| Captain Josephine Okwuekeleke Tolefe | |
| Birth Date: | 15 December 1931 |
| Death Date: | 2014 (Aged 83) |
| Nationality: | Nigerian |
| Alma Mater: | Midwives Training College, High Coombe Surrey, United Kingdom |
| Occupation: | Former Nigerian Military Officer |
| Years Active: | 19611967 |
Captain Josephine Okwuekeleke Tolefe (born December 15, 1931, in Aniocha, Delta State, Nigeria) was the first female commissioned officer in the Nigerian Army. She was the first female military officer and the first female to attain the rank of an Army Captain in Nigeria.[1] [2]
She was born on 15 December 1931 in Ogwashi-Ukwu, the southern part of Aniocha in Delta State, Nigeria.[3] She attended Midwives Training College, High Coombe Surrey, United Kingdom to study Nursing and graduated as a registered nurse under the General Nursing Council for England and Wales in August, 1956.[4]
Josephine was a professional nurse but she decided to join the Nigerian Army because she was impressed by the look of the women in the British Army and the way they defended their country.[5] After joining the Army, she was appointed as Second Lieutenant in 1961. Two years after, she was appointed Army Captain.
Although Josephine was celebrated, but she and her female colleagues faced many challenges as regards to their gender. She retired voluntarily from service on 5 February 1967 and passed on in 2014.[6]