Ekenyerengozi Michael Chima was born on January 30, 1963, on the Lagos Island in Nigeria. He attended St. Matthias Catholic Primary School, Lafiaji, and St. Gregorys College, Lagos. He directed his first play, The Prodigal at 17 for the Education Unit of the National Museum in Onikan, Lagos. He wanted to attend the St. Aldates College, Oxford in 1981, but later opted for the College of Journalism, London where he was offered a provisional admission in 1983. Chima was already a prolific independent scriptwriter for television puppet drama at the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) Channel 10, in Lagos. After writing for TV puppet drama, he was contracted by the Johns Hopkins Universitys Population Communication Services (JHU/PCS) in 1984, to produce illustrations on family planning methods booklets for the Planned Parenthood Federation of Nigeria (PPFN), and produced similar booklets on motherhood and harmful traditional practices in Nigeria for the Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH). He became the Features Editor of the Kiddies World magazine and his first book Children of Heaven was published the same year. In 1988, he became a program consultant for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) on the Child Survival and Development program for Radio Nigeria. He became a full time studio artist in 1990, and was offered provisional admission by the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, but he deferred admission, and launched the Nigerian version of Art Against AIDS, and became the curator for the 1993 World AIDS Day Art Exhibitions at the National Museum and National Arts Theatre in Lagos. He was the Editor of the first edition of Affections International magazine in 1997 and the HIV/AIDS Counselor for the Redemption Light in 1998. He returned to the television in 1998 as the Production Manager of Money Wise on DBN TV, Lagos. He produced and directed Sleepless Night on the June 12 Crisis in 2002.In 2004, Chima left Lagos for Bonny Island, in the Niger Delta of Nigeria.
