Media
Personality of the Week (November) 2021
South East Media Award 2021
Ebedi International Writers
Residency (June) 2022
AMEA 2022/Outstanding
Indigenous Language Media Content Creator of the Year
2nd Runner-up, NUJ/Prof.
Chinyere Stella Okunna Award for Ethical Journalism, 2023.
He also has some certificates
of award, recognition and participation, the most recent of which include:
Certificate of Recognition from
the ImpactField Global Initiative (2018)
Certificate of Award from the
Applex Art and Creative Crew Africa (2018)
Certificate of Participation
(War Against Fake News 2019
Certificate of Completion for
the SprinNG Advancement Fellowship, 2020
Certificate of Participation,
Naija Haiku Poetry Workshop, 2020, among others.
Wikimedian Certificate from
Igbo Wikimedian Hub 2020
Certificate of Appreciation
from International Human Rights Art Festival 2020
Amazon Masterclass Certificate,
2021,
Certificate of Honour from
Prolific Fiction Writers Community, 2023, among others
At the age of 21, Okafor was
nominated for The Future Award Africa 2016/African Prize For Education, which
is one of the biggest and most prestigious African youths awards.
Aside being a creative writer,
Okafor is also an Igbo language activist who has played and continued to play
great roles in sustaining and promoting Igbo language and culture. He preaches
and takes the 'gospel' of Igbo language and the need for its sustenance to
every nook and cranny, ranging from schools to churches, radio/television
stations, and to other public places, being part if his own contribution and
strategic measures to ensure that the language does not go extinct as predicted
by the UNESCO in 2012.
He has also been featured in
many radio and television stations across the country on this mission.
In addition to these, Okafor is
also a renowned journalist and columnist currently working with 247ureporter
and other platforms.
He also writes for Igbo Radio,
which is an online Igbo language news hub headquartered in Canada, and also
freelances for other media/publishing houses, both the online and print media.
Okafor is the Coordinator of
Society of Young Nigerian Writers, Anambra State Chapter, which is a literary
body that hosts Chinua Achebe Literary Festival, an annual literary event held
in memory and honour of Late Prof. Chinua Achebe, since 2016.
He is the Editor-in-Chief of
Chinua Achebe Poetry/Essay Anthology which is an international anthology
annually published in honour of Achebe. The most current editions of the
anthology include 'Arrows of Words (for Chinua Achebe)', 'Achebe: A Man of the People', ‘There Was a
Man’, ‘Achebe the Soul Brother’, ‘Anthills of Words (for Achebe)’ among others.
In April, 2020, Okafor was
appointed the Project Coordinator, Writers Against COVID-19 Movement. He is the
Editor of the COVID-19 Poetry/Essay Anthology, titled 'Ripostes of Locked Down
Voices', which is the first international anthology of poems and essays on
COVID-19.
He has served as a judge in
many national and international writing-related competitions.
He is also an alumnus and 2020
Fellow of the SprinNG Advancement Fellowship, being championed by the SprinNG
Literary Movement.
He edits and publishes an
annual Special Valentine Poetry Collection, which are all available online for
free download.
During his undergraduate days,
he was also an Editorial Board member of the FAMASSA Magazine.
He is Ambassador of TFA Africa
in Nigeria; and Ambassador of Read Across Nigeria in Anambra State.
An alumnus of Unizik, he is
also a former Secretary General of the National Association of Public
Administration Students (NAPAS), as well as the current National Secretary
General of the Society of Young Nigerian Writers.
Today, Izunna Okafor marks his
30th birthday.
Congratulations to him.
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