Nduka Obaigbena is a prominent Nigerian media entrepreneur and journalist. He was born on July 14, 1959, in Ibadan, Nigeria, and hails from the royal family of the Owa Kingdom in Delta State.
His education includes attendance at Edo College in Benin City, Government College in Ughelli, and the University of Benin, where he studied Creative Arts and worked as a cartoonist under the pseudonym “Lekeleke” for student publications. He also attended the Graduate School of Business at the University of the Witwatersrand and the Advanced Management Programme at the University of Cape Town.
Obaigbena’s career began with roles as the Nigeria Representative for both Time Magazine and Newsweek Magazine. He founded ThisWeek magazine in 1986 and later launched the daily newspaper Thisday in 1995. In 2013, he expanded his media enterprises by launching the international TV news channel Arise News. He is also the founder of ARISE Magazine and ARISE Fashion Week, and he created the annual THISDAY Awards in 2000 to honor contributions to Nigerian society.
Beyond media, Obaigbena has been involved in politics, serving as a senatorial candidate in 1991 and an elected member of the Constitutional Conference in 1994. He holds leadership positions in professional organizations, including Chairman of the Newspaper Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria (NPAN) and the Nigerian Press Organisation. He is also a regular attendee and session moderator at the World Economic Forum.
His career has faced challenges, including a seven-year disqualification from serving as a company director in the UK in 2021 due to financial management issues related to Arise TV. In 2022, he was conferred with the Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON) by President Muhammadu Buhari.
