Adiya Urionu Ngozichukwuka is an ex-banker turned brand communication/media consultant. She has worked in different aspects of media, from TV/radio newscasting and script writing to developing content for TV and radio. She is the Creative Director at April Benjamin and Dawn Communication Limited, which is primarily focused on content development – producing documentaries, short dramas, and commercials; running media/brand communication campaigns for clients; and facilitating integrated public relations.
Uri studied business administration at the University of Lagos. She also has an MBA in marketing management from Trinity University College Dublin through the professional Global Training Institute, United Kingdom. She is also a UN Women trainer on financial inclusion.
Uri is an experiential marketer and a believer in the increasing adaptations of new media and digital skills. She is also a writer and a published author. She has written several human-interest articles, especially on gender inclusion. She is the author of a trilogy – Sakadelli: So, When Is It Okay?, Sakadelli 2: Give Me a Break!, and Sakadelli Musings, with the final one expected to be out by 2023. Her books have the US Library of Congress (LOC) number 2020937563. She is the producer and presenter of a new talk show sponsored MTN, Sakadelli Deep Talk Show.
As an inclusion advocate, she convenes the Empathy Driven Women International Initiative (EDWIIN). It is a non-profit organisation focused on women and girls with disabilities. EDWIIN has worked with camps for internally displaced persons, and her work has been featured on CNN Inside Africa. In 2017, she spoke about women with disabilities at TedxMendeWomen. The non-profit has also won several awards in humanitarian activities. Uri is also a loving mother.
In this interview, Urionu Ngozichukwuka speaks about her passion for the media, and fighting for disability inclusion.
You are multifaceted and multidimensional, how are you able to define and combine your different roles?
Being multifaceted and multidimensional doesn’t happen in a day. The key elements will certainly be there from the onset of one’s life. The rest are dependent on sociocultural development which will comprise education, societal interaction and exposure. All these affect the way we process issues and the way we are processed too. I see myself as cross-generational in so many ways.
You started your career in the banking industry, how has that experience shaped you and influenced your overall career?
Starting off my career in banking sounds a bit phony to me. I worked in the bank for eight years, even then I knew I was not a banker. I always knew my place. However, working in the bank was cool. I was young. Just 21. However, I was always the MC at my bank’s end-of-year party. I would also double as an entertainer. I would sing too. Now how does that fit a banking profile? I would also have my articles published in the newspaper. So really the bank did not shape me one bit. The only part it shaped was the corporate dressing which I have managed to tame over the years.
You have been involved in different aspects of the media. What challenges have you been confronted with and how were you able to surmount them?
Yes I have probably seen it all when it comes to the media. Advertising…getting clients to try new concepts. To also wait out the period the mileage yields the much-needed change in the bottom line. Radio/TV – as a content person, intellectual property theft is actually rife in every area. The rigidity of newscasting. Although I see some fluidity. Falling standards of broadcasting. Strangled regulations, etc. How did I overcome? I found other means of expression. More creative content development. Independent production. New media options.
Based on your experience as an experiential marketer, what opportunities lay ahead in new media within Nigeria?
Plenty of opportunities for new media within Nigeria. It’s like a brand war sometimes or most of the time. An organisation or a business can reach its optimal targets by engaging the right outfit with the right strategies and deploying proper social media marketing skills.
The fundamental dynamics of human needs haven’t changed however behaviour sure has. The customer or consumer is very impatient and our attention span has dropped dramatically so you have to be on top of your game. The truth is sometimes the speed of information is just as satisfying as the product or service itself.
Tell us about the books you authored, what was the motivation and inspiration behind them?
My books are novel-in-verse. Poetry and prose are interwoven with humour telling riveting short stories. They are creative works of art. A trilogy with the Library of Congress’s approval – the SAKADELLI book series. The first is Sakadelli: So, When Is It Okay?; the second is Sakadelli 2: Give Me a Break!, which I just launched. The third comes out next year or in 2024. I do have a book that’s not the Sakadelli series out next year. It’s called Fine wine: Pushing through the voices. Motivation behind the books? Life. Everyday. The human spirit is beautiful and can overcome any challenge when in its best state.
How can women better position themselves for leadership opportunities?
Women can better position themselves for better opportunities by forgetting their gender, rolling up their sleeves, and getting in there. Get training if you need to. Get knowledge if you need to. Do the late hours. Nothing good comes easy. I do not believe we should sacrifice excellence on the altar of gender. So let’s do this.
As a working mom, how do you attain a work-life balance?
I may not be the best person to ask this question. I worked at home. I quit my job as a banker and started working in the area of my natural inclination – broadcasting. That was after I took a five-year break to have my children. Yes. I quit my job to do that. Then I worked from home. I was the Chief Nanny. I loved every bit of it.
You run Empathy Driven Women International Initiative (EDWIIN), a non-profit organisation that focuses on women and girls with disabilities. What are the goals of the organisation, and how are you achieving them?
Our vision is to highlight the abilities of persons with disabilities to promote an inclusive society for all. Our goal is to create relatable activities with persons with disabilities in the society and our community in creative ways towards an optimum society. Our mission is to change the narrative from stigmatisation and discrimination to validation, celebration, and inclusion of persons with disabilities by harnessing, cultivating and equipping (empowering) their gifts and talents through various creative instructional ways.
How do you define success?
Success to me is the ability to express ourselves in our God-given talents. Using our gifts for the upliftment of humanity. That is success to me.
What do you take pride in?
My relationship with my God and my children.