Sumner Shagari Sambo

Background

About Sumner Shagari Sambo

Sumner Shagari Sambo has always been passionate about journalism, working especially with start-ups to rejuvenate broadcasting across Nigeria and Africa. He is currently the Director of News (DN) and specially oversees the political desk at Arise News Television, Africa's most prominent TV channel where he combines his skills with other creative minds to reposition news coverage and current affairs programming for premium news content consumers in Nigeria and across the continent. Sumner is a multi-skilled Journalist and multimedia professional. He is a 2018 Fellow of the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ). He also won the 2016 Nigeria Investigative Journalist of the Year (TV) award run by the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ) and was winner of the 2017 Senate Reporter of the Year (TV) award organised by the Senate Press Corps of Nigeria's National Assembly. Before joining Arise News, he was a Political Editor/Bureau Chief with News Central Television, a pan-African news channel broadcasting from Lagos, Nigeria. He also had a stint as Senior Special Assistant (SSA) on Electronic Media to Senate President Ahmad Lawan. He was also a Senior Correspondent/Deputy Bureau Chief with TVC News, one of Nigeria's largest TV networks which previously operated a pan-African news channel, TVC News Africa. Prior to that, he was a Broadcast Journalist with Reuters News Television and formerly a Senior National Correspondent with NN24 Television, Nigeria. He also worked with The Nation Newspaper, one of Nigeria's widely circulated national newspapers as a Production Sub-editor with a stint on Radio too with Rhythm FM and ABU FM. An MSc and BSc Mass Communication graduate of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria; he is a technology-savvy and probing mind who also acts as a Fixer for many international news crews coming to Nigeria or West Africa to source for interviews and news stories. Sumner was the Media Coordinator of the 2023 Arise News Presidential Townhall Series and also acted in the same role as Media Coordinator of the 2011 NN24 Nigeria Presidential Debate. He has won other awards like the Most Promising Youth, 2012 presented to him by the Chamber Social Club, Abuja. A widely travelled and newsy person, he believes that the greatest investment in life is the cross-fertilization of ideas!