Christina Anyanwu
Encyclopedia
Christiana 'Chris' Anyanwu MFR (born 28 October 1951) is a Nigerian journalist
, publisher, author
, and politician
, hailed as one of the female pioneers in Nigerian journalism and broadcasting. She was elected Senator for the Imo East (Oweri) constituency in 2007.
on 28 October 1951.
She attended Owerri Girls Secondary School before moving to America
, where she obtained a Bachelors Degree in Journalism and a Masters Degree in Mass Communication from the University of Missouri
and Florida State University
respectively.
After graduating, she returned to Nigeria, and worked for the NTA
and the Imo Broadcasting Corporation as a newsreader
and reporter.
In 1987, she was appointed Imo State commissioner for Information, Youth, Sports, Culture and Social Welfare under Imo governor Amadi Ikwechegh
.
Following her tenure as commissioner, Anyanwu became publisher/editor-in-chief of TSM (The Sunday Magazine), a weekly publication which focused on political issues as they affected the country.
against the government of Sani Abacha
- whom she had refused to endorse as president - on 1 March; she and several Nigerian journalists were accused of being "accessories to facts of treason".
Anyanwu was prosecuted in camera
by a military court and sentenced to life imprisonment
on 4 July 1995, later reduced to 15 years in October 1995 following pressure from national and international human rights
groups. While being held in deplorable conditions in Gombe
prison, she went partially blind; doctors warned that she was in danger of losing her sight completely if she failed to receive medical attention.
Shortly after her imprisonment, she received the International Women's Media Foundation
Courage in Journalism Award, making news around the world. Anyanwu, then held in solitary confinement, passed a note that read, "Some women in America are giving you a prize. The world is watching". Anyanwu later told the IWMF that receiving the award had buoyed her spirits while in prison. ("Yes! Somebody must understand or else they wouldn’t just give out an award like this...I was very much encouraged and strengthened by it. And it made me confident and determined not to cave into pressure.")
Two years later, the Committee to Protect Journalists
named Anyanwu winner of the CPJ International Press Freedom Award
, and in May 1998 she was awarded UNESCO
's Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize
on health grounds. She embarked on a two-year break in Virginia
where she wrote the book Days of Terror, based on Nigeria's struggle during dictatorship.
A televised version of her now defunct publication TSM Show was aired in 2001.
In 2005, Anyanwu opened her radio station Hot 98.3 FM
, based in Abuja
.
Anyanwu was featured in the PBS
Frontline
production titled NIGERIA - The Road North in 2003.
During the Nigerian general election, 2007
Anyanwu was elected to the Senate
on the platform of the People's Democratic Party
as a representative of Owerri
Zone, Imo State, Nigeria.
After taking her seat in the Senate she was appointed to committees on Women and Youth, States & Local Government, Millennium Development Goals, Health, Environment and Defence & Army.
In a mid-term evaluation of Senators in May 2009, ThisDay noted that she had sponsored bills on Occupational Health and Safety and to Criminalise and Punish Discrimination and Segregation against Nigerians, and had sponsored seven motions. The report described her as an engaging contributor to debates in plenary who was active in the committees.
Anyanwu was a successful contender to be reelected as Senator for Imo East on the All Progressives Grand Alliance
(APGA) platform in the April 2011 elections. The PDP declared that they would contest the result, claiming that voting was marred by violence.
, Anyanwu is married to Casmir Anyanwu; the couple have two children.
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
, publisher, author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, and politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
, hailed as one of the female pioneers in Nigerian journalism and broadcasting. She was elected Senator for the Imo East (Oweri) constituency in 2007.
Early life/career
Anyanwu was born Christiana Ngozi Ukah in AhiaraAhiara
Ahiara is an Igbo city located in Mbaise, Imo State, Nigeria. The people are respected for their ingenuity and diplomacy. The city stands about 16 miles from Owere and Umuahia in either directions...
on 28 October 1951.
She attended Owerri Girls Secondary School before moving to America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, where she obtained a Bachelors Degree in Journalism and a Masters Degree in Mass Communication from the University of Missouri
University of Missouri
The University of Missouri System is a state university system providing centralized administration for four universities, a health care system, an extension program, five research and technology parks, and a publishing press. More than 64,000 students are currently enrolled at its four campuses...
and Florida State University
Florida State University
The Florida State University is a space-grant and sea-grant public university located in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a comprehensive doctoral research university with medical programs and significant research activity as determined by the Carnegie Foundation...
respectively.
After graduating, she returned to Nigeria, and worked for the NTA
Nigerian Television Authority
The Nigerian Television Authority - also known as NTA - was inaugurated in 1977 and is the government-owned body in charge of television broadcasting in the country. The NTA claims to run the biggest television network in Africa with stations in several parts of Nigeria...
and the Imo Broadcasting Corporation as a newsreader
Newsreader
Newsreader can refer to:* Newsreader , a computer program for reading Usenet newsgroups* News presenter, a person that presents a news show on television, radio or the Internet...
and reporter.
In 1987, she was appointed Imo State commissioner for Information, Youth, Sports, Culture and Social Welfare under Imo governor Amadi Ikwechegh
Amadi Ikwechegh
Commodore Amadi Guy Ikwechegh was a Nigerian naval officer who was appointed military governor of Imo State from 1986 to 1989 during the military regime of General Ibrahim Babangida.-Birth and education:...
.
Following her tenure as commissioner, Anyanwu became publisher/editor-in-chief of TSM (The Sunday Magazine), a weekly publication which focused on political issues as they affected the country.
Imprisonment
In May 1995, Anyanwu was arrested following the publication of a story about a failed coup d'étatCoup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
against the government of Sani Abacha
Sani Abacha
General Sani Abacha was a Nigerian military leader and politician. A Kanuri from Borno by tribe, he was born and brought up in Kano, Nigeria. He was the de facto President of Nigeria from 1993 to 1998....
- whom she had refused to endorse as president - on 1 March; she and several Nigerian journalists were accused of being "accessories to facts of treason".
Anyanwu was prosecuted in camera
In camera
In camera is a legal term meaning "in private". It is also sometimes termed in chambers or in curia.In camera describes court cases that the public and press are not admitted to...
by a military court and sentenced to life imprisonment
Life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life...
on 4 July 1995, later reduced to 15 years in October 1995 following pressure from national and international human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
groups. While being held in deplorable conditions in Gombe
Gombe
Gombe may refer to:Places* Gombe, Nigeria, the capital of Gombe State, Nigeria** Gombe State, Nigeria* Gombe, Angola* Gombe, Butambala, Uganda* Gombe, Wakiso, Uganda* Gombe, Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
prison, she went partially blind; doctors warned that she was in danger of losing her sight completely if she failed to receive medical attention.
Shortly after her imprisonment, she received the International Women's Media Foundation
International Women's Media Foundation
The International Women’s Media Foundation , located in Washington, DC, is a network of thousands of left-wing women journalists working internationally to elevate the status of women in the media. The IWMF has created groundbreaking programs to help women in the media develop practical solutions...
Courage in Journalism Award, making news around the world. Anyanwu, then held in solitary confinement, passed a note that read, "Some women in America are giving you a prize. The world is watching". Anyanwu later told the IWMF that receiving the award had buoyed her spirits while in prison. ("Yes! Somebody must understand or else they wouldn’t just give out an award like this...I was very much encouraged and strengthened by it. And it made me confident and determined not to cave into pressure.")
Two years later, the Committee to Protect Journalists
Committee to Protect Journalists
The Committee to Protect Journalists is an independent nonprofit organisation based in New York City that promotes press freedom and defends the rights of journalists.-History:A group of U.S...
named Anyanwu winner of the CPJ International Press Freedom Award
CPJ International Press Freedom Awards
The CPJ International Press Freedom Awards honour journalists around the world who show courage in defending press freedom in the face of attacks, threats or imprisonment. Created in 1991, the awards are administered by the Committee to Protect Journalists....
, and in May 1998 she was awarded UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
's Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize
UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize
The UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize, created in 1997, honours a person, organization or institution that has made an outstanding contribution to the defence and/or promotion of press freedom anywhere in the world, especially when this has been achieved in the face of danger.The...
Post imprisonment
In June 1998, following the death of President Abacha and several protests from human rights groups worldwide, Anyanwu was released by Abacha's successor General Abdulsalam AbubakarAbdulsalami Abubakar
General Abdulsalami Alhaji Abubakar is a Nigerian general who was President of Nigeria from June 9, 1998 until May 29, 1999. He succeeded Sani Abacha upon Abacha's death. It was during Abubakar's leadership that Nigeria adopted its new constitution on May 5, 1999, which provided for multiparty...
on health grounds. She embarked on a two-year break in Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
where she wrote the book Days of Terror, based on Nigeria's struggle during dictatorship.
A televised version of her now defunct publication TSM Show was aired in 2001.
In 2005, Anyanwu opened her radio station Hot 98.3 FM
Hot 98.3 FM Abuja
Hot 98.3 FM is a Nigerian radio station that broadcasts on the 98.3 FM frequency from Abuja, in Nigeria's Federal Capital Territory.It started broadcasting on January 1, 2005....
, based in Abuja
Abuja
Abuja is the capital city of Nigeria. It is located in the centre of Nigeria, within the Federal Capital Territory . Abuja is a planned city, and was built mainly in the 1980s. It officially became Nigeria's capital on 12 December 1991, replacing Lagos...
.
Anyanwu was featured in the PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
Frontline
Frontline (TV series)
FRONTLINE is a public affairs television program that produces and broadcasts in-depth documentaries about various subjects. Produced at WGBH-TV in Boston, Massachusetts and distributed through the Public Broadcasting Service in the United States, the program has been critically acclaimed and...
production titled NIGERIA - The Road North in 2003.
During the Nigerian general election, 2007
Nigerian general election, 2007
The Nigerian general elections of 2007 were held on 14 April and 21 April 2007. Governorship and state assembly elections were held on 14 April, while the presidential and national assembly elections were held a week later on 21 April. Umaru Yar'Adua won the highly controversial election for the...
Anyanwu was elected to the Senate
Senate of Nigeria
The Senate is the upper house of the National Assembly of Nigeria. It consists of 109 senators: the 36 states are divided in 3 senatorial districts each electing one senator; the Federal Capital Territory elects only one senator....
on the platform of the People's Democratic Party
People's Democratic Party (Nigeria)
The People's Democratic Party is a political party in Nigeria. Its policies generally lie towards the right wing of the political spectrum. It has won every single Presidential elections since 1999, namely: 1999, 2003, 2007, and 2011, and is the dominant party in the Fourth Republic.-History:In...
as a representative of Owerri
Owerri
Owerri is the capital of Imo State in Nigeria, set in the heart of the Igboland. Owerri consists of three Local Govern Areas including Owerri Municipal, Owerri North and Owerri West, it has an estimated population of about 400,000 as of 2006...
Zone, Imo State, Nigeria.
After taking her seat in the Senate she was appointed to committees on Women and Youth, States & Local Government, Millennium Development Goals, Health, Environment and Defence & Army.
In a mid-term evaluation of Senators in May 2009, ThisDay noted that she had sponsored bills on Occupational Health and Safety and to Criminalise and Punish Discrimination and Segregation against Nigerians, and had sponsored seven motions. The report described her as an engaging contributor to debates in plenary who was active in the committees.
Anyanwu was a successful contender to be reelected as Senator for Imo East on the All Progressives Grand Alliance
All Progressives Grand Alliance
The All Progressives Grand Alliance is a political party in Nigeria. At the last legislative elections, 12 April 2003, the party won 1.4 % of popular votes and 2 of 360 seats in the House of Representatives of Nigeria and no seats in the Senate...
(APGA) platform in the April 2011 elections. The PDP declared that they would contest the result, claiming that voting was marred by violence.
Personal life
A devout ChristianChristian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
, Anyanwu is married to Casmir Anyanwu; the couple have two children.