According to her daughter, Noo, Maria died on Sunday at the age of 72.

Announcing the demise of her mother in a Facebook post on Wednesday, a grieving Noo said “no words can express how much I love her and how grateful I am for all that she has done for our family. Her strength will always be my inspiration”. In the tribute to her mother, Noo recalled, “After my father’s death at the hands of the military regime, her presence anchored us and enabled us to continue life as normal. She became a trustee of Prisoners of Conscience, a human rights organisation, while holding down a job and helping my brother Gian with his mental health.

“A less resilient person might have succumbed to addiction or worse, but my mother kept going, powered by her faith in God.”

The deceased widow raised five children – three boys and two girls – but lost two sons.

“My biggest fear was that she would outlive yet another one of her children. So when I found her in bed on Sunday, having passed away in her sleep, there was a sense of relief. She is at peace now,” Noo stated.

Born in 1949, Maria, a trained teacher, married the late environmental activist in 1966.

Saro-Wiwa was killed alongside eight other Ogoni people in 1995 after being tried by a special military tribunal for allegedly masterminding the killing of Ogoni chiefs at a pro-government meeting.

The approval of his killing by then-Head of State Gen Sani Abacha (deceased) sparked international outrage and resulted in Nigeria’s suspension from the Commonwealth of Nations.

The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), had in October 2021 declared that he would consider a request for pardon for Saro-Wiwa and others but he had yet to do so three months later.

After her eviction from the Big Brother Naija house, she had an interview with the host, Ebuka, who asked her about the statement she made about Angel being a prostitute

Maria replied: “I said that? Oh my God. Did I really say the word prostitute? Well, I do take full responsibility for my words and actions. Maybe it was the Baileys but, that’s horrible. It’s not a very nice thing to say.”

Recall that Maria, Nini, and Peace had spent minutes talking about Angel, including claiming that she has the “worst, dirtiest, nastiest vag*na”

Maria was also asked during the interview about the way she treated WhiteMoney in the house.

She said that after she watched a video playback and saw that WhiteMoney never nominated her for eviction, she feels “stupid” for how she’s treated him. She said she will like to be friends with him outside the house if he will forgive her.

Pere was heard telling Maria that she’s the only one he’s had a hard-on for. Responding to this, Maria stated that she slaps people who tell her such things.

Warning Pere to try not to get a slap from her, she also wondered what his hard-on has got to do with her.

Angel said this on Thursday night, as she walked out on Sammie rather than sleep close to him, as she usually did.

In BBNaija, ship refers to a romantic relationship between a male and female housemate. When it is going smoothly, it is said that the ship is sailing.

However, when the relationship has gone sour, it is said that the ship has sunk.

So on Thursday night, Maria confronted Angel for walking out of the room, where she usually sleeps close to Sammie.

Maria asked Angel whose bed she’s going to stay in and she replied, “I’ll just go and lie down on somebody’s bed.”

When Maria pushed further, Angel told Maria that it was none of her business.

“But your baby is right here,” Maria insisted, referring to Sammie.

With a mocking laugh, Angel said, “Ship wey dey sink don sink.”

“How did the ship sink?” Maria asked, but Angel walked away from the room

Nwakanma stated that neither she nor any member of her family was interested in any of the singer’s properties, adding that Mighty’s social media posts were a pointer to the type of husband he was.

In a nine part-post on Instagram, Duncan Mighty had accused his wife, Vivian, her mother, Charity Nwakanma, and siblings, Maria and Bright, of going diabolical to poison him and inherit his properties.

However, Maria dared him to post the evidence he had. She said, “This is a family matter because my younger sister is married to him. There are children involved, so there are things I cannot talk about. About his claims on social media, my mother, sister and I only have a love for him. Whatever he is saying about my family, he is on his own. We don’t want to get involved in all this. When he is done, he would clear himself. I do not live with them and I cannot leave my father’s house to go and inherit another man’s property. I don’t understand why he said those things. He said he is the only child but I know he is not. His mother has other children. He also has children outside wedlock, so where is my stake in his property. He has been deleting comments by people who know him. He should stop removing those comments. Would a reasonable person air their family issues in public? Everybody, including his wife, Vivian, is okay. She has children to take care of.  He took the boy because that is the only son he has. We don’t want to join issues with him. Let him post his evidence, so the truth would prevail.  The truth cannot be hidden. You cannot cover a lie forever.”