Dr. Victoria Okojie: I Thought We Would Meet Again
Death is a leveller of all humans. It is a necessary end that will come to every one of us, but when it will come, nobody knows.
That is why the news of the passing of Dr. Victoria Okojie came to me as a rude and painful shock. For days, I could not even bring myself to do this reflection. I kept asking: What happened? Was she sick? How could this be? And then the memories began to return.
Dr. Okojie was much more than a respected leader in the library and information profession. For many of us who entered the profession as young librarians, she was a mentor, an encourager and, in many ways, a mother. She had a special interest in young professionals. She did not only talk about the future of librarianship; she invested in the people who would become that future.
I am personally one of the beneficiaries of that investment.
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One experience I particularly remember was being part of the Nigerian Information Professionals Innovation Ambassadors Network (NIPIAN) in 2018. Dr. Okojie was part of the team behind this initiative, working with partners including the Goethe-Institut and the U.S. Mission in Nigeria to develop and encourage information professionals. That experience exposed me to new thinking around innovation, leadership and community-focused information services. Looking back today, I can see that it became part of the professional journey that has continued to shape me.
That was Dr. Okojie. She built people.
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Over the years, our paths crossed many times—at Nigerian Library Association conferences and professional programmes across Nigerian states and internationally in places such as Accra, Ghana; Yaounde, Cameroon; Nairobi, Kenya; Las Vegas, United States; and The Hague and Rotterdam, Netherlands. Wherever we met, she remained interested in what younger professionals were doing and how the profession could move forward.
Her own contribution was enormous. From the University of Ibadan and the British Council to becoming the pioneer Registrar of the Librarians’ Registration Council of Nigeria, President of the Nigerian Library Association, and serving in leadership roles within IFLA, AfLIA, UNESCO and other international platforms, she helped give Nigerian and African librarianship a respected global voice. Yet, for me, her greatest legacy was not simply the offices she occupied. It was the people she raised, encouraged and gave opportunities to.
I remember meeting her again during the IFLA World Library and Information Congress in Rotterdam in 2023. A few months later, in November 2023, we met again in The Hague when she came for an IFLA-related board meeting. We had a good conversation about librarianship, developments in Nigeria and Africa, and the future of the profession.
I left that meeting believing there would be another one.
Another conference. Another conversation. Another opportunity to meet somewhere in Nigeria, Africa or elsewhere in the world.
I never knew that The Hague would be our last physical meeting.
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That is perhaps the most painful part of death. Sometimes we say goodbye without knowing that we are saying goodbye. We walk away believing there will always be another opportunity.
Dr. Okojie has left a very big space in our profession. But perhaps her legacy challenges those of us who benefited from her mentorship to do for others what she did for us—to encourage younger professionals, create opportunities, uphold the values of the profession and ensure that Nigerian and African librarianship continues to have a strong voice globally.
I will always be grateful that my professional journey crossed hers. From NIPIAN to our many encounters at professional gatherings and our conversations across different parts of the world, her influence formed part of my own growth and professional development.
Dr. Okojie, I thought we would meet again.
Thank you for building people. Thank you for believing in young professionals. Thank you for creating opportunities. Thank you for strengthening our profession. And thank you for the impact you made on my own life and career.
Your titles and positions may now belong to history, but your real legacy lives in the many people you encouraged, mentored and helped to become.
Rest well, Dr. Victoria Okojie.
May God grant you eternal rest and give your family, friends, colleagues, mentees and the entire library and information science community the fortitude to bear this painful loss.
You built people, and through those people, your work will continue.
