INSPIRING:
NIGERIAN Born American Journalist, CHIKA SANDRA ODUAH made History as First Foreign Journalist to Reveal Pains of Chibok Girls’ Abduction by Boko Haram…Won Thomson Reuters Foundation Trust Women Journalist of The Year Award
*Earlier awarded CNN Multichoice African Journalist Award
* Works as Television News Producer, Writer,Photographer and correspondent
* Worked as a commercial photographer in Atlanta, In 2010 was Television News Reporter and Documentary Feature Producer for K24 in Nairobi, Kenya
* Featured as Reporter with CNN and Associated Press, Currently a correspondent for Voice of America and English language channel of France 24
* Her Reports published in New York Times, The Guardian, Al Jazeera, The Daily Beast, CNN and The Huffington Post
* Made waves in Al Jazeera after reporting Human Angle news stories on Cancer
* Listed in YNaija’s ‘Nigeria’s 100 Most Inspiring Women’,
*Won ‘The Future Awards’ and ‘EbonyLife Prize for Journalism’
*Recipient of the Young Reporter for a Sustainable Future Award from the International Center for Journalists in partnership with the United Nations Foundation
*HAD Bachelors of Arts degree in Anthropology, Second Bachelors of Arts degree in Telecommunications at Georgia State University, Was Vice President of the University’s chapter of the Society for Professional Journalists; An Alumna of the Medill School of Journalism where she received Master of Science degree in after studying Broadcast Journalism
* ‘277,027 American residents were born in Nigeria. Nigeria is African country of origin with the most migrants in the United States’-INVESTIGATION
SHE IS HIGHLY CEREBRAL, INTELLIGENT AND BEAUTIFUL. She walks where Angels fear to thread. She is a thorough bred investigative journalist who had put her life several times on the line as an undercover reporter to report human angle news stories bothering on humanity. CHIKA ODUAH is a total story of Nigerian vision, resilience, tenacity of purpose, hardwork and integrity.
Oduah born March 14, 1986 is a Nigerian-American journalist who works as a television news producer, writer, photographer and correspondent, famous for her unique human-focused ethnographic reporting style with an anthropological approach. Due to her media professionalism, she was awarded a Cables News Network, CNN Multichoice African Journalist Award in 2016.
Upon the abduction of 276 schoolgirls by the terrorist group Boko Haram in Chibok, Northeastern Nigeria, Oduah was among the first international journalists to visit the town. Her thorough and exclusive coverage of the event won her the Trust Women “Journalist of The Year Award” from the Thomson Reuters Foundation in 2014.
Early life and education:
Oduah is of the Igbo ethnic group. She was born as the eldest of seven children into the Christian family of Dr. Emmanuel and Mercy Oduah on March 14, 1986 in Ogbaru, Anambra State and moved to Metro Atlanta, United States with her family at the age of two. During her time in high school, Chika joined VOX newspaper as a staff reporter with her focus majorly on stories about immigrants and refugees in Atlanta.
In 2004, Chika worked at the Center for Pan-Asian Community Services in Doraville, Georgia where she taught refugee teenagers from Sudan, Afghanistan, Liberia, Iraq, Bosnia, Rwanda and South Sudan. Between 2004 – 2008, she attended Georgia State University where she studied film, anthropology and broadcast journalism and was awarded a bachelor of arts degree in anthropology and a second bachelor of arts degree in telecommunications. During her time in Georgia State University, she served as Vice President of the University’s chapter of the Society for Professional Journalists. She is also an alumna of the Medill School of Journalism where she received her Master of Science degree in 2010 after studying broadcast journalism.
On her journalism adventure, in 2009, she worked as a commercial photographer in Atlanta and in 2010 she worked as a television news reporter and documentary feature producer for K24 in Nairobi, Kenya where she worked with Jeff Koinange, having had to work for National Broadcasting Corporation and Sahara Reporters as a reporter.
Oduah relocated to Nigeria in 2012 and began working with Al Jazeera as a freelance reporter and television news producer. She also worked with CNN and the Associated Press and currently working as a correspondent for Voice of America and the English language channel of France 24.
Her 2012 interview with Nigerian pop music celebrity D’Banj for Sahara TV was widely viewed and generated various reactions. Oduah’s works has been published in notable media platforms including New York Times, The Guardian, Al Jazeera, The Daily Beast, CNN and The Huffington Post.
In 2014, Oduah rose to recognition after her coverage of the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping, thus making her win the 2014 Trust Women “Journalist of The Year Award” from the Thomson Reuters Foundation. One of her editorials published on The Atlantic titled “In the Land of Nigeria’s Kidnapped Girls” saw her selected as a finalist of the 2015 Livingston Awards for Young Journalists.
Oduah made her Al Jazeera onscreen debut when Al Jazeera broadcast a documentary in November 2015 about breast cancer that Chika reported alongside Ghanaian undercover investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas. Oduah’s human-focused reporting on the Islamist insurgency of Boko Haram in Northeastern Nigeria highlights the plight of women and children with exclusive coverage on orphans, escapees and wives of jihadists.
She was the winner of the 2015 African Story Challenge award by the African Media Initiative and the International Center for Journalists for her coverage of the aftermath of a 2010 lead poison outbreak in Nigeria, a project which also won her the Dow Technology & Innovation Reporting Award at the 2016 CNN MultiChoice African Journalist Awards. On March 8, 2016 she was listed in YNaija’s “Nigeria’s 100 Most Inspiring Women”, before she went on to be voted the category winner of The Future Awards and EbonyLife Prize for Journalism at the eleventh edition of The Future Awards. In September 2016, she became the inaugural recipient of the Young Reporter for a Sustainable Future Award from the International Center for Journalists in partnership with the United Nations Foundation.
Latest reports indicate that Nigerian Americans are Americans who are of Nigerian ancestry. The 2012-2016 ACS estimates that 277,027 American residents were born in Nigeria. Nigeria is both the most populous country in Africa with a population of 186.0 million as of 2016 and remains the African country of origin with the most migrants in the United States, as of 2013.
