Uche CHUKWUMERIJE

Biographical record

Surname

CHUKWUMERIJE

First Name

Uche

Gender

Male

Date of Birth

January 11,1939

Date of Death

19 April 2015

State of Origin

Abia

Place of Birth

Ogoja

Names of Children

Chika Chukwumerije, Dikeogu Egwuatu Chukwumerije, Uche Chukwumerije, Jnr., Chidi Chukwumerije

Profession

Journalist
Politician
Administrator

Working Experience

Head Features . Desk,DailyTimes, 1961; News Desk,Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation (howFRCN); dir.Propaganda, defunct Republic of Biafra; Publisher/ceo. Afriscope Magazine; dir.Smurfit Packs, Chromograph Colour Printers; Minister of Information and Culture under General Ibrahim Babangida and under the Interim National Government of Ernest Shonekan.

Schools Attended with Dates

Methodist Central School, Nkwoagu, Isuochi, AbiaState, 1943-52; Our Lady's HighSchool,Onitsha, 1953-57; University College Ibadan, 1958-61; Faith Bible College, Otta, 1991-92

Have you ever been a member of any political party?

Yes

If "Yes", please state the party(ies) and offices you have held with dates

: Socialist Workers andFarmers Party, 1961; Peoples RedemptionParty (PRP); Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), 1998; Peoples Progressive Alliance(PPA), 2006; People's Democratic Party

Awards and Honours

Senator of the Year, ThisDay 10*Anniversary, 2004; Senator of the Year, 11* Annual ThisDayAward; Founder/presd. Pan-African Volunteers for Protection of Lumumba; Movement for the African Union, 1962-65; Socialist Agit-Prop Group, 1964-66; Progressive Thinkers Forum, 1965-66; Christian Unity Band, 1991

Social Clubs

Ikoyi Club; Lagos Country Club,,Ikeja

Other Relevant Information

In the Fourth Republic, Chukwumerije was elected to the Senate on the Peoples Democratic Party's platform, but he fell out of favor with the party's leadership when he opposed the Third Term Agenda. Chukwumerije eventually decamped to the Progressive Peoples Alliance in 2006, and was reelected to the Senate on April 28, 2007. Chukwumerije was reelected on the PDP platform in the April 2011 elections. He died in office of lung cancer in 2015.
Chukwumerije was divorced and has 7 children. One of his sons Chika won a bronze medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Another son, Dikeogu Egwuatu Chukwumerije, is a writer and a performance poet.One of his sons Kwame, died in a car accident many years ago.