Azubuike Ishiekwene was the former executive director of Punch Nigeria

Punch (magazine)

Punch, or the London Charivari was a British weekly magazine of humour and satire established in 1841 by Henry Mayhew and engraver Ebenezer Landells. Historically, it was most influential in the 1840s and 50s, when it helped to coin the term "cartoon" in its modern sense as a humorous illustration...

until an internal financial scandal in March, 2010 led to his departure from the newspaper. He holds a Masters degree in Public Administration and International Affairs from University of Lagos

University of Lagos

The University of Lagos - popularly known as Unilag - is a federal government university with a main campus located at Akoka, Yaba and a college of medicine located at Idi-Araba, all in Lagos, Lagos State, southern Nigeria...

 and a B.Sc in Mass Communications. Ishiekwene, (or Azu, as he is fondly called) is a member of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, the Nigerian Union of Journalists, and an Associate member of the World Association of Newspapers

World Association of Newspapers

The World Association of Newspapers is a non-profit, non-governmental organization made up of 76 national newspaper associations, 12 news agencies, 10 regional press organisations and individual newspaper executives in 100 countries...

.

Azubuike was born in Port Harcourt, Rivers State

Rivers State

Rivers State is one of the 36 states of Nigeria. Its capital is Port Harcourt. It is bounded on the South by the Atlantic Ocean, to the North by Imo, Abia and Anambra States, to the East by Akwa Ibom State and to the West by Bayelsa and Delta states...

 to Mr. and Mrs. Robert Ishiekwene of Ndokwa West

Ndokwa West

Ndokwa West is a Local Government Area of Delta State, Nigeria. Its headquarters are in the town of Kwale.It has an area of 816 km² and a population of 149,325 at the 2006 census.The postal code of the area is 322....

 Local Government in Delta State

Delta State

Delta State may refer to:*Delta State, a state in southern Nigeria.*Delta State , a Canadian animated television series.*Delta State University, a public university located in the U.S. state of Mississippi....

, he attended Christ The King Primary School, Ajegunle

Ajegunle

Ajegunle is a district of Lagos State, Nigeria. It has produced notable footballers and musicians, among whom are Samson Siasia, coach of Nigeria's Olympic Team, ; former Super Eagles ace defender Taribo West and Emmanuel Amuneke, former African Footballer of the Year.Ajegunle's uniqueness lies in...

, Lagos

Lagos

Lagos is a port and the most populous conurbation in Nigeria. With a population of 7,937,932, it is currently the third most populous city in Africa after Cairo and Kinshasa, and currently estimated to be the second fastest growing city in Africa...

 (1972–1978); Gaskiya College, Cardoso, Ojora, Badiya, Lagos (1978/79 - 1983) for School Certificate; Jibril Martins Memorial Grammar School, Iponri, Lagos (1983–1985) for HSC; University of Lagos (Mass Communication) from 1985 to 1988 and University of Lagos (Masters in Public and International Affairs) from 2003 to 2005.

Azu joined Punch in 1989 (after serving as an intern in 1986) and has at various times been staff reporter, investigative reporter, features writer, senior features writer, deputy features editor, features editor, and deputy editor of Toplife magazine (a Punch publication). He was also a member of the Punch editorial board

Editorial board

The editorial board is a group of people, usually at a publication, who dictate the tone and direction the publication's editorial policy will take.- Board makeup :...

, and Editor of Saturday Punch between 1996 and 2001.

He was editor of the company’s flagship paper and daily title, The Punch, between 2002 and 2006, when he was appointed Executive Director, Publications, with direct oversight functions for the company’s three titles – Sunday Punch, Saturday Punch and The Punch. He has won many awards, including the Babatunde Jose Prize for journalism

Journalism

Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...

 1988, the Dame Award for Informed Commentary 1993, 2001, 2004 and again in 2006; and Editor of the Year, NMMA 2006.

He was editor, Unilag Sun (a publication of the University of Lagos Mass Communication department); Winner, Babatunde Jose Prize for best print graduating student; serial winner of the Diamond Awards for Media Excellence (DAME) for Best Informed Commentary; Editor of the Year Award by the Nigerian Media Merit Award; Columnist of the Year by the Nigerian Media Merit Award; Outstanding Alumnus Award, Department of Mass Communication, University of Lagos, 2008.

Azu is also a member of the World Editors Forum, a board member of the World Policy Journal

World Policy Journal

World Policy Journal is a magazine on international relations published by SAGE Publications for the World Policy Institute. It contains primarily policy essays, but also book reviews, interviews, and historical essays...

 (a platform of the World Policy Institute

World Policy Institute

The World Policy Institute, a non-partisan policy institute which claims to develop policies that require a progressive ideology. WPI focuses on cooperative policies in order to achieve : an inclusive and sustainable global market economy, engaged global civic participation and effective...

), and the current chair of the judging panel for the CNN/MultiChoice African Journalist of the Year Award. He is the author of The Trial of Nuhu Ribadu: A riveting story of Nigeria’s anti-corruption warhttp://www.mg.co.za/article/2008-05-14-corruption-always-fights-back.