Ikechi Uko (born 12 January 1964) is a

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, ...

travel business consultant, tourism developer, entrepreneur, media consultant, journalist, and author. He is the organizer of Akwaaba African Travel Market.

Early life

Ikechi Uko was born in Abia,

on 12 January 1964 to Samson Uko and Salome Uko, (née Azubuike). Uko attended National Secondary School Nike in

Enugu Enugu () verbally pronounced as "Enụgwụ" by the Igbo indigenes is a state in the South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered to the north by the states of Benue and Kogi, Ebonyi State to the east and southeast, Abia State to the so ...

. He worked as a ticketing officer with

Nigeria Airways Nigeria Airways Ltd., more commonly known as Nigeria Airways, was a one-time Nigerian airline. The company was founded in 1958 after the dissolution of West African Airways Corporation (WAAC). It held the name West African Airways Corporation ...

ABC in Enugu. He studied

geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...

at the

University of Ibadan The University of Ibadan (UI) is a public university located in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. Initially founded as the University College Ibadan in 1948, it maintained its affiliation with the University of London. In 1962, it became an independe ...

and graduated in 1985. He then served in the

National Youth Service Corps The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) is a mandatory, post-tertiary scheme set up by the Nigerian government during the military regime of Head of State, Yakubu Gowon, to "reconstruct, reconcile and rebuild the country after the Nigerian ...

Bauchi Bauchi (Fula: ''Leydi Bauchi'' 𞤤𞤫𞤴𞤣𞤭 𞤦𞤢𞤵𞤷𞥅𞤭) is a States of Nigeria, state in the North East (Nigeria), North-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria. It is bordered by Jigawa State, Jigawa to the north, Yobe State, Y ...

. Afterwards, he moved to

Kano Kano may refer to: Places *Kano State, a state in Northern Nigeria *Kano (city), a city in Nigeria, and the capital of Kano State ** Kingdom of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between the 10th and 14th centuries ** Sultanate of Kano, a Hausa kingdom betwee ...

and taught at the Gwarzo Secondary School in Gwarzo and the Rogo Secondary School in Rogo. He returned to the

in 1988 to obtain his Masters Degree of Science in geography with an emphasis on

environmental planning Environmental planning is the process of facilitating decision making to carry out land development with the consideration given to the natural environment, social, political, economic and governance factors and provides a holistic framework to a ...

and

remote sensing Remote sensing is the acquisition of information about an physical object, object or phenomenon without making physical contact with the object, in contrast to in situ or on-site observation. The term is applied especially to acquiring inform ...

. After graduating in 1990, Uko earned a certificate in journalism from the Times Institute of Journalism and his PRINCE2 Practitioners License. His father Samson worked with the

Nigerian Railway Corporation Nigerian Railway Corporation (commonly abbreviated as NRC) is the state-owned enterprise with exclusive rights to operate railways in Nigeria. History The Nigerian Railway Corporation traces its history to the year 1898, when the first railr ...

, which he has stated influenced his passion for travel.

Career

Uko was an editor of Tourism Fact-finders, a book on

published to mark Nigeria's hosting of the

Organization of African Unity The Organisation of African Unity (OAU; , OUA) was an African intergovernmental organization established on 25 May 1963 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with 33 signatory governments. Some of the key aims of the OAU were to encourage political and ec ...

(OAU) summit in 1991. Between 1991 and 1992, he was a tourism editor of Happy Land, Happy World Tourist Guide. Happy Land, Happy World was an attempted Nigerian version of

Disneyland Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It was the first theme park opened by the Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney, ...

and

Disney World The Walt Disney World Resort is an entertainment resort complex located about southwest of Orlando, Florida, United States. Opened on October 1, 1971, the resort is operated by Disney Experiences, a division of the Walt Disney Company. ...

, a project that did not materialize when its Certificate of Occupancy was revoked by the

Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...

government. In 1998, he published "Festivals In Nigeria" in collaboration with The

Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation The Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC) is an agency of the Nigerian state, and specifically the Ministry of Culture, Tourism, and National Orientation, responsible for the overall development of the country's tourism. History In 196 ...

(NTDC). Inspired by his passion for traveling and adventures, he published ''Travelers Weekend Magazine'', a weekly magazine founded in 1996, and later launched Travelers Awards. *Travelers Weekend* was the first regular travel magazine in

West Africa West Africa, also known as Western Africa, is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Gha ...

. In 2004, he launched Travelers Awards and Exhibitions, and in 2005, Travelers Awards and Exhibition was rebranded as Akwaaba African Travel Market. Akwaaba African Travel Market is an international travel fair in West Africa with participation from international dealers in travel, tourism, aviation, and the hospitality industries. It is designated by the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC) as the official travel exhibition in Nigeria and is listed by

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

World Tourism Organization The United Nations World Tourism Organization or UN Tourism (formerly UNWTO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations which promotes responsible, sustainable and universally-accessible tourism. Its headquarters are in Madrid, Spain. Othe ...

(UNWTO), partnering with the National Association of Nigerian Travel Agencies (NANTA). It is the only member of the International Tourism Trade Fairs Association (ITTFA) in West Africa. In 2010, with the ATQ magazine team, he set up a committee to choose the 7 wonders of Nigeria, known as Naija7Wonders. Upon realizing that most travel businesses concentrate on

instead of the other northern states, including capital Nigeria, he launched Abuja Bantaba on 5 July 2011. It is a one-day event for investors and clients in the travel and tourism business that includes workshops. In celebration of the centenary of Nigeria, the 4th edition of Abuja Bantaba honored 100 personalities for contributions to tourism development in Nigeria on 25 April 2014. In 2013, he launched atqnews.com, the online version of ''African Travel Quarterly Magazine''. According to Uko, it focuses on forecast, market, and political analyses of developments in travel, transport, and tourism from a global perspective and their impact on countries' economies. On 3 July 2015, he launched

Accra Accra (; or ''Gaga''; ; Ewe: Gɛ; ) is the capital and largest city of Ghana, located on the southern coast at the Gulf of Guinea, which is part of the Atlantic Ocean. As of 2021 census, the Accra Metropolitan District, , had a population of ...

Weizo, an event related to the founding vision of

ECOWAS The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS; also known as CEDEAO in French and Portuguese) is a regional political and economic union of twelve countries of West Africa. Collectively, the present and former members comprise an area ...

: to create a region of integrated people growing together. Accra Weizo brings travel professionals together to determine a pathway for the future of the African region, hosting tourism, aviation, and immigration key players and decision makers. In August 2015, he was appointed as the international tourism consultant to the Calabar Carnival. Uko has proposed building an aviation museum for Nigeria using abandoned aircraft as exhibits, stating that the project would promote Nigeria's tourism, empower and educate a new generation of aviators, and draw international investors in the aviation industry to Nigeria.

Awards and appointments

In 2008, he was appointed a member of the tourism committee

Nigeria Vision 2020 Nigeria Vision 2020 (also stylized as NV2020) was a strategic framework for the Federal Republic of Nigeria to develop its economic and political strength to the point by 2020, “Nigeria will be one of the 20 largest economies in the world, able ...

in the administration of

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Umaru Musa Yar'Adua Umaru Musa Yar'Adua (; 16 August 19515 May 2010) was a Nigerian politician who served as the president of Nigeria from 2007 until his death in May 2010. He won the Nigerian presidential election held on 21 April 2007, and was sworn in on 29 M ...

. In July 2014, Uko was chosen by the government of Rwanda as a namer at the 10th anniversary of Kwita Izina, the annual gorilla naming ceremony in

Rwanda Rwanda, officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator, Rwanda is bordered by ...

. In 2015, he was appointed consultant to the Calabar Carnival 2016 by the

Cross River State Cross River State is a state in the South-South geopolitical zone of Nigeria. Named for the Cross River, the state was formed from the eastern part of the Eastern Region on 27 May 1967. The state has its capital as Calabar and is bordered to ...

governor, Prof. Ben Ayade, with the vision to reposition Calabar Carnival. As the international tourism consultant for the 2016

Calabar Calabar (also referred to as Callabar, Calabari, Calbari, Cali and Kalabar) is the capital city of Cross River State, Nigeria. It was originally named Akwa Akpa, in the Efik language, as the Efik people dominate this area. The city is adjac ...

International Festival, Ikechi Uko brought in over 10 countries from various continents of the world to participate. He was reappointed in 2016 for the 2017 edition. In January 2016, *The African Sun Times*, awarded Ikechi Uko as its Tourism Ambassador of the Year 2015. According to the organizers of the Award, it was earned by Ikechi's tourism promotion and development campaign in Nigeria and Africa through projects showcasing Africa. At the 2017 MICE East Africa Forum and Expo held in

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; ,) is the capital city of Ethiopia, as well as the regional state of Oromia. With an estimated population of 2,739,551 inhabitants as of the 2007 census, it is the largest city in the country and the List of cities in Africa b ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

, Ikechi Uko was presented with the 2016 MICE East Africa's Tourism and Hospitality Personality Award for his contributions towards developing tourism, travel, and hospitality businesses and investments in Africa.Chuks Nwann
"Ikechi Uko wins Tourism Awards in Ethiopia"
''

The Guardian (Nigeria) ''The Guardian'' is a Nigerian independent daily newspaper, established in 1983, published by Guardian Newspapers Limited in Lagos, Nigeria. History ''The Guardian'' was established in 1983 by Alex Ibru, an entrepreneur, and Stanley Macebuh, ...

'', 17 June 2017. Retrieved on 27 June 2017.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Uko, Ikechi 1964 births 21st-century Nigerian businesspeople Branding consultants Igbo businesspeople Living people Businesspeople in mass media Nigerian publishers (people) 21st-century travelers University of Ibadan alumni Nigerian consultants