Igbo Family History & Genealogy Records

Patience Ozokwor, born 14 September 1958, is a Nigerian musician, fashion designer, gospel singer and actress. She won the Best Supporting Actress 2012 & 2013 award at the 10th Africa Movie Academy Awards. Ozokwor was among 100 Nigerians honoured by the government to celebrate the amalgamation of the northern and southern protectorates in 2014.

Early life

Ozokwor was born in the village of Amaobo, Ngwo in present-day Enugu State, Nigeria, and attended Abimbola Gibson Memorial School in Lagos. Ozokwor had a passion for acting since she was at primary school, where she would act in different stage plays.^[6] She later attended the Institute of management and technology Enugu, where she obtained a degree in fine and applied arts. Before starting as an actress, she was already a star before acting and first made it into radio drama. She took part in a soap opera by the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) titled Someone Cares.^[7] She was married at age 19^[8] and has three biological children and five adopted ones who all bear her name. She lost her husband in the year 2000.^[7] She expressed her life's biggest regret as not being able to marry the man of her choice, and also her children preventing her from remarrying after she lost her husband.^[9]

According to her, although she had many suitors at the time, her parents forced her to get married at that early age for reasons she still cannot tell, except that it may be because of the influence of a polygamous family like the one in which she was born into.

While the marriage was not easy for her, she remained in it.

It was in 2000 that her husband died. Before his death, her late husband had come to become her real companion. According to Patience, she keeps missing him even many years after his death.

The actress has three biological children and five adopted ones who all bear her name. Her son who is in the United States has a music label and has a knack for the entertainment industry.

She also has a daughter who also has something for the industry but neither has made any attempt to join Nollywood. Both her son and daughter are now married.

The supposedly most-wicked woman in Nollywood is saved.

In interviews, the star actress is always quick to point out God as the pillar of her success and how she couldn’t have achieved anything were it not for God. She currently attends Dominion City Church, founded by Pastor David Ogbueli.

Unlike Mama Gee in movies, Patience Ozokwor can actually sing.

And that’s not everything that her voice can do; apart from making her that “wicked” Nollywood star, it has made her a formidable gospel artist with real fun. In fact, as we speak, this Nollywood star is planning to release a second gospel album.

It even gets more interesting when she points out that she has a dance crew that she’s currently funding which is the celebrated Rhema Entertainment Ministry dance crew.

Ozokwor is a widow as her husband died from a terminal disease in 2000. By then, their last born child was already in the university.

Before acting, Mama Gee was a qualified teacher. She remained a teacher for more than three years before deciding to push for other things.

Interestingly in Afikpo Teachers Training College, Mama Gee had a literature teacher who taught her and a number of other students drama, and then made them present a single play each semester.

On most occasions, she was made to play Hamlet in Shakespeare’s play by the same title, Hamlet.

And since other schools used to pay to watch Hamlet, she became extremely popular among students during her college life.

Before getting into the film industry, she did a commercial with the late actor, Pete Eneh that moved Chief Zebrudaya and a number of other Nollywood directors, as well.

It was then that she was asked to get into film, but she refused because (one) she felt the film industry would give her superfluous exposure and (two) she was extremely shy.

After several attempts of failed persuasion, they eventually managed to pull her to Nollywood.

Patience Ozokwor first movie came in 1998/9.

By then, she was already a national star in Nigeria. A year later, she did her second movie called “Authority” that propelled her to the limelight and made her the African-movie-icon that we all know today.

The talented actress has played different roles in over 100 Nollywood movies. She has even acted the role of a mother to almost every known Nollywood star-like Ini Edo, Van Vicker, Ramsey Nouah, Rita Dominic, Kanayo O Kanayo, Oge Okoye and the rest–except for Pete Edochie and Olu Jacobs, who she jokingly said refused to let her be their mother in a movie.

Mama Gee has three biological children and adopted children. As reported by her children, she is a very caring and proud mother. She has a son who played for Enugu Rangers before moving to Turkey to play football. The son, Nduka Ozokwor, now plays for MKE Ankaragücü.

Mama Gee was at some point a renowned radio presenter. But at the moment, apart from being the great actor we all know, she is also a well-acclaimed fashion designer. So we can at least say that the time she spent at IMT Enugu wasn’t completely a waste of time.

References

1. ^ "Patience Ozorkwor Biography". informafrica.com. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
2. ^ "When Patience Ozokwor stormed London for son's wedding". vanguardngr.com. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
3. ^ "'I Miss My Husband's Love And Companion' Patience Ozokwor". pulse.ng. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
4. ^ "Patience Ozokwor reveals her real age & why she adopted 5 children". diamondcelebrities.com. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
5. ^ "Jonathan decorates Obasanjo, Buhari, IBB, others with centenary awards". vanguardngr.com. Retrieved 7 October 2014.
6. ^ [1]
7. ^ Jump up to:^a b "Patience Ozokwor (Mama Gee) – Biography, Late Husband, Children, Facts". BuzzNigeria - Famous People, Celebrity Bios, Updates and Trendy News. 26 May 2014. Retrieved 23 May 2018.
8. ^ "Biography". Kevin Onuma for Inform Africa. 8 May 2012.
9. ^ Denis (24 March 2019). "Patience Ozokwor opens up on what she regrets most in life". Denisonyeka. Retrieved 24 March 2019.