Lorenzo Menakaya
Tochukwu Lorenzo Uzonna Menakaya is a Nigerian on-air personality, actor, event host, filmmaker and singer. He received nominations for On-Air Personality of the Year at The Future Awards Africa in 2011 and 2012, and he won the award of Outstanding Radio Presenter at the Nigerian Broadcasters Merit Awards in 2016. He also hosted the 2019 and 2020 Africa Movie Academy Awards.
Biography
Menakaya was born into the Menakaya family of Umunya in Anambra State, Nigeria. He was educated at the University of Nigeria Secondary School, Nsukka, and studied religion at the University of Nigeria before receiving a short training in broadcasting by the Institute Panos Afrique de l’Ouest in Dakar, Senegal, and the Institute for Media and Society in Lagos, Nigeria. He recorded his first short film, Sundown Tale, in 2015, and in 2019, he produced his debut feature film, Ordinary Fellows, co-directing with Ikenna Aniekwe. In 2019, he was one of the hosts of the 15th Africa Movie Academy Awards along with actress Kemi Lala Akindoju and comedian Funny Bone.He also returned as the host for the awards ceremony in 2020. He played the role of Ubong on Trace TV's Crazy, Lovely, Cool. He has served as the Festival Manager of the Eastern Nigeria International Film Festival since 2020.
Personal life
He is a cousin of Chichi Menakaya, a trauma and orthopaedic surgeon based in the United Kingdom.