Amb. Ikechi Uko

Ikechi Uko is a Nigerian travel business consultant, travel promoter, tourism development expert, media consultant, journalist and author. He is the organizer of Akwaaba African Travel Market, the first international travel fair in West Africa; Abuja Bantaba; and organizer, Accra Weizo and Port Harcourt Bantaba. He is the CEO of Jedidah Promotions (an international media and tourism marketing firm for airlines, hotels and destinations across Africa); project director of Seven Wonders of Nigeria (Naija7Wonders), and publisher of Africa Travel Quarterly Magazine and atqnews.com.

Ikechi Uko is from Abia State, Nigeria. He was born on 12 January 1964 into the family of Mr Samson Uko and Mrs Salome Uko, née Azubuike. At a young age, Uko had an eye on travel. He could give up anything to discover new places. He attended National Secondary School Nike, Enugu. He worked as ticketing officer with Nigeria Airways ABC in Enugu. He studied Geography at the University of Ibadan and graduated in 1985. He did his National Youth Service Corps in Bauchi State, from where he moved to Kano State and taught in Gwarzo Secondary School, Gwarzo, and Rogo Secondary School, Rogo. In 1988, he returned to the University of Ibadan to obtain his Msc in Geography with emphasis on environmental planning and remote sensing. He graduated in 1990 and went ahead to obtain certificate in Journalism from Times Institute of Journalism and Prince2 Practitioners Licence. His father played a huge role in cementing his passion, travel: Mr Samson Uko worked with the Nigerian Railway Corporation and kept books. As a child, Ikechi spent his holidays reading those books and travelling to new places in the course of his father’s job. His late mother, Mrs Salome Uko, a teacher, steered his early life towards Geography and taught him lessons in enterprise.