Chukwuebuka Obi-Uchendu (born 14 July 1982) is a

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was derived from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jo ...

media

personality Personality is any person's collection of interrelated behavioral, cognitive, and emotional patterns that comprise a person’s unique adjustment to life. These interrelated patterns are relatively stable, but can change over long time per ...

. He is known for hosting the

reality show Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...

'' Big Brother Naija'' (also known as BB9ja), the long running ''Rubbin' Minds'' talk show on

Channels TV Channels Television is a Nigerian independent 24-hour news and media television channel based in Lagos, Nigeria. The parent company, Channels Incorporated, was founded in 1992, a year before the Nigerian government deregulated the broadcast med ...

as well as co-hosting ''The Spot'' and ''Men's Corner'' on Ebonylife television. He is an ambassador for

Budweiser Budweiser () is an American-style pale lager, a brand of Belgian company AB InBev. Introduced in 1876 by Carl Conrad & Co. of St. Louis, Missouri, Budweiser has become a large selling beer company in the United States. Budweiser is a filte ...

Nigeria,

Samsung Samsung Group (; stylised as SΛMSUNG) is a South Korean Multinational corporation, multinational manufacturing Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in the Samsung Town office complex in Seoul. The group consists of numerous a ...

Nigeria, and 2Sure Nigeria. Obi-Uchendu has received several award nominations and won the award for Outstanding TV Presenter of the Year at the Nigerian Broadcasters Merit Awards for his work on ''Rubbin' Minds''.

Early Life

Born in

Benin City Benin City serves as the Capital city, capital and largest Metropolitan area, metropolitan centre of Edo State, situated in Nigeria, southern Nigeria. It ranks as the List of Nigerian cities by population, fourth-most populous city in Niger ...

Edo State Edo State, Edo, officially known as Edo State, is a States of Nigeria, state in the South South, South-South Geopolitical zones of Nigeria, geopolitical zone of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. As of 2024, the state was ranked as the List of Ni ...

in south-south

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

, to a

banker A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

father and a mother who is a nurse, he is the third of four children with an elder sister as well as one older brother, and a younger brother. He went through with his nursery and primary education in the mid-western Nigerian city of

Benin Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its po ...

, remarkably passing the

Common Entrance Examination Common Entrance Examinations (commonly known as CE) are taken by independent school pupils in the UK as part of the selective admissions process at age 13, though ten independent schools do select at 11 using different test papers. They are se ...

into secondary school from Primary Four. He subsequently moved with his family to

Abuja Abuja (; , ) is the capital city of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, strategically situated at the geographic midpoint of the country within the Federal Capital Territory (Nigeria), Federal Capital Territory (FCT). As the seat of the Federal G ...

, the federal capital territory.

Education

He had his

secondary education Secondary education is the education level following primary education and preceding tertiary education. Level 2 or ''lower secondary education'' (less commonly ''junior secondary education'') is considered the second and final phase of basic e ...

at Christ The King College Abuja, graduating in 1997, before getting his university education at the University of Abuja, up until 2004. He proceeded to the

Nigerian Law School The Nigerian Law School is an educational institution set up to provide professional certification to graduates of law. The school was established in Lagos under the Legal Education Act 1962, now Legal Education (Consolidation Etc) Act Cap. L1 ...

Bwari,

finishing in 2005 he then returned to school after a 5-year working gap, graduating in December 2010 from the

Washington College of Law The American University Washington College of Law (AUWCL or WCL) is the law school of American University, a private research university in Washington, D.C. It is located on the western side of Tenley Circle in the Tenleytown section of northw ...

of the

American University The American University (AU or American) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Its main campus spans 90-acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, in the Spri ...

Washington D.C., with

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is a postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in another subject. In many jurisdi ...

degree specializations in Intellectual Property as well as Communications law from the Law and Government program.

Career

''Big Brother'' and beyond

In 2006, he went in as one of an eventual 14 housemates on the first season of the popular reality show '' Big Brother Nigeria'', finishing in eighth place. To date, he is one of the most visibly successful BBN 2006 cast members. In January 2017, he was announced as the host of the second season of ''Big Brother Naija'' as well as the third season. After the reality show in 2006, he signed endorsement deals with a major telecommunications brand as well as a popular brewing company and as such hosted ''Friend or Foe'' on NTA, the ''GLO Show'', also on NTA, as well as ''Guinness' Greatness TV''. He also maintained a weekly column called ''Contrast'' with a Nigerian national daily newspaper, ''

This Day ''This Day'' is a Nigerian national newspaper. It is the flagship newspaper of Leaders & Company Ltd., and was first published on 22 January 1995. It has its headquarters in Apapa, Lagos State. Founded by Nduka Obaigbena, the chairman and edit ...

. He has written for other publications including What's new and Ace Magazines respectively.'' In the run up to the 2011 general elections in Nigeria, he hosted the first ever presidential debate focused on youth issues, which was broadcast live across Nigeria. He also freelances as an MC for ceremonies and events

Rubbin Minds and EbonyLife TV

In 2013, producers of ''Rubbin' Minds'', a Nigerian television talk-show, announced that Obi-Uchendu would be the new host. In 2013, Obi-Uchendu became one of the co-hosts of ''The Spot'', a TV show on DSTV, alongside Lamide Akintobi and Zainab Balogun. In July 2016, he became the host of ''Men's Corner'', Nigeria's first all male TV talk show. Ahead of the ''Big Brother Naija'' Season 5 reunion, a few fans called for Ebuka Obi-Uchendu to step aside as host. But the greater number of fans and celebrities defended the host's performance so far.

Personal life

Ebuka is committed to social causes and community engagement. He is also a volunteer to organizations like Enough is Enough Nigeria, he influences to advocate for human rights, social justice and youth empowerment. On 15 April 2015, Ebuka got engaged to Cynthia Obianodo in

Lagos State Lagos State (, ) is a States of Nigeria, state in South West, Nigeria. Of the 36 States of Nigeria, Nigerian states, Lagos is the second List of Nigerian states by population, most populous state but the List of Nigerian states by area, smallest ...

. They got married on 6 February 2016 in

. On 8 November 2016, they welcomed a daughter. In 2018, they announced they were expecting another child via

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

. Cynthia once said she met her husband, Ebuka on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

Filmography

Awards and recognition

Ebuka and Toke Makinwa presenting at the 2020 AMVCA 11

Personal life

On 15 April 2015, Ebuka got engaged to Cynthia Obianodo in

. They got married on 6 February 2016 in

. On 8 November 2016, they welcomed a daughter. In 2018, they announced they were expecting another child via

. Cynthia once said she met her husband, Ebuka on

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Obi-Uchendu, Ebuka 1982 births Living people Big Brother (franchise) contestants Igbo people Nigerian television presenters People from Anambra State Nigerian lawyers

Early Life

Education

Career

''Big Brother'' and beyond

Rubbin Minds and EbonyLife TV

Personal life

Filmography

Awards and recognition

Personal life

See also

References