Ifechukwude Osanedum Jideonwo is a Nigerian lawyer, award-winning journalist, and media entrepreneur. Over the last ten years, he has gained extensive experience in all aspects of traditional and new media, which he has used to create effective media campaigns. He is also regarded as a leading authority on new/social media and youth culture. Above all, he has traveled the continent as a development expert, primarily with The Future Project, which has reached millions of Nigerians, particularly young people. The Future Project aims to inspire leadership, foster entrepreneurship, and make innovative use of media.
Early Life and Education
Ifechukwude Osanedum Jideonwo was born on March 16, 1985, in Lagos, Nigeria, to Ifeanyi S. and Ngozi A. Jideonwo. He attended K. Kotun Memorial Primary School for his elementary education. He attended the Mayflower School in Ikenne and Adebola Baptist High School after completing his primary education.
Chude earned his bachelor’s degree in law from the University of Lagos, where he was named the department’s top land law student. In November 2007, he was admitted to the bar. In addition to his qualifications, he holds a master’s degree in communication and media studies from Pan-African University in Lagos.
He is also a graduate of the University of Oxford, Strathmore Business School (SBS), Lagos Business School, and Said Business School.
Career
Chude began his career as an NTA TV host. Later, he worked as a researcher for the nationally syndicated TV shows Celebrating Jesus (MBI) and Inside Out with Agatha, both of which starred Agatha Amata. Around this time, he met Adebola Williams, with whom he later co-founded Red Africa. He worked for the NTA Network’s New Dawn for three years, rising to the position of Associate Producer and overseeing the Special Projects division. Among the shows for which he has written, served as an assistant director, or hosted are The Academy, Patito’s Gang, Video 10, Big Brother Nigeria in 2006, and Moments with Mo (MNet).
He is a regular event host and also hosts the Channels Television conversation show Rubbin’ Minds. While working at New Dawn with Funmi Iyanda, Jideonwo met his future partners, who both had a show on the NTA network called Youth Talk. They became friends while working together in 2004 and decided to start a business that would use the media to motivate and inspire young people. RedSTRAT, the result of this collaboration, was formally registered in 2005.
He hosts #WithChude, a network of media products spanning TV, radio, podcasts, newsletters, and blogs, and he tells stories to empower and strengthen the mind, heart, and soul. The weekly interviews are broadcast globally on Channels TV, Rave TV, and WaZoBia Max, and are also available on terrestrial television, GOTV, StarTimes, DSTV platforms, and social media platforms. Guests on the show include political, governmental, and cultural leaders, as well as ordinary people who do not consider themselves famous. Joke Silva discussed how her husband, Olu Jacobs, was coping with dementia with Lewy body for the first time on #WithChude for the first time, and it has since become a safe space for guests to discuss topics publicly for the first time.
Jim Iyke discussed his failed marriages and his early experiences with parenthood.
The program has consistently brought important issues to light and sparked national debates on the topics covered. In March 2022, Kemi Afolabi shared her story of living with lupus on #WithChude. During that month, the most popular search terms in Nigeria were Lupus and Kemi Afolabi. It also prompted other media outlets, such as the BBC, to pay close attention to lupus.
Publications
Jideonwo has written and edited over 15 books that have been published both domestically and internationally. He started as a copy editor at the now-defunct NEXT Newspapers in July 2009 and rose through the ranks to become a member of the editorial board.
For three years, he wrote a column called “Sons and Daughters” in The Guardian’s Sunday edition, which featured profiles of famous and wealthy people’s children.
Are We The Turning Point Generation (2014)
In May 2014, he released the essay collection “Are We The Turning Point Generation” in Lagos, Nigeria. The essay published by Farafina was well-known in Lagos, Abuja, Paris, London, Johannesburg, and New York.
How to Win Elections in Africa: Parallels with Donald Trump (2017)
Jideonwo’s sociopolitical essay, How to Win Elections in Africa, was published in November 2017. It compares the Brexit vote in the United Kingdom to the 2016 elections that brought Donald Trump to power in order to examine all of the factors that influence election campaign success or failure. The publisher is Farafina.
Entrepreneurship Career
Jideonwo is the co-founder of RED, a full-service media-content, communication, and development firm that has worked with a diverse range of domestic and international clients, as well as the founder of Joy, Inc. While working as a production assistant on the set of Inside Out with Agatha Amata, he met Red’s co-founder, Adebola Williams.
Joy, Inc.
Joy Inc., a teaching and media company, was registered as a benefit corporation in order to mainstream the research and evidence on human flourishing and create a new generation of Africans committed to the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people. Profits from Joy Inc. will be donated to a select group of charities. Among the innovative startup’s offerings are #WithChude, The Joy Masterclass, The Joy Congress, Joy: The Podcast, The Joy Clubs, The Joy Store, and The Daily Vulnerable. Therapy was introduced by Joy, Inc. in March 2022. WithChude.com is a learning and therapeutic platform that provides solutions to issues that many young people face. The learning platform contains topics including how to handle post-natal depression, how to handle sadness and anxiety, and how to handle toxic Christianity.
Red (Red Africa)
RED’s brands include The Future Awards Africa, Red Media Africa, StateCraft, Inc., and YNaija. In addition, the company has provided consulting services to major corporations such as Microsoft, Google, the British Council, and the US government. It successfully managed the campaigns of two successive Nigerian presidents. Jideonwo worked as Muhammadu Buhari’s campaign manager in 2015 through Statecraft Inc, Red’s government communication firm.
StateCraft Inc. also served as the campaign’s communications director in 2016, when Nana Akufo-Addo, a candidate who had previously lost three presidential elections in Ghana, won.
Personal Life
Chude met his wife while working at New Dawn with Funmi Iyanda and on the NTA Network’s Youth Talk show. They met while working together and decided to start a company that would actively use the media to motivate and inspire young people.
Impact and Influence
Chude has centred his empire around young people because he loves them. His charity work is mostly focused on young people and is done through Joy Inc. He launched a fundraising effort in March 2018 to earn 10 million naira to construct walk-in shelters for those dealing with depression and trauma.
Awards and Nominations
- His novel, His Father’s Knickers, was written when he was 13 and was launched in 2001 together with the National Orientation Agency and the French Cultural Centre.
- Winner, British Council Telling Stories Competition, 2003
- Olive Excellence Award in Media and Production—2004
- Best Graduating Student in Land Law: University of Lagos, 2006
- Nigeria Merit Award: Entertainment Writer of the Year – 2007
- Selected as a Nigerian Youth Leader by the United States Government under the International Visitors Leadership Programme (IVLP) – 2009
- The Inside Out Award for exemplary commitment, 2009
- Distinguished Alumni Award of Excellence, Mayflower Old Students Association – 2011
- The youngest member of the awards committee for the Ford Foundation Jubilee Transparency Award – 2012
- Appointed to the British Council Steering Group – 2012
- Appointed a Youth Champion by the Federal Ministry of Youth Development – 2012
- Selected as Nominee for Most Enterprising Youth by the Nigeria Youth Merit Award – 2012
- The Punch, “One of the young people to watch in 2012”
- BusinessDay 40 Under 40 – 2012
- Forbes’ 30 Under 30: Africa’s Best Young Entrepreneurs – 2013
- CNBC Africa Young Business Leader of the Year – 2014
- The youngest journalist to interview a sitting Nigerian President (Goodluck Ebele Jonathan) – 2014
- Finalist, African Business of the Year, New African Magazine – 2015
- Greenberg Fellow at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, 2017
- Selected as one of the participants to attend the 2018 Tutu Leadership Programme
- In 2020, he endowed The Nigeria Prize for Difference and Diversity with a million naira. The prize will find and support young people across Nigeria who are creating safe spaces for and giving voice to people who are different in seven key areas: gender, sexuality, faith and spirituality, mental and emotional health, art, special needs, and human rights.
Net Worth
His net worth is currently unavailable.
