Thursday, 31 March, 2022, was a day of celebration for Development Diaries journalist, Chinonso Onwurah, his family, friends and colleagues as he bagged a master’s degree from Nasarawa State University, Keffi.
Chinonso, a Senior Analyst at ImpactHouse Centre for Development Communication, publishers of Development Diaries, earned the degree in Political Economy and Development Studies.
Standing shoulder to shoulder alongside other graduands in the university’s packed Convocation Square, the solutions-focused journalist, with passion, recited a pledge acknowledging the responsibilities that come with receiving the degree.
That pledge was recited after Nigeria’s Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, who was the special guest of honour at the university’s sixth combined convocation, reiterated his optimism that young people, including Chinonso, can solve the complex challenges facing Africa.
‘The complex challenges facing our country, and continent at large, requires ambitious thinking and courageous undertakings’, the vice president said.
‘There is no telling how far you can go if you dream large enough and find the courage to go after what you believe in’.
And Chinonso believes that his enhanced knowledge of Africa’s development sector will greatly impact his work in the thematic areas of good governance, environmental sustainability and gender equality.
‘I thank God and my family, and also grateful to ImpactHouse for giving me the leeway to pursue my career alongside my studies’, the excited policy analyst and researcher said.
His field of study typically covers markets, poverty, welfare, inequality, taxation, regimes, transitions, growth, ethnicity, religion, and culture.
‘I wanted to understand more about the nature of development issues in Africa and the part that political economy has to play’, he added.
‘The new insights and knowledge of social development gained from this programme will enable me to put out more analytical research reports’.
Congratulating him on his latest academic feat, Managing Editor at ImpactHouse, John Andah, said Chinonso’s drive to deepen his understanding of the issues in Africa’s development sector has never been in doubt.
‘Learning is a lifelong journey that helps one become wiser and smarter, and we are proud of Chinonso’s latest achievement, which aligns with our work at ImpactHouse’, he said.
‘ImpactHouse is a tech-media nonprofit that emphasises information and persuasion, increase in dissemination and education, behaviour change, social marketing, social mobilisation, media advocacy and community participation’.
Established in 2021, ImpactHouse Centre for Development Communication privileges local contexts, culture and relies on a mix of communication tools, channels and participatory approaches for uniform comprehension and acceptance of development messages.