Obo Effanga is multi-talented as a lawyer, journalist and human rights activist. He holds a National Diploma in Mass Communications from The Polytechnic Calabar; LL.B (Hons), University of Calabar; called to the Nigerian Bar in March 1995 and obtained MA in Human Rights from the University of Sussex, UK.
Born 1969 in Calabar, he worked as a journalist with the Nigerian Chronicle newspaper, published in Calabar by the Cross River State Newspaper Corporation. He practised law briefly but left in 1999 to work mainly for civil society organisations, including ActionAid Nigeria where he worked for 11 years.
While at NewAge Newspapers as General Counsel & Member Editorial Board, he won the Newspaper Columnist of the Year 2004 in the Nigeria Media Merit Awards. He has written hundreds of opinion pieces for many newspaper titles including The Comet; The Nation; NEXT; ThisDay; The Niche; Punch and Premium Times.
In 2017, he was appointed Resident Electoral Commissioner for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). He exhibited resilience and courage in the face of daunting challenges and violence to conduct successful and conclusive election in the 2019 General Election in Rivers State.
Effanga, a Ford Foundation Fellowship Alumnus, currently heads the alumni in Nigeria; he is into community mobilisation and philanthropy. His hobbies include reading, writing, traveling and philately.
