For Chioma Akpotha, the pain of losing a parent is not entirely new.
Thirteen years ago, the Nollywood actress said goodbye to her mother.
Now, she is facing another painful reality — the loss of her father, Leonard Ndukaife Chukwuka.
Akpotha announced her father’s death on Friday, October 2, 2026, sharing the heartbreaking news with her followers on Instagram alongside photographs of the man she described as a source of comfort and an important part of her life.
The announcement was deeply personal.
Rather than simply revealing a death, the actress opened a window into what it means to lose the last remaining parent — the person whose presence quietly makes home feel like home.
‘Now that my father is gone’
In her tribute, Akpotha revealed that her father’s death has left her without either of her parents.
She recalled losing her mother 13 years ago and admitted that the reality of having neither parent alive is a pain she finds difficult to put into words.
The actress described her late father affectionately as “my daddy, papa’m, obara’m” and “my comfort”, reflecting the place he occupied in her life.
For Akpotha, his death is not just the loss of a father.
It is the closing of a chapter that had remained open after her mother’s passing.
She wrote: “I have been trying to find the words to say this.. My beloved father, Leonard Ndukaife Chukwuka, has gone to be with the Lord. I lost my mother 13 years ago and now that my father is gone, the thought that I have neither parent here anymore breaks my heart in a way I cannot fully explain.”
She then asked a question that captured the vulnerability of her grief: “So na only me bayi?”
A father, a comfort and a family pillar
Behind the public image of the actress is a daughter mourning a man whose importance to her extended far beyond the title of “father”.
Akpotha said she was grateful that he lived to an advanced age and was able to see his children and grandchildren.
There was, however, one wish that remained unfulfilled.
The family had hoped he would live long enough to meet his great-grandchildren.
That hope, she acknowledged with sadness, would no longer come to pass.
Yet, even in mourning, Akpotha chose to remember what her father was able to experience rather than only what his death had taken away.
She expressed gratitude for the years they shared and for the memories created during the later stages of his life.
‘We still want one more conversation’
Perhaps the most relatable part of Akpotha’s tribute was her reflection on the nature of losing a parent.
She acknowledged that no amount of time with a mother or father ever feels sufficient.
Even after years together, there is always the feeling that there should have been one more conversation, one more embrace or simply one more day.
She wrote: “No matter how many years we are given with a parent, we still want one more conversation, one more embrace, one more day.”
Those words capture a familiar truth about grief — that even when someone has lived a long life, the heart rarely feels prepared for the moment when that life ends.
Holding grief close
Akpotha also revealed that she had kept the news private while trying to process what had happened.
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Rather than immediately sharing her pain publicly, she said she needed time to understand her own grief.
Now that she has chosen to speak, the actress has asked for prayers for herself, her siblings and the wider Chukwuka family.
She also said details of her father’s funeral would be announced when the family is ready.
Ending her tribute, Akpotha called her father the “Olowo of Ikate” and offered a final farewell to the man she said she would always love.
“Rest well, Olowo of Ikate, my father. I will always love you,” she wrote.
For the actress, the days ahead will undoubtedly be different.
The cameras may continue to roll and Nollywood may remain as busy as ever, but away from the spotlight, Chioma Akpotha is confronting one of life’s most difficult goodbyes — learning to navigate a world in which the two people who gave her the comfort of being someone’s daughter are no longer here.