Joseph N. C. Egemonye (1933 – 2011) was a Nigerian journalist, writer, politician and businessman. He was the Igbo editor of ''The Eastern Nigeria Observer'' from September 1960, under Joseph Akpan as editor. He later founded an

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

Youth Fellowship magazine called ''The Voice of Youth''. On the 5th of September 1974, he co-founded the Winston-Salem Chronicle, the oldest community newspaper in Winston-Salem, United States. In 1986, he became

Editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...

and founder of ''The Nigeria Monitor newspaper'', the first weekly newspaper in Nnewi, southeastern

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, ...

Background

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

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, a clan may claim descent from a founding member or apical ancestor who serves as a symbol of the clan's unity. Many societie ...

chieftain and a member of the Igbo ethnic group in Nigeria. Major-General Emeka Onwuamaegbu is his

nephew In the lineal kinship system used in the English-speaking world, a niece or nephew is a child of an individual's sibling or sibling-in-law. A niece is female and a nephew is male, and they would call their parents' siblings aunt or uncle ...

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. In 1968, he obtained a BSc degree in

management science Management science (or managerial science) is a wide and interdisciplinary study of solving complex problems and making strategic decisions as it pertains to institutions, corporations, governments and other types of organizational entities. It is ...

from the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

, where he was the winner of the 1966/67 Manchester Debating Union freshers' debating competition. He also obtained a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

degree in

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree of accuracy. The word, a noun, applies to the journ ...

from the

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC, UNC–Chapel Hill, or simply Carolina) is a public university, public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States. Chartered in 1789, the university first began enrolli ...

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 The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

. As a journalist, he was the Igbo

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, 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, organization, a ...

of the Eastern Nigerian Observer Newspaper in 1960 before founding an

Youth Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood (Maturity (psychological), maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as bei ...

Fellowship magazine called ''The Voice of the Youth''. He was also a lecturer at

North Carolina Central University North Carolina Central University (NCCU or NC Central) is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically black university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by James E. Shepard in affiliati ...

, Durham and head of the Journalism Department at

Shaw University Shaw University is a private historically black university in Raleigh, North Carolina. Founded on December 1, 1865, Shaw University is the oldest HBCU to begin offering courses in the Southern United States. The school had its origin in the fo ...

. In September 1974, he co-founded ''Winston-Salem Chronicle'' in Winston-Salem (a weekly newspaper that focuses on the

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

community) and in 1986 he founded ''The Nigeria Monitor'' the first

weekly newspaper Weekly newspaper is a general-news or Current affairs (news format), current affairs publication that is issued once or twice a week in a wide variety broadsheet, magazine, and electronic publishing, digital formats. Similarly, a biweekly newspap ...

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 Sani Abacha (; (20 September 1943 – 8 June 1998) was a Nigerian military dictator and statesman who ruled Nigeria with an iron fist as military head of state from 1993 following a palace coup d'état until his death in 1998. Abacha's seiz ...

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 Media (communication), media, especially publication, published materials, shoul ...

in Nigeria. As a businessman, he introduced the Micro wheel balancing Machine into the

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 ...

automobile A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, peopl ...

industry to provide young people with employment. As a politician, he was nominated as the

Nnewi North Nnewi North is a Local Government Area in Anambra State, south-central Nigeria. Nnewi is the only town in Nnewi North LGA. It has four villages (sub-towns) that make up the one-town local government, which includes; Otolo, Uruagu, Umudim and Nne ...

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 Alumni of the University of Manchester