Chinazor Onianwah was born in Tiko, Cameroon to a Nigerian father, Chike Onianwah and a Cameroonian mother, Agnes Becky Onianwah, on May 5, 1963. He lived his early life in Ibusa, Nigeria with his grandparents Obi Odita Onianwah andObi Ogolibuoku Onianwah (both deceased).
He was four years old in 1967 when the Nigerian Civil War reached Ibusa. His grandmother took him and his older brother, Christopher, into the bushes where they remained until the war ended in 1970. They rejoined the rest of their siblings in Lagos and resumed their education. At the age of nine, Chinazor watched his father frequently as he pounded the keys of his manual typewriter with one finger for hours, and sometimes for days. Then he watched often times, with frustration, as he pulled a paper out of the jammed typewriter. Soon enough his father would gather all the typewritten papers and read them. Sometimes, he would tear up the papers and start all over again to type with one finger. This could go on for days. Eventually the stacks of paper would be put in an envelope and he would take the envelope somewhere in the city and a few days later, he would bring home boxes of a magazine.
This ritual took place on a monthly basis. One day, Chinazor summoned enough courage to pick up a copy of the magazine. The name on the masthead was ‘Africa Travel Trade Journal’. He opened it and his father did not object. They were having a conversation with their eyes; so far, he did not sense any objection as he read one of the pages. It said, right beneath his father’s name, ‘Editor-in-Chief/Publisher. The lead story was ‘A requiem for Martin Luther King Jr., America’s Prophet’. “It has been four years since the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the black American civil rights leader...” He stuffed a few of the magazines in his school bag and looked at his father, his eyes seemed to say no, “Read one at a time, they are all the same copy.”
Chinazor Onianwah graduated from the Nigerian Institute of Journalism in 1986 and worked as a reporter/researcher for “Newswatch,” Nigeria’s premier weekly news magazine. In 1987, he enrolled at Howard University in Washington DC, USA, for further studies in journalism but the burgeoning Internet was a stronger draw to study. He obtained his Microsoft Certified System Engineer certificate in 1995 and started Total Webcasting Inc., a web development company that catered to Churches and non-profit organizations. From 1998 through 2002, the Embassy of Nigeria in Washington DC contracted his company to set up their information technology and train its staff. His work at the Embassy of Nigeria revealed to him that many of the economic development occurring in Africa was not been reported in the US media. As a result, he launched a weekly 30-minute news program “Emerging Markets Report” that was simulcast on the internet and a local radio station in Washington DC. However, the ad revenue generated could not keep up with the cost of airtime. After a six-month run, the program was cancelled.
Chinazor is a graduate of the Boston University Center for Digital Imaging Arts. He is the Chief Creative Officer at Scripts, Graphics N Things. He also blogs incessantly at http://www.afrobama.blog.com. Some of his most popular blogs include: True Confessions of a Redneck, and the sequel, Opera Quell Chanel Noise, The Grand Attempt to Assassinate POTUS featuring Apalachee Red. He lives with his wife, and their four children in Washington DC.