Spotlight on Chioma | DW Global Media Forum | DW | 11.11.2014
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GMF

Spotlight on Chioma

Chioma Agwuegbo is Founding Editor for YNaija2015, a site strictly dedicated to political news and analysis in a language young people understand to encourage them to vote in the 2015 elections.

GMF_Community_Chioma_Agwuegbo

Chioma Agwuegbo

There were outcries around the world when more than 250 schoolgirls were kidnapped by the Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram in northern Nigeria in April 2014. Boko Haram translates to "Western education is forbidden." Not much has changed since the abduction. Deutsche Welle has been reporting regularly on the topic, and has now opened a foreign bureau in Lagos to enhance its coverage from and about West Africa.

Chioma Agwuegbo, a 28-year-old social media strategist and journalist from Nigeria, also supports the Bring Back Our Girls campaign, which was launched to spread awareness and garner support to rescue the Chibok girls. “I joined and believe in the #BringBackOurGirls protests because a government that cannot look after its children has failed,” says Agwuegbo. “Six months after, despite local and international support, 219 girls are still missing, and the government and opposition parties prefer to play politics, trading allegations over the sponsors of Boko Haram, rather than rescuing our daughters. Shame.”

Chioma Agwuegbo attended the 2014 Global Media Forum as a fellow sponsored by the German Foreign Office. She has documented her impressions of the conference and its subject matter for the online service “Future challenges” and on the conference blog, Agwuegbo has also described her insights from the Digital Participation Camp held by the partner organization The Global Experience based in Münster, Germany, and about the difficulty she had choosing an agenda. Regarding the sessions, she notes, “I was often in a quandary as to which session to attend and which one to miss out on, they all looked so rich. The ones I managed to attend really provoked a lot of thought, and one of them so much that I wrote about it. Future Challenges published ‘Revolution in Africa – the Inaccuracy of Labels’“.

Agwuegbo’s journalistic work often focuses on political matters. She is Founding Editor for YNaija2015, a site strictly dedicated to political news and analysis in a language young people understand. The site is aimed mainly at young people, encouraging them to vote in the 2015 elections. Assessing the political situation in her country for the Bertelsmann Transformation Index Agwuegbo says, “Unfortunately at this time there is no alternative to President Goodluck Jonathan because the main opposition party, APC (All Progressive Congress), four months to Election Day, has not selected a consensus candidate.”

Recalling her time spent at the Global Media Forum in Bonn, Chioma Agwuegbo says, “Germans are such warm people.” For her it reinforced the idea that, “It is always best to approach a people with an open mind, devoid of any stereotypes.” That of course is also an important element of the conference, which brings together people from different cultures from all around the world to help break down barriers and contribute to mutual understanding.

“The Global Media Forum was an experience I will keep with me for a while,” says Agwuegbo, “maybe till the next one just so I can make new memories!” We look forward to seeing her again at the Global Media Forum in 2015.

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