Emmanuel N. Onwubiko

Emmanuel Onwubiko
Born	Emmanuel Nnadozie De Santacruz Onwubiko Kafanchan, Nigeria
Residence	Abuja, Nigeria
Occupation	Human rights activist, social media expert, writer

Emmanuel Onwubiko (born Emmanuel Nnadozie De Santacruz Onwubiko, in the early 1970s) is a Nigerian journalist of eighteen years standing, he worked for seven years as a sole senior Court /judicial reporter in the nation's capital for The Guardian, the flagship of Nigeria print journalism,^[1] he has maintained consistent weekly column " Rightswatch" in Leadership Newspaper a national paper based in Abuja.^[2] He is a philosopher by professional training, he is a popular Nigerian Human Right Activist, a blogger and a writer.^[3] He was a former Federal Commissioner of Nigeria’s National Human Rights Commission an appointment made by the then President Olusegun Obasanjo,^[4] and presently he heads Human Rights Writers' Association of Nigeria (HURIWA).^[5] Onwubiko is a publisher, editor in chief of Icons of Human Rights monthly newsletter and executive Director of ParadiseFound media company limited. Chairman of Epikaya Communications Limited. Board of Trustee member of the US funded NGO called Heartland Alliance Nigeria and board of trustee member of Association of African Writers on Human and People's Rights. He has authored dozens of articles.^[6] He is also a member of the National Think Tank of the Nigerian Catholic Secretariat in Abuja since 2012.

Onwubiko's undeniable adroitness in his activism made him to be appointed by the President of Nigeria Good luck Jonathan as a member of the Presidential Committee on Dialogue and Peace in Northern Nigeria (PCCDR).

Background

Onwubiko was born in Kafanchan, Kaduna State, he attending the prestigious Teachers College, his tertiary education was at the Famous Catholic Claretian Institute of Philosophy, Maryland, Nekede, Owerri (affiliated to Pontificia Università Urbaniana Rome)^[7] where he studied Philosophy. He also attended Nigeria Institute of Journalism where he emerged with distinctions in Journalism.^[8]

Owubiko's brother and uncle were murdered by Islamists in Nigeria. He also got shot in 2006. He now works tirelessly as an activist against terrorism even at the risk of his life. He recently wrote about his perspective on how to defeat terrorism and has been a popular voice as such barbarism.^[9]

Career

The Guardian and erstwhile Federal Commissioner of the Nigerian National Human Rights Commission [NHRC] Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko advocacy visit to the Deputy Senate President Senator Ike Ekweremadu

Onwubiko, has been speaking on varying national and international issues and has done a great service to human rights scholarship. He has authored a book of over five hundred pages which sold ten thousand copies globally titled POLITICS AND LITIGATION IN CONTEMPORARY NIGERIA, volume one and complete volume,^[10] 2003–2005. And he has also authored another new book titled "WHO CARES ABOUT HUMAN RIGHTS?"^[11]

In the course of his work, he has graced fora from China to London, Thailand, Lagos, Imo State, Enugu, Kaduna, Sokoto, Ebonyi, Abia to Lagos, Accra, amongst other cities around the world and Nigeria respectively. He has advocated for Nigerian students at Buckingham University,^[12] Ministry of the Federal Capital Territory,^[13] Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Agriculture,^[14] Ministry of Federal Capital Territory,^[13] National Emergency Agency,^[15] and National Human Right Commission. He has spoken in several workshops one of which was with the Minister of State for Education, Bar. Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, he also led his group HURIWA'S advocacy visits to the duo of deputy senate President Senator Ike Ekweremadu and speaker Hon. Emeka Ihedioha (OON).

The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) he heads is in partnership with a number of reputed organisations like: National Human Rights Commission [NHRC],^[16] Public Complaints Commission [PCC],^[17] Consumer Protection Council[CPC],^[18] Ministry of Justice,^[19] Bureau of Public Procurement [BPP],^[20] United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime [UNODC].^[21]

He was among the Federal Government delegates to the Eleventh United Nations Congress on Crime prevention and Criminal Justice in Bangkok Thailand April 2005. He was also among the 12 African journalists delegates that were invited by People Republic of China in June 2005. He was among the ten human rights stakeholders that met the US Ambassador to Nigeria James F. Entwistle in 2013 on the increasing cases of breaches of human rights by the military.^[22]

He is one of the outspoken voices against the Islamic terrorist group Islamic Boko Haram,^[23] the group he heads also called for vigilance as one of the ways to averts the deadly onslaught on innocent Nigerians by the terrorist group,^[24] he has other several articles on the precarious situation in Nigeria posed by the Islamic Boko Haram. He has written extensively about the economy, Military Repression on press Freedom,^[25] he described corruption as terrorism.^[26] As a prolific writer he has written on varying national and international burning issues.

HURIWA'S ADVOCACY VISIT TO DEPUTY SPEAKER Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, CON

Onwubiko had participated in several interviews on some burning issues in Nigeria with Nigerian National televisions such as: Ait,^[27] Channels Television.,^[28] and BBC print media.^[29] His article have appeared on several online and print mediums including The Guardian,^[30] ThisDay,^[31] Leadership,^[32] All Africa.com,^[33] Sahara Reporters,^[34] The Sun News,^[35] The Punch,^[36] Premium Times,^[37] and many others.

Activism

After the Governor of Borno State, Alhaji Kashim Shettima, suggested that the armed Islamic insurgents would extend their terror attacks to the southern regions if they were not contained in the North-east. Onwubiko and his group called for the probing of the Governor. This triggered a harsh response by another Northern Civil Organisation group who accused Onwubiko for given the terror attack by Islamic Boko Haram a tribal connotation.^[38] Onwubiko and his group in their rebuttal insisted that though it has no empirical evidence to link the Borno State governor to the attempted terrorists incursions into the South East even though it advised politicians to be typically clever and surreptitious with their public statements so as not to provide psychological motivation or instigation for would -be terrorists.".^[39]

Onwubiko and his group HURIWA, had also called on the nation's travellers to withhold their patronage of British Airways and other foreign airlines in view of recent revelations about the airlines' unethical practices, until such concerns are redressed.^[40] The group he heads HURIWA, has over six thousand media releases on varied thematic issues of human rights

On Thursday, April 28, 2016 Onwubiko and the group he leads- Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria inaugurated their modest library project named PROFESSOR CHINUA ACHEBE’S HUMAN RIGHTS LIBRARY in Abuja ^[41]

Onwubiko's pro-democracy and non-governmental organisation (NGO), Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) on 11 May 2016 petitioned the European Union (EU), Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and foreign embassies over invasion of its office by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) what was perceived as attempts by the government to intimidate him and his group over their outspoken stand against the government's suppression of free speech ^[42]

Awards and commendations

He won an award of merit certificate for Agricultural journalism from the Nigerian Government and also a merit award from Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Jos campus.

He has been invited umpteen times by the President of Nigeria Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan, GCFR, BNER, GCON^[43] for meetings of few civil society leaders on major economic policy issues including on matters related to petrol subsidy.

He was invited to be honoured with Honorary Doctorate Degree by the Commonwealth University & Abbey College-London Graduate School Dubai Leadership Summit'2014.^[44]

Onwubiko has been described as a writer who writes like an academic journalist, like Thomas Friedman,^[45] the highly revered foreign affairs columnist of the New York Times who converts every experience and major event into a discursive template to theorise about the fate of freedom and human dignity in open society. He is considered a thought leader amongst his contemporaries.

References