Chris Maduabrochukwu Okolie (born 1949, died 2007) was a Nigerian concert promoter and

publisher Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

and who founded New Breed Organization, publishers of the now defunct ''New Breed''

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

Life

Okolie started out as a

music promoter A promoter works with event production and entertainment industries to promote their productions, including in music and sports. Promoters are individuals or organizations engaged in the business of marketing and promoting live, or pay-per-view ...

in the late 1960s, promoting small shows at the

J.K. Randle Chief Joseph Kosoniola Randle MVO MBE (28 July 1909 – December 1956) was a Nigerian businessman and socialite from Lagos. He was Chef de Mission of the Nigerian Olympic team to Melbourne and was connected to various public activities in Lagos. Ra ...

and

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...

halls in Lagos. He then briefly studied

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

at Watford College,

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

before returning to Nigeria. In 1975, he established ''New Breed'' a biweekly news magazine published from Ogunlana Drive in

Surulere Surulere is a residential and commercial Local Government Areas of Nigeria, Local Government Area located on the mainland of Lagos in Lagos State, Nigeria, with an area of . At the last census in the year 2006, there were 503,975 inhabitants, wi ...

. As the publisher, he sometimes came into conflict with military leaders in the country. In 1977, he was detained by authorities who did not like an article that was printed in the magazine. In June 1978, the

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

confiscated thousands of copies of the magazine and further imposed a ban on publication. The magazine resumed publication in 1987, 9 years after the ban. In 1992, he joined the political process and was a member and

spokesperson A spokesperson, spokesman, or spokeswoman, is someone engaged or elected to speak on behalf of others. Duties and function In the present media-sensitive world, many organizations are increasingly likely to employ professionals who have receiv ...

of the Committee of National Consensus 1996 but later moved to the

United Nigeria Congress Party The United Nigeria Congress Party (UNCP) was a Nigerian political party. It was one of the five state-sanctioned political parties allowed by the government of General Sani Abacha to participate in state assembly elections held in December 1997, in ...

(UNCP) in 1997. He died on March 4, 2007 from complications related to a car accident in 2005. He is buried in Okpanam, Delta State.http://allafrica.com/stories/200704280003.html

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Okolie, Chris 2007 deaths Nigerian journalists 1949 births