Chido Onumah

Chido Onumah (born 10 April 1966) is a Nigerian/Canadian journalist, author, and rights activist. He has worked for over two decades as a journalist, rights activist and media trainer in Nigeria, Ghana, Canada, India, the US, the Caribbean and Europe. He holds a PhD in Communication and Journalism from the Autonomous University of Barcelona, UAB, Spain. He was arrested and detained by Nigeria's State Security Services (SSS) at Abuja airport on his arrival from Spain for wearing a T-shirt with the inscription "We Are All Biafrans".[1][2][3]

Chido Onumah
Image of Chido Onumah
Born10 April 1966
NationalityNigerian/Canadian
Known for
  • Journalist
  • Rights Activist
  • Media & Information Literacy Trainer
TitleJournalist and Author
Spouse(s)Sola
ChildrenFemi, Mobolaji, DOTUN and Moyosore

Education

Onumah studied at the University of Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria, and received an MA in journalism from the University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. He holds a PhD in communication and journalism[4] from the Autonomous University of Barcelona, UAB, Spain.

Career

Onumah worked and wrote for several media houses in Nigeria, including; The Sentinel magazine, the Guardian, AM News, PM News, The News/Tempo, Concord, Punch and Thisday newspapers, before moving to Accra, Ghana, in 1996. He served as associate editor of the Insight newspaper, assistant editor of Third World Network's African Agenda magazine, coordinator, West African Human Rights Committee and correspondent for African Observer magazine, New York, and AfricaNews Service, Nairobi, Kenya.[2]

In 2003, Onumah spent time in Haiti and Dominican Republic where he reported on people living with HIV/AIDS, and on a cross-cultural dialogue between African and Caribbean journalists. Between December 2001 and January 2002, Onumah was in New Delhi, India, on fellowship with the Indian Express newspaper, reporting on international issues.

From 2002 to 2004, Onumah worked as Director of Africa programmes at the Panos Institute in Washington, DC.[2]

Between 2006 and 2007, he served as pioneer coordinator of the crime prevention unit (Fix Nigeria Initiative) of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in Nigeria, working on a civil society anti-corruption agenda for the country, and in partnership with the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism developed programs on ethics and investigative reporting for Nigerian journalists.

Between 2001 and 2002, Onumah volunteered for the London Cross Cultural Learner Centre, London, Ontario, Canada, working on integration and provision of information for refugees and new immigrants to Canada. In 2005, he began volunteering for the World Computer Exchange WCE, seeking donations of used computers and assisting in recruiting African community organizations, universities, and secondary schools.

Onumah is a columnist with several newspapers.

Awards
  • 2017: Devatop Anti-Human Trafficking Ambassador, Nigeria.[5]
  • 2002: The Jerry Rogers Writing Award, University of Western Ontario, Canada
  • 2001: William C. Heine Fellowship for International Media Studies, University of Western Ontario, Canada
  • 2001: Alfred W. Hamilton Scholarship - Canadian Association of Black Journalists
  • 1999: Kudirat Initiative for Democracy KIND Award for excellence in journalism (Nigeria)
  • 1997: Clement Mwale Prize for courage in journalism, AFRICANEWS SERVICE (Kenya)

Publications

Onumah is the author of the following books:

  • "Remaking Nigeria: Sixty Years, Sixty Voices"[6] (ed.)
  • "Testimony to Courage: Essays in Honour of Dapo Olorunyomi (with Fred Adetiba)",[7] (ed.)
  • "We Are All Biafrans[8][9] (2016),
  • Nigeria is Negotiable[10] (2013) and
  • Time to Reclaim Nigeria[11] (Essays 2001-2011) 2011.

He has edited books on various subjects, including

  • Making Your Voice Heard: A Media Toolkit for Children & Youth (2004);
  • Anti-Corruption Advocacy Handbook (with Comfort Idika-Ogunye) 2006;
  • Youth Media: A Guide to Literacy and Social Change (with Lewis Asubiojo) 2008;
  • Understanding Nigeria and the New Imperialism (with Biodun Jeyifo, Bene Madunagu, and Kayode Komolafe) 2006;
  • Sentenced in God’s Name: The Untold Story of Nigeria’s "Witch Children" (with Lewis Asubiojo) 2011; and
  • Media and Information Policy and Strategy Guidelines (with Grizzle, A., Moore, P., Dezuanni, M., Asthana, S., Wilson, C. and Banda, F.).[12]

African Centre for Media & Information Literacy

Onumah is coordinator of the African Centre for Media & Information Literacy (AFRICMIL).[13] AFRICMIL was set up in 2008 following the resolution of the 1st Africa media & Information Literacy Conference in July 2008 in Abuja, organised in conjunction with British Council, Nigeria, and the National Film & Video Censors Board (NFVCB).

Pan-African Alliance for Media & Information Literacy

Chido Onumah is the chair of the Pan-African Alliance for Media & Information Literacy (PAMIL) and Co-Chair of Global Alliance on Media and Information Literacy (GAPMIL).

Controversies

We Are All Biafrans

Onumah has generated intense and continuous discussions on governance, human rights abuses, and corruption, through his expository articles and essays.[14] He has often questioned the credibility of some political office holders and frowned at exclusion of youth in governance. One of his books titled: We Are All Biafrans, which talks about restructuring Nigeria, has continued to generate debate among political leaders, the media and civil society across Nigeria. The book uses Biafra as a metaphor for the various agitations in Nigeria. It calls for political restructuring as a basis for enhancing Nigeria's unity and building an egalitarian society.

Arrest by State Security Services

Onumah was arrested and detained by Nigeria's State Security Services (SSS) on 29 September 2019 at 5pm at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja for wearing a T-shirt with the inscription "We Are All Biafrans". He traveled to Barcelona where he bagged a PhD in Communication and Journalism from the Autonomous University of Barcelona, UAB, and was waiting for His luggage when SSS arrested him and detained him till 10pm. He was later released and the SSS denied arresting him.[15][16][17][18][19]

References
  1. JournAfrica!. "Chido Onumah". JournAfrica!. Archived from the original on 3 October 2016. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  2. International Reporting Project. "Fellows: Chido Onumah". International Reporting Project. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  3. Adedigba, Azeezat (29 September 2019). "UPDATED: SSS arrests Nigerian activist Chido Onumah". Premium Times. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  4. "chido onumah bags Phd from university of autonomous". GlobalNoticeHub. Gloablnotice Hin. 23 September 2019. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  5. ICIR, Nigeria (2 March 2017). "Football Star, Popular Actor Among Anti-Human Trafficking Ambassadors". ICIR Nigeria. ICIR Nigeria. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  6. Chido, Onumah (5 December 2020). Remaking Nigeria, Sixty Years, Sixty Voices. ISBN 1953967027. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
  7. Chido, Onumah (27 May 2019). Testimony to Courage: Essays in Honour of Dapo Olorunyomi. ISBN 9785443183. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
  8. "We Are All Biafrans is not about Biafra agitation, says author - OAK TV". oak.tv. Oak TV. Oak TV. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
  9. Onumah, Chido (29 May 2016). We Are All Biafrans (1st ed.). Lagos: Parrésia Publishers Ltd. ISBN 978-9785407983.
  10. Onumah, Chido (15 August 2013). Nigeria is Negotiable (1st ed.). Abuja: African Centre for Media & Information Literacy (AFRICMIL). ISBN 978-9789324767.
  11. Onumah, Chido (15 December 2011). Time to Reclaim Nigeria. Abuja: AFRICMIL. ISBN 978-9789192403.
  12. Amazon. "Chido Onumah". Amazon. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  13. Sahara Reporters. "Chido Onumah". Sahara Reports. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
  14. Abdul, Mahmud (May 2016). "Are we all Biafrans?". Naij.com. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  15. Newspapers, Punch (29 September 2019). "DSS arrests journalist-activist Chido Onumah". Punch Newspapers. Punch Newspapers. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  16. Kalu, Nicholas (1 October 2019). "We didn't arrest Chido Onumah, says DSS". The Nation Newspaper. The Nation Newspaper. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  17. Adanikan, Olugbenga (30 September 2019). "INTERVIEW: Legal action against DSS is a possibility - Onumah". The ICIR. International Center for Investigative Reporting, ICIR. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  18. News, TVC (30 September 2019). "DSS Denies Arresting Chido Onumah". TVC News. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  19. TV, Channels (29 September 2019). "DSS Denies Arresting, Journalist Chido Onumah". Channels Television. ChannelsTv. Retrieved 2 October 2019.

Sources
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