Joseph N. C. Egemonye (1933–2011) was a Nigerian journalist, writer, politician and businessman. He was the editor-in-chief and founder of ''The Nigeria Monitor newspaper'', the first weekly newspaper in Nnewi, southeastern Nigeria, and also co-founder of ''Th
Winston-Salem Chronicle
newspaper'' in Winston-Salem, United States.

Background

Joseph ''Joe'' Ndubisi Chukwukadibia Egemonye was born on 6 December 1933 to

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

missionaries from Uruagu, Nnewi. He was a grandson of a

clan A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, clans may claim descent from founding member or apical ancestor. Clans, in indigenous societies, tend to be endogamous, meaning ...

chieftain and a member of the Igbo ethnic group in Nigeria. Major-General

Emeka Onwuamaegbu Chukwuemeka "Emeka" Osita Onwuamaegbu (born 1959) is a retired Nigerian Army major general who served as the 25th commandant of the Nigerian Defence Academy from 2010 to 2013. Early life Major General Onwuamaegbu is the son of Obumneme G. Onwu ...

is his

nephew In the lineal kinship system used in the English-speaking world, a niece or nephew is a child of the subject's sibling or sibling-in-law. The converse relationship, the relationship from the niece or nephew's perspective, is that of an ...

Education

He attended Manchester College of Commerce, England, in 1962 and St. John College also in Manchester, where he was the vice president of the

student union A students' union, also known by many other names, is a student organization present in many colleges, universities, and high schools. In higher education, the students' union is often accorded its own building on the campus, dedicated to social, ...

. In 1968, he obtained a BSc degree in management science from the University of Manchester, where he was the winner of the 1966/67

Manchester Debating Union The University of Manchester Students' Union is the representative body of students at the University of Manchester, England, and is the UK's largest students' union. It was formed out of the merger between UMIST Students' Association (USA) and ...

freshers' debating competition. He also obtained a Master of Arts degree in journalism from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Career

He began his career as a teacher, writer and journalist in Nnewi. He wrote two short stories, ''Disaster in the Realms of Love'' and ''Broken Engagement'' which are both featured in the Onitsha Market Literature and can be found in the Library of Congress. As a journalist, he was the Igbo

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...

of the Eastern Nigerian Observer Newspaper in 1960 before founding an

Youth Fellowship magazine called ''The Voice of the Youth''. He was also a lecturer at North Carolina Central University, Durham and head of the Journalism Department at

Shaw University Shaw University is a private Baptist historically black university in Raleigh, North Carolina. It is affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA. Founded on December 1, 1865, Shaw University is the oldest HBCU to begin offering courses in ...

. In September 1974, he co-founded
Winston-Salem Chronicle
' in Winston-Salem (a weekly newspaper that focuses on the African-American community) and in 1986 he founded ''The Nigeria Monitor'' the first weekly newspaper in Nnewi. He raised local readers awareness on local politics and community affairs, which earned him the nickname ''Monitor''. However, in the 1990s, the military dictatorship of General Sani Abacha suppressed

freedom of the press Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic News media, media, especially publication, published materials, should be conside ...

in Nigeria. As a businessman, he introduced the Micro wheel balancing Machine into the Nigerian automobile industry to provide young people with employment. As a politician, he was nominated as the Nnewi North local government chairmanship candidate by the National Republican Convention Party ( NRC) in 1993.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Egemonye, Joseph N. C. 1933 births 2011 deaths Nigerian newspaper journalists People from Nnewi