After 19 years in Canada, Nike Okafor was nearly ripped from her Canadian husband and family after a surprise deportation order threatened to upend her life entirely.
Now her nightmare is over.
Six months after CBC Toronto first reported on the story of the personal support worker facing a sudden and forced return to Nigeria — the country she fled nearly two decades ago — Okafor says she can finally breathe after being granted permanent resident status this week.
“I thank God for where I am today,” she said. “This is where I’ve been longing to be.”
Her Nigerian-born son, Sydney, 21, who also faced deportation, can now envision a life not teetering on the edge of collapse.
“I’m just so happy my mother and I can stay in Canada with no worries after waiting so long,” he told CBC Toronto. “It’s been a long struggle.”
With his permanent resident status, Sydney says he can qualify for student loans, afford to continue schooling and finally do simple things like travel with his friends without fear it might impact his status.
As their deportation date approached, Okafor’s Nigerian-born son Sydney, now 21, tried to make sense of what it would mean to leave behind the only country he’s called home. Now he’s breathing a sigh of relief. (Paul Borkwood/CBC)
Okafor, 39, has had to fight for her survival before. She arrived in Canada as an asylum seeker alone in 2003 with her son in tow and pregnant with another child.
Being Muslim, she’d had a son with a Christian man and feared if she stayed, he would be taken from her — or worse.
In the years that followed, Okafor put herself through school, found employment as a personal support worker, had two Canadian-born children, met the man she would marry and built a future she never thought possible.
‘Don’t split us,’ Canadian husband pleaded
It was a future that nearly came crashing down. After her refugee claim was denied, Okafor appealed and was told to stay in close touch with the Canadian Border Services Agency.
She did, and in the meantime, life went on.
Then, this past April, Okafor and her son, who were now in Canada without status, received a sudden deportation order from the CBSA. That’s despite her husband filing a spousal sponsorship application to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada more than two years ago.
Had the deportation gone ahead, her two Canadian-born children would have had to say goodbye to their mother and her husband would have been separated from his wife of five years.
“My whole life is here,” Okafor told CBC Toronto in an emotional interview in July.
‘Please let me stay here,’ says mother facing deportation after 19 years in Canada
After nearly two decades in Canada, Nike Okafor is facing deportation to Nigeria despite having a Canadian husband and two Canadian children, amid delays in processing her spousal sponsorship application. The mother of three speaks to CBC Toronto about her wish to stay in the country.
“We’re a family,” her husband, Rotimi Odunaiya said. “Don’t split us,” he urged the government.
Though spousal sponsorship wait times are now 10 to 12 months, Okafor and her family had been waiting 28 months when they decided to speak out, saying they would have long been permanent residents if not for the delays.
Advocates told CBC Toronto it was confounding that someone could be slapped with a deportation order while such an application was under review.
The CBSA said at the time that having a Canadian-born child does not prevent someone from being deported, but the agency “always considers the best interest of the child before removing someone.”
‘People get sick in this process, lose hope’
Within hours of CBC Toronto’s reporting, the family’s lawyer received a letter from the CBSA granting their request to defer the deportation, while he continued their fight to stay.
Then, this past Monday came the news they had been praying for: a letter from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada stating their applications for permanent resident status had been approved.
“My hope was revived,” Okafor said, recalling the darkness she felt when she thought she would have to leave the country she calls home.
Vakkas Bilsin, Okafor’s lawyer, told CBC Toronto his client only heard from the IRCC about her sponsorship application after her story made the news.
“They had not taken our requests for expedited process seriously by the time you covered Nike’s story.”
As for Okafor, if there’s one thing she would ask the government for now, it’s compassion for those whose immigration applications are ongoing.
“People get sick in this process, lose hope,” she said. “They should be given a chance to make sure the process is done.”
MONTREAL – Quebec’s ombudsperson is warning that public services are becoming “dehumanized” in the province amid a rise in demand for them.
Marc-André Dowd released his annual report today, which highlights several examples of people receiving inadequate care across the health network in the 12 months leading to March 31.
One dying man who lived alone was denied help cleaning his cat’s litter box by his local health clinic, a service Dowd says should have been given for “humanitarian reasons.”
Dowd also describes staff at a long-term care home feeding residents “mechanically” and talking among each other — despite health ministry guidelines directing staff to maintain eye contact with residents.
The ombudsperson says his office received a record number of problems to investigate across the province’s public services — 24,867 compared with 22,053 last year.
He says his office investigated 13,358 cases between April 2023 and March of this year.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
OTTAWA – French President Emmanuel Macron will visit Canada next week after a planned trip in July was cancelled amid political turmoil in France.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced in a statement today that Macron will be in Canada Wednesday and Thursday after the leaders attend the United Nations General Assembly in New York City.
Trudeau will welcome Macron in Ottawa on Wednesday, where they are expected to discuss collaboration on geopolitical issues including their ongoing support for Ukraine.
They are also expected to discuss ways to strengthen the response to emerging threats, such as disinformation.
In Montreal, Trudeau intends to show off the city’s artificial intelligence sector, while both countries reaffirm their commitment to work with counterparts on responsible use of AI.
The leaders will also discuss promoting the French language ahead of the Francophonie summit being held in France next month.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
Health Canada has authorized Novavax’s updated COVID-19 vaccine that protects against currently circulating variants of the virus.
The protein-based vaccine, called Nuvaxovid, has been reformulated to target the JN.1 subvariant of Omicron.
It will replace the previous version of the vaccine, which targeted the XBB.1.5 subvariant of Omicron.
Health Canada recently asked provinces and territories to get rid of their older COVID-19 vaccines to ensure the most current vaccine will be used during this fall’s respiratory virus season.
Earlier this week, Health Canada approved Moderna’s updated mRNA COVID vaccine.
It is still reviewing Pfizer’s updated mRNA vaccine, with a decision expected soon.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version erroneously described the Novavax vaccine as an mRNA shot.
