Friends and associates have woken up on Friday to the news of the death of a Nigerian journalist who is more known and respected for her courage in handling her altruistic son, Ahmed, Mrs. Rafat Idris Salami.
Alhaja Salami reportedly died in the early hours of Friday, succumbing to an ailment that had seen her been on wheelchairs for some weeks.
The late Salami was a staff of the Voice of Nigeria and one of the leaders of the International Press Institute in Nigeria.
Even on her wheelchair, Salami attended the last event of the IPI which was graced by the Minister of Information, Mohammed Idris.
The journalist came more into the attention of Nigerians especially those on social media (facebook mostly) owing to her consistent and courageous way she had faced the challenges of her son, Ahmed.
Her facebook page became more popular with her relentless updating of the situations with her son, showing the high and the low moments with vivid accounts of challenges faced by children with such medical conditions.
With videos and photos, the late Mrs Salami, who appeared to be the single mother taking care of the son, her page became reference material for encouraging other mothers who have children with challenges.
NPO Reports could not confirm what happened in her last moments leading to her death on Friday morning.
But many have reacted online lamenting the departure of a devoted mother, wondering what becomes of her son.
Two years ago, Ahmed’s videos attracted the attention of the BBC which interviewed him over his many interests.
In the interview with BBC, Ahmed had spoken about his challenges while the mother narrated how she had navigated through thick and thin to bring him up to his present state.
A responder on Facebook Friday morning Adekunle Adeniyi, said, This is truly a sad and black Friday for us in the media. Rafat Idris Salami who always lights up a room ah I can’t believe is no more. I try not to shed tears when one hears the death of a colleague in this space but this one is really hitting hard and this one is hard not to let out, i am short of words Rafat Salami, i am really short of words right now