Chris Okolie

Journalism

In 1972, he established New Breed, a biweekly news magazine published from Ogunlana Drive in Surulere. As the publisher, he sometimes came into conflict with military leaders in the country. In 1977, he was detained by authorities who did not like an article that was printed in the magazine. In June 1978, the government confiscated thousands of copies of the magazine and further imposed a ban on publication. The magazine resumed publication in 1987, nine years after the ban. He was again arrested and detained by the military regime of Ibrahim Babangida in 1993.

Okolie was a prominent critic of Nigeria’s military regimes. He was also one of the leading journalists who fought for press freedom and democracy during the years of military dictatorship.

Politics

In 1992, he joined the political process, Okolie was the SDP senatorial candidate for Delta North in the 1992 elections but was disqualified days before the election, along with 32 other senatorial candidates from the SDP and NRC. He was a member and spokesperson for the Committee of National Consensus in 1996, but moved to the United Nigeria Congress Party in 1997. Okolie later served as the Deputy National Legal Adviser of the PDP.