Uche Pedro: Five Things You Need To Know

Personality Uche Pedro is the founder of Bellanaija.com, the number one wedding blog. You may have known a lot about the blog. More than you know about the creator. This should not be so. Here, we have compiled five facts about the blogger you should know.

1. Her blog was inspired by boredom

Uche Pedro has the kind of experience that would do honour to many CVs. She has worked for Shell Canada, for Cadbury Middle East and Africa Unit based in the UK, and for Cadbury Nigeria. Before all these, just after her education in Canada and return to Nigeria in 2006, she started bellanaija out of the boredom of doing nothing.

Well, it is not just boredom. There was love in the mix. “I have always loved Nigeria, loved Africa,” she told CNN. Love and boredom can move mountains. And observation. According to Uche, she observed during her holidays in Nigeria, while studying, that the country was changing. She saw vibrancy in the fashion and entertainment sectors. She saw people making waves in business and politics. It was out of these that bellanaija was born.

2. Uche Pedro is a global icon

If you ever engage in a spat with Uche Pedro and she says do you know who I am? Then it’s time to end the argument. She is known internationally. She was interviewed on CNN (Isha Sesay, CNN i-List) as far back as 2010. It was in this same year that she featured on Oprah Winfrey show (Beauty Around the World). In 2014, Uche Pedro was included in Forbes “30 Most Promising Young Entrepreneurs in Africa” list. In 2017, Uche and United Nations Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights (UNOCHR) partnered to bring to the fore issues affecting women on the occasion of the International Women’s Day.

Earlier in the year, Uche Pedro was invited for the Obama Foundation Summit in Chicago as a civic leader. Also, the star blogger is a member of TedGlobal which define themselves as “a conference that celebrates human ingenuity by exploring ideas, innovation, and creativity.” Locally, besides being a major inspiration for many bloggers owing to her largely uncontroversial nature and success in the blogosphere, she is a member of many elite groups, including an associate of Nigeria Leadership Initiative.

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Pedro’s membership of this groups, her many invitations for interviews and submits abroad all point to a sterling fact – Uche Pedro is a world mover.

3. Iya Ibeji

Uche Eze got married to Bode Pedro on the 16th of June 2012, CEO and founder of Veda Technology and son to former Lagos State Deputy Governor (under Tinubu) Femi Pedro on June 16, 2012. Bode Pedro is an award-winning entrepreneur on his own right. It was a marriage of entrepreneurs, it was a big wedding that had Lagos biggest boys in attendance. Nigerian music legend Tuface and current sensation, WizKid, sang at the wedding. It was the Bellanaija wedding of the century. It had to be.

In April 2015, Uche became Iya Ibeji when she welcomed her twin daughters.

4. She is a billionaire

In naira. This is a big deal since the naira is no Zimbabwean dollars and a billionaire in naira is a millionaire in all currencies. According to Wealthresult.com, after estimating the earnings of Bellanaija, considering money made via Google AdSense, direct advert, wedding features and sponsored posts. They calculated these and concluded that the blogger is worth around four million dollars which is over 1.5 billion naira. Other publications have placed her worth to around two billion.

5. Uche Pedro has amassed nominations and awards

It might be possible for Uche Pedro to list all the recognition she has attained without checking Google. It might not. We will try. Born Uche Jennifer Eze, the graduate of Business Administration from Richard Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario, Canada has engraved her name on many accolades. The Future Awards, the African Fashion Week, Creative Media Awards, the Kids Choice Awards are some of the organizations that have honoured the blogger. Notable awards include Young Media Entrepreneur of the Year and African Best Blogger. In 2008, Punch Newspaper ranked her 22nd in their list of 100 people that shaped the year 2008 in Nigeria.

Uche Pedro has been a nominee of the prestigious New African Women Magazine award for her efforts and contributions in the fashion and entertainment world. CNN’s Zain Ejiofor Asher, Chimamanda Adichie and First female secretary general of FIFA, Fatma Samoura were also honoured.