Benjamin Nnamdi Azikiwe Biography - Childhood, Life Achievements & Timeline Leaders Benjamin Nnamdi Azikiwe Biography Benjamin Nnamdi Azikiwe was the first president of Nigeria. This biography of Benjamin Nnamdi Azikiwe provides detailed information about his childhood, life, achievements, works & timeline. Quick Facts Flora Azikiwe "Azikiwe-Commander-in-Chief". Licensed under Fair use via Wikipedia Benjamin Nnamdi Azikiwe was the first President of Nigeria. Before becoming the president he served as the second and last Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief of Nigeria, and was also the first Nigerian named to the Privy Council of the United Kingdom. A principled and much loved politician, he began his career as an educator at the Lincoln University, teaching political science. He always had a profound interest in politics and was also a very eloquent writer. He devised a "Syllabus for African History" and penned several books outlining his pan-African ideology. Eventually he became a newspaper editor and promoted a pro-African nationalist agenda. Fiercely independent, he was never afraid of openly expressing his thoughts and opinions.

During that time Nigeria was reeling under British rule and he founded a newspaper called âThe West African Pilotâ to fight for independence from the British colonial rule. He joined Nigerian Youth Movement (NYM), one of the first nationalist organizations in Nigeria and entered politics. He held numerous posts during his illustrious political career and ultimately became the first President of Nigeria when the country became a republic in 1963. However, he was removed from power following a military coup in 1966 and narrowly escaped assassination attempts on his life. Childhood & Early Life He was born on 16 November, 1904 to Obed-Edom Chukwuemeka Azikiwe and Rachel Ogbenyeanu Azikiwe. His father worked as a clerk in the British Administration of Nigeria. He studied at the Hope Waddell Training Institute and the Methodist Boysâ High School. He was fluent in the languages of the three major ethnic groups of Nigeria by the time he finished his secondary school education. A healthy and athletic young man, he excelled at various sports such as running, swimming and boxing as a student.

He worked as a clerk in the Nigerian treasury in Lagos between 1921 and 1924 before he decided to go to the United States to pursue his further studies. He went to the US in 1925 and attended Howard University, Washington DC for a while before enrolling at the Lincoln University, Pennsylvania. He graduated in 1927 with a degree in political science and completed his masters in 1930. While at college he took up part-time jobs to pay for his tuition fees. He obtained a second masters degree in Anthropology and Political Science from the University of Pennsylvania in 1933 after which he worked as an instructor at Lincoln before returning to Africa. Career He went to the Gold Coast (now Ghana) in 1934 and founded a daily newspaper, the âAfrican Morning Postâ. He promoted pro-African nationalist agenda through this newspaper. He returned to Nigeria in 1937 and started a newspaper called the âWest African Pilotâ which he used as a medium to advocate for nationalism in Nigeria. Over the next few years he formed the Zik Group of Newspapers and published multiple newspapers in cities across the country.

Following this he also became involved in politics and joined the Nigerian Youth Movement. Later on he went on to establish the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC), and with the backing of this council he became a member of the Nigerian Legislative Council. He moved to the Eastern Region in 1952 and was elected to the position of the Chief Minister. A couple of years later he became the Premier of Nigeriaâs Eastern Region. He led the NCNC in the 1959 federal elections and was able to form a temporary government with the Northern Peoples Congress whose leader Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, became the Prime Minister upon Nigeriaâs independence in October 1960. After the countryâs independence, he was made the Governor General under Balewa, and was also named to the Privy Council of the United Kingdom. Nigeria was proclaimed a republic in 1963, and Azikiwe was made the first President of Nigeria on 1 October 1963. His role, however, was largely ceremonial. A military coup in January 1966 removed him from power and he escaped assassination bids on his life with great difficulty.

During the Biafran conflict (1967-70), he became a spokesperson for the newly independent country and traveled extensively seeking help from other African countries. He served as the Chancellor of University of Lagos from 1972 to 1976 and joined the Nigerian Peopleâs Party in 1978. This was an attempt to re-enter politics and he ran for the presidency in 1979 and again in 1983, both of which were unsuccessful He had to leave politics after the military coup in December 1983. Awards & Achievements He was inducted into the prestigious Agbalanze society of Onitsha as Nnayelugo in 1946 in recognition of his significant accomplishments. He was appointed to the Privy Council of the United Kingdom by Queen Elizabeth II in 1960, becoming the first Nigerian to receive this honor. He was the recipient of several honorary degrees from Nigerian, American, and Liberian universities. Personal Life & Legacy He married Flora Ogboegbunam in 1936. The couple had one daughter and three sons.

Flora died in 1983 and Azikiwe remained very sad for long following her demise. He also had several other wives including Uche Azikiwe who was a lecturer at the University of Nigeria. He had numerous children with his wives and also with the other women he had been involved with. He lived a long life and died on 11 May, 1996 at the age of 91 in Enugu, Nigeria. Translate this page to Spanish, French, Hindi, Portuguese Pictures of Benjamin Nnamdi Azikiwe Also Listed In Azikiwe, Benjamin Nnamdi Encyclopedia > History > Biographies > African History: Biographies Benjamin Nnamdi Azikiwe Azikiwe, Benjamin Nnamdi (nämˈdē äzēkˈwā) [ key ], 1904–96, Nigerian statesman, popularly known as Zik. After advanced studies in the United States (1925), he returned to Nigeria, founded a chain of newspapers, and became one of the country's leading Igbo nationalists. He led a general strike in 1945 and later held the premiership (1954–59) of E Nigeria.

Although his coalition won the 1959 elections, he was appointed (1960) to the honorary office of governor-general. In 1963 he became the first president of the Republic of Nigeria, serving until deposed by a military coup (1966). He worked abroad for Biafran secession (see Biafra ), but advocated reunification when the revolt seemed doomed. After returning to Nigeria in 1972, he became chancellor of Lagos Univ. He ran unsuccessfully for president in 1979 and 1983. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. Nnamdi Azikiwe - Wikiquote Nnamdi Azikiwe Benjamin Nnamdi Azikiwe ( November 16 , 1904 – May 11 , 1996 ) was the President of Nigeria from 1963 to 1966. He was the first person to assume the office of the Nigerian Presidency. There is plenty of room at the top because very few people care to travel beyond the average route.

And so most of us seem satisfied to remain within the confines of mediocrity . Sourced[ edit ] My stiffest earthly assignment is ended and my major life's work is done. My country is now free and I have been honoured to be its first indigenous head of state. What more could one desire in life? The realization of New Africa can only be possible by the African cultivating spiritual balance, which leads to the practicalization of social regeneration, to realizing economic determination, becoming mentally emancipated, and ushering in a political resurgence. Quoted in A Life of Azikiwe by K. A. B. Jones-Quartey (Penguin, 1965), p. 116 No matter how old an individual may be, no matter if he is young or old, if he thinks in accordance with the times he is immortal. Quoted in A Life of Azikiwe by K. A. B. Jones-Quartey (Penguin, 1965), p. 121 There is plenty of room at the top because very few people care to travel beyond the average route. And so most of us seem satisfied to remain within the confines of mediocrity .

My Odyssey (1971), No. 5 "Originality is the essence of true scholarship. Creativity is the soul of the true scholar". Attributed without citation in Answers Africa 40 famous quotes about Africa, answersafrica.com[ specific citation needed ] Quotes about Azikiwe[ edit ] Zik believed in a nation in which people are free to practice their faith without losing faith in our common patrimony, a nation of proud men and women able to hold their heads high among humanity because as Africans they possess a certain dignity. At the tactical level, his belief in compromise meant that he survived major political battles in order to fight the next battle. With regard to the evolution of democracy in our country, our present experience can benefit immensely from politics as it was played by Zik and his contemporaries. In this regard, one thing that marks out men like Zik … is that they believe in something. Their political activities were informed by certain core values which subsequently grew into a body of beliefs which largely inspired their politics. Those who followed them understood that they had to abide by those beliefs. In other words, the politics of ideals and ideas were the guiding principles of our founding fathers.

In the case of the great Zik, it became fashionable among his adherents and supporters to be a Zikist. But interestingly, Zikism was not synonymous with an ethnic ideology nor did it a divisive cause. Instead, Zikism was more an ideology for African reniascence emphasizing the restoration of the dignity of the black man after centuries of colonial imposition and exploitation. It sought to empower the black man in general and the Nigerian in particular to attain great heights especially in the pursuit of knowledge which, for Zik, was critical to the emancipation of the black man. Yet Zikism did not degenerate to the level of a theology for a personality cult. This in fact is one of the refreshing and intriguing facets of Zik's political legacy. Nnamdi Azikiwe, fully Benjamin Nnamdi Azikiwe, aka "The Zik of Africa" - Nigeria Association Edinburgh Contact Nnamdi Azikiwe, fully Benjamin Nnamdi Azikiwe, aka “The Zik of Africa” Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, was Nigeria’s first President and a vigorous champion of African independence from European colonial rule. Born Nov.

16, 1904, in Zungeru in northern Nigeria, where his father was stationed as a colonial civil servant. Nnamdi Azikiwe attended English-run missionary schools. He then went to the United States, where he studied at Storer College in West Virginia, Howard University in Washington, D.C., Lincoln University in Pennsylvania and Columbia University in New York City. Dr. Azikiwe taught political science at Lincoln University for three years in the early 1930′s before returning to Africa, where he founded the first of five newspapers he would create, The African Morning Post, in Accra, Ghana, in 1934. In Ghana, Dr. Azikiwe became a mentor to Kwame Nkrumah, the Premier of that British colony who would go on to become the President of the first African country to free itself from European rule, in 1957. Dr. Azikiwe returned to Nigeria in 1937 and worked as an editor and essayist before throwing himself into the limited local politics under colonial rule, becoming a member of the Legislative Council in 1948.

Making a name for himself as an outspoken advocate of independence, he went on to become Premier of the country’s Eastern Region in 1954. As a lawyer, political scientist, journalist, political activist, President and for many years Nigeria’s elder statesman, Dr. Azikiwe towered over the affairs of Africa’s most populous nation, attaining the rare status of a truly national hero who came to be admired across the regional and ethnic lines dividing his country. After years of agitation for nationhood, Dr. Azikiwe became Governor General of the Nigerian Federation at independence from Britain in 1960, and President in 1963, when the country was declared a republic. While in office, he introduced universal adult suffrage and moved to extend schooling throughout the country. Early in his career, Dr. Azikiwe seemed to realize that his Ibo group, the smallest of Nigeria’s three major ethnic sub-divisions, could never rule the country outright. This insight led him to form alliances with northern politicians from the Muslim Hausa-Fulani ethnic constellation that would give him a far greater say in the country’s affairs than he could have hoped for alone.

Achievements In 1960, Queen Elizabeth II appointed him to the Privy Council of the United Kingdom. He was conferred with the highest national honour of Grand Commander of the Federal Republic (GCFR)[14] by the Federal Republic of Nigeria, in 1980. He has received fourteen honorary degrees from Nigerian, American and Liberian universities, which include Lincoln University, Storer College, Howard University, Michigan State University, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, University of Lagos, Ahmadu Bello University, University of Ibadan, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, and University of Liberia. Azikiwe was actively involved in sports at every stage of his life, and he was successful in many of the events that he participated in. He won letters in athletics (Lincoln Zik’s Athletic Club; Ekine Sekiapu Society of Buguma, Kalabari; St.

John’s Lodge of England; Royal Economic Society; Royal Anthropological Institute; British Association for the University) and cross country (Storer College and Lincoln University), swimming (Howard University), and football (soccer) (Lincoln University); He was a member of many organizations and societies, including Anti-Slavery Society for the protection of Human Rights; Phi Beta Sigma fraternity (Alpha Chapter and Mu Chapter); West African Students’ Union; Advancement of Science; American Society of International Law; American Anthropological Association; etc. Places named after Azikiwe include the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium in Enugu, the Nnamdi Azikiwe University in Awka, Anambra State, Nnamdi Azikiwe Press Centre, Dodan Barracks, Obalende, Ikoyi, Lagos. His portrait adorns Nigeria’s five hundred naira currency note. Dr. Azikiwe’s speech: “My stiffest earthly assignment is ended and my major life’s work is done. My country is now free and I have been honored to be its first indigenous head of state. What more could one desire in life?

No matter how old an individual may be, no matter if he is young or old, if he thinks in accordance with the times he is immortal. Originality is the essence of true scholarship. Creativity is the soul of the true scholar. Ours is a country built more on people than on territory. The Jews will come from everywhere from France, from Russia, from America, from Yemen. … Their faith is their passport The realization of New Africa can only be possible by the African cultivating spiritual balance, which leads to the practicalization of social regeneration, to realizing economic determination, becoming mentally emancipated, and ushering in a political resurgence. There is plenty of room at the top because very few people care to travel beyond the average route.

And so most of us seem satisfied to remain within the confines of mediocrity.” Prominent Heroes Nnamdi Azikiwe | president of Nigeria | Britannica.com president of Nigeria Alternative Titles: Benjamin Azikiwe, Zik Azikiwe Nnamdi Azikiwe Nnamdi Azikiwe, (born November 16, 1904, Zungeru, Nigeria —died May 11, 1996, Enugu ), first president of independent Nigeria (1963–66) and prominent nationalist figure. Nnamdi Azikiwe, 1957. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Azikiwe attended various primary and secondary mission schools in Onitsha , Calabar , and Lagos . He arrived in the United States in 1925, where he attended several schools. Azikiwe earned multiple certificates and degrees, including bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania and a second master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania .

In 1934 he went to the Gold Coast (now Ghana ), where he founded a nationalist newspaper and was a mentor to Kwame Nkrumah (later the first president of Ghana) before returning to Nigeria in 1937. There he founded and edited newspapers and also became directly involved in politics, first with the Nigerian Youth Movement and later (1944) as a founder of the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC), which became increasingly identified with the Igbo people of southern Nigeria after 1951. In 1948, with the backing of the NCNC, Azikiwe was elected to the Nigerian Legislative Council, and he later served as premier of the Eastern region (1954–59). Nnamdi Azikiwe. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Azikiwe led the NCNC into the important 1959 federal elections, which preceded Nigerian independence. He was able to form a temporary government with the powerful Northern People’s Congress, but its deputy leader, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa , took the key post of prime minister.

Azikiwe received the largely honorary posts of president of the Senate, governor-general, and, finally, president. Nnamdi Azikiwe. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. In the conflict over Biafra (1967–70), Azikiwe first backed his fellow Igbo, traveling extensively in 1968 to win recognition of Biafra and help from other African countries. In 1969, however, realizing the hopelessness of the war, he threw his support to the federal government. After Olusegun Obasanjo turned the government over to civilian elections in 1979, Azikiwe ran unsuccessfully for president as the candidate of a newly formed Nigerian People’s Party (NPP). Prior to the 1983 elections, the NPP became part of an unofficial coalition of opposition parties known as the Progressive Parties Alliance (PPA). The coalition, which was tenuous at best, could not agree on one presidential candidate and decided to field two—Azikiwe, representing the NPP, and Obafemi Awolowo , representing the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN).

Awolowo, the leader of the UPN, was a political rival of Azikiwe, with whom he was often at odds. The coalition had largely deteriorated by the time of the election, and neither Azikiwe nor Awolowo won. Britannica Stories Nnamdi Azikiwe facts, information, pictures | Encyclopedia.com articles about Nnamdi Azikiwe Sources Journalist, political activist Playing a key role in Nigeria ’s emergence as a free nation, Nnamdi Azikiwe served as the first president of Nigeria after it was given independence from Great Britain in 1960. Much of his life was spent working as both a journalist and politician to end British control of Nigeria. Known widely as “Zik of Africa,” Azikiwe was also a mentor to Kwame Nkrumah, who as president of Ghana became head of the first African country to free itself from European rule. As was written in an obituary in a 1996 issue of Jet,“Known as a vigorous champion of African independence from European colonial rule, Dr.

Azikiwe attained the rare status of national hero, admired across the regional and ethnic lines dividing his country.” For much of his life Azikiwe was a staunch defender of his Ibo people, and he helped to end the Biafran civil war that oppressed his tribe in the late 1960s. He was known as a charismatic orator who could sway large crowds with his emphatic delivery, and he frequently traveled to other countries to promote his causes. Born in northern Nigeria in 1904, Azikiwe was the son of a member of the Ibo tribe who worked for the government. His early schooling was at the English-run Church Missionary Society’s Central School at Onitsha and the Hope Waddel Training Institute at Calabar . After Azikiwe graduated from the Methodist Boys’ High School in Lagos at the top of his class in 1925, his father granted him some funds so that he could travel to the United States and further his education. Azikiwe’s American studies began at Howard University, where he played soccer and was taught by Ralph Bunche, who later achieved fame as a diplomat.

He also studied at Storer College in West Virginia , Lincoln University in Pennsylvania , and Columbia University in New York City while in the United States. After receiving his B.A. degree in 1930 from Lincoln University, Azikiwe stayed on for two years as an instructor and to pursue undergraduate work. He cut his teeth as a journalist during summer jobs as a reporter with the Baltimore Afro-American, Philadelphia Tribune, and the Associated Negro Press in Chicago . In 1934 he returned to Africa after five years in the United States and made his debut as a journalist there, becoming editor-in-chief of the African Morning Post At a Glance… Born Benjamin Azikiwe on November 16, 1904, in Zungeru, Nigeria; died 1996; married Flora Ogbenyeanu Ogoegbunam, 1936; children: three sons, one daughter. Education: Lincoln University, B.A, 1930; University of Pennsylvania, M.A.

Attended Howard University and Columbia University; Became first Nigerian to study in United States, 1925; served as instructor at Lincoln University, 1931-34; became editor of African Morning Post, Ghana, 1934; founded West African Pilot, Nigeria, 1937; helped found National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC), 1944; served as president of NCNC, 1946-60; became member of Nigerian legislative council, 1947; elected to Eastern Region Assembly of Nigeria, 1953; became premier of the Eastern Region Assembly, 1954; became president of the Nigerian senate, 1959; became governor-general of Nigeria, 1960; served as president of Nigerian republic, 1963-66. Selected awards: Nnamdi Azikiwe Distinguished Endowed Chair in International Relations, Lincoln University. in Accra, Gold Coast (which later became Ghana). Three years later he started up the West African Pilot in Lagos, Nigeria, then built his newspaper holdings to including four other city newspapers.

Azikiwe used his various publications to actively promote nationalist fervor and attack racial prejudice in the African colonies. Political Prominence Grew Starting in the mid 1940s, Azikiwe pressed his cause for Nigerian autonomy on the political front as well. He played a key role in the founding of the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC) in 1944, becoming its first secretary general and then its president in 1946. The prominence of the NCNC and the Ibo people grew under Azikiwe’s leadership. He used the NCNC to push for various reforms, including universal adult suffrage, direct elections, control of the civil service by African ministers, and Nigerian control of the territory’s armed forces. Azikiwe became more of a thorn in the side of the status quo in 1947 when he became a member of the legislative council in Nigeria. In this position he strove to improve conditions for his people via changes in the constitution. During a 1947 visit to England , he told the British that big problems would result if Nigeria was not granted freedom in 15 years, according to an article in the New York Herald Tribune.

After a new constitution for Nigeria was drafted in 1951, the interests of the three regions of the country took precedence over the interest of the whole country. Azikiwe maintained a political balancing act during this period in order to maintain his power. By 1952 he had become the first NCNC opposition leader in the Western House of Assembly, then he was elected to the eastern region assembly in 1953. In the summer of that year, he traveled to London with a Nigerian delegation and demanded that Nigeria become self-governing within three years. Disputes arose over Britain ’s demand to separate Lagos, which was Nigeria’s capital and chief port, from the western region. Further discussions were held among the various parties in Lagos in early 1954, at which time it was agreed that a more conclusive conference on Nigeria’s future would be conducted in 1956. Building his power in the Eastern Region, Azikiwe became its premier in 1954 after a new constitution was put into effect. He instituted a new education program in his region, and had a major role in Nigeria becoming the leading exporter of students for study abroad in Africa.

In 1954 Azikiwe visited Europe , England, the United States, and Canada with members of the Eastern region economic commission in order to promote investment for developments in textile, vegetable oil refineries, steel, and chemicals. Azikiwe had extensive business interests that brought him a significant income during the 1950s. He was assailed with allegations of corruption from other leaders in the mid 1950s, accused of having withdrawn $5.6 million in government funds and depositing it in a bank of which he was a shareholder to prevent the bank’s collapse, according to a 1956 article in Time magazine. Despite being found guilty of improper conduct by a British tribunal in 1957, Azikiwe was still reelected as premier when he dissolved his legislature under pressure and called for a new election in 1956. “When, five years before independence, Azikiwe was exposed as having used his political position to further his financial interests through the African Continental Bank, he still retained the support the Ibo in the Eastern Region; for they believed that he was working for them and so entitled to become wealthy,” noted John Hatch in Africa Emergent.

Azikiwe’s political stance at this time clearly favored his Ibo tribe and the Ibibio-speaking peoples of the Eastern region. After Obafemi Awolowo, an enemy of Azikiwe, formed the Action Group in the West, Azikiwe aligned himself with Abubakar Tafaw Balewa, who had gained control of the Northern People’s Congress. Since the Northern Region was most populous and had a political stance more acceptable to the withdrawing British, Balewa began to lead a new national regime in 1957. Azikiwe’s alliance with Balewa helped him be named president of the senate in 1959, then governor-general. When Nigeria’s first independent government was established by a coalition of northern and eastern political parties in 1960, Azikiwe was named president and Balewa became prime minister. While new elections in 1964 kept Azikiwe in office, political instability led to agitation throughout the country. In January of 1966, a military coup d’état ousted Azikiwe from power.

After Biafra tried to secede from Nigeria in 1967 and created a civil war in the country, Azikiwe backed his fellow Ibo and traveled widely in other African nations to seek recognition of Biafra as an independent nation. Then he incurred the wrath of his former supporters in 1969 when he began backing the federal government in the war. In the years following the war, Azikiwe became a key opponent of the ruling party. Following the creation of a new constitution in Nigeria in 1978 that ended a 12-year ban on political parties, he ran as a candidate for the new Nigerian People’s Party but was defeated. Throughout his career, Azikiwe used his nationalist press, political connections, and kinship of his tribe to promote education, self-government, welfare, and progress. He also wrote over a dozen books on the struggle for African nationalism and other topics. He died in 1996 after a long illness, at the age of 91. Azikiwe, Nnamdi, My Odyssey : An Autobiography, Praeger, 1970.

Glickman, Harvey, editor, Political Leaders of Contemporary Africa South of the Sahara , Greenwood Press, 1992. Hatch, John, Africa Emergent: Africa’s Problems Since Independence, Henry Regnery Company, 1974. Markovitz, Irving Leonard, African Politics and Society: Basic Issues and Problems of Government and Development, The Free Press, 1970, pp. 456-457. Olisa, Michael S. O., and Odinchezo M. Ikejiani-Clark, editors, African Revolution, Africana-FEP Publishers, 1989. Rake, Alan,100 Great Africans, Scarecrow Press, 1994, pp. 383-387. Segal, Ronald, African Profiles, Penguin, 1962. Zik, A Selection from the Speeches of Nnamdi Azikiwe, Cambridge University Press, 1961, p. 72. Periodicals Black Collegian, December 1981/January 1982, pp. 90-96. Jet, June 3, 1996, p.

16. Negro History Bulletin, February 1961, pp. 104-109. New York Herald Tribune, December 21, 1947. Journal of Modern African Studies, June 1974, pp. 245-263. Time, August 5, 1956; March 25, 1957, p. 33. —Ed Decker TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE: NNAMDI AZIKIWE: THE GREAT PAN-AFRICANIST AND FIRST PRESIDENT OF NIGERIA Celebrating our African historical personalities,discoveries, achievements and eras as proud people with rich culture, traditions and enlightenment spanning many years. Friday, June 21, 2013 NNAMDI AZIKIWE: THE GREAT PAN-AFRICANIST AND FIRST PRESIDENT OF NIGERIA "My stiffest earthly assignment is ended and my major life's work is done. My country is now free and I have been honoured to be its first indigenous head of state.

What more could one desire in life?" ~ Nnamdi Azikiwe, talking about Nigeria's Independence on October 1, 1960. Benjamin Nnamdi Azikiwe (November 16, 1904 – May 11, 1996) Owelle-Osowa-anya of Onitsha, is usually referred to as Nnamdi Azikiwe and popularly known as "Zik of Africa" or "Zik" for short. He was one of the leading figures of modern Nigerian nationalism, pioneer newspaper owner and editor as well as a prolific author/scholar . He was head of state of Nigeria from 1960 to 1966, serving as the second and last Governor-General from 1960 to 1963 and the first President of Nigeria from 1963 to 1966, holding the presidency throughout the Nigerian First Republic. Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Premier of Eastern Region, at N.C.N.C. rally, Urualla, Nigeria. Circa 1959.

By Eliot Elisofon Former Lincoln University President Sudarkasa asserted that "Zik was the only African leader whose history as Pan-Africanist theoretician and activist predated and rivaled that of Nkrumah." Prof Ali Mazrui also observed that "for parts of Africa, Nnamdi Azikiwe`s life traversed the entire span of European colonial rule and beyond." Two great Pan-Africanist Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe and Dr W.E.B. DUBOIS Azikiwe was born on November 16, 1904, in Zungeru, Northern Nigeria where he learnt Hausa language at his tender age. His parents were Igbo; his father Obed-Edom Chukwuemeka Azikiwe (1879–1958), a clerk in the British Administration of Nigeria and his mother was Rachel Ogbenyeanu Azikiwe. Nnamdi means "My father is alive" in the Igbo language. After studying at Hope Waddell Training Institute, Calabar, and Methodist Boys' High School Lagos. He became a pupil teacher at St.

Jude’s CMS Central School, Orafite, and CMS Central School, Onitsha (1919). He was a third class clerk with the Treasury Department, Lagos (1921). Residing all over Nigeria enabled him know how to speak the three main languages in Nigeria, Igbo, his mother tongue,Hausa, and Yoruba. After an unsuccessful attempt to stow away to America in 1924, his father saved some money, and gave him for his journey to America. Young Nnamdi Azikiwe He left for the United States in the late 20s, as he put it, "in search of a Golden Fleece." While in the US, he worked as a dishwasher, coal miner, potato peeler, car wash attendant, elevator boy, kitchen hand, and waiter, to pay his way through college. He attended Storer College in West Virginia for two years (1925-1927). Due to financial difficulties, he left for Howard University, Washington DC, where he studied for two years (1927-1929). In 1929, he entered Lincoln University, PA.

In 1930, he received his BA degree in Political Science. His classmates included Thurgood Marshal, the late Supreme Court Justices who left a mark in Americas Judicial system, and his senior was Langston Hughes (completed in 1929) , the late African American Poet. Azikiwe completed Lincoln university in 1930, long before another indomitable African freedom fighter Kwame Nkrumah also entered Lincoln University and completed in 1939. Commencement honorees of Howard University, June 4, 1954 (L-R) Nnamdi Azikiwe, Roy Williston Bornn, Chester Bowles, and Azikiwe`s year-mate in Lincoln University Thurgood Marshall. In summer 1930, he was admitted to Columbia University to read journalism, with a scholarship from the Phelp Stokes Fund. He obtained an MA degree in Religion and Philosophy at Lincoln University (1932). While still at Lincoln University, he was employed as a Graduate Assistant in summer 1930. In 1933, he concluded two Master’s degree programs, in Anthropology and Political Science at University of Pennsylvania, PA.

He was appointed a full-time lecturer in Political Science in 1933. He taught ancient, medieval, modern and English history, as well as African history. While still pursuing his Master’s at Columbia University, he registered for the Doctor of Philosophy degree at the school. In 1934, his Ph.D. Thesis, “Liberian Diplomacy, 1847-1932” was published as “Liberia in World Politics.” Since his attendance at these schools, he has received many honorary degrees from them, including two from Lincoln University. After accomplishing his academic dreams, he knew it was time to go back to his homeland, to join in the fight to free Nigerians from the evil grasp of Britain, who was then our colonial masters. Alain Locke (far left), with Judge James S. Watson, Nnamdi Azikiwe— the first African president of Nigeria— K. O. Mbadwie, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Clarence Holt, Howard University, Washington, D.C., circa 1960.

Credit: Courtesy of the NYPL digital gallery, New York Public Library After teaching at Lincoln, Azikiwe returned to Nigeria in mid 30`s and proceeded to Gold Coast (Ghana) where he took the position of editor for the African Morning Post, a daily newspaper in Accra, Ghana in November 1934. In that position he promoted a pro-African nationalist agenda. Smertin has described his writing there: "In his passionately denunciatory articles and public statements he censured the existing colonial order: the restrictions on the Africans' right to express their opinions, and racial discrimination. He also criticised those Africans who belonged to the "elite" of colonial society and favoured retaining the existing order, as they regarded it as the basis of their well being." Azikiwe is still studied by Ghanaian journalism students in the history of journalism in Ghana for bringing firestorm in the practice of journalism under colonialsim. Nnamdi Azikiwe: Statesman, Intellectual and Titan of African politics As a result of publishing an article on May 15, 1936, entitled "Has the African a God?" written by I. T. A.

Wallace-Johnson he was brought to trial on charges of sedition. Although he was found guilty of the charges and sentenced to six months in prison, he was acquitted on appeal. He returned to Lagos, Nigeria, in 1937 and founded the West African Pilot, which he used as a vehicle to foster Nigerian nationalism. He founded the Zik Group of Newspapers, publishing multiple newspapers in cities across the country. Azikiwe became active in the Nigerian Youth Movement (NYM), the first genuinely nationalist organization in Nigeria. However, in 1941 he backed Samuel Akinsanya to be NYM candidate for a vacant seat in the Legislative Council, but the executive selected Ernest Ikoli instead. Azikiwe resigned from the NYM amid accusations of discrimination against Ijebu members, taking all Ibo and most Ijebu members with him. After a successful journalism enterprise, Azikiwe entered into politics, co-founding the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC) alongside Herbert Macaulay in 1944.

Nnamdi Azikiwe, Obafemi Awolowo, Ahmadu Bello He became the secretary-general of the National Council in 1946, and was elected to Legislative Council of Nigeria the following year. In 1951, he became the leader of the Opposition to the government of Obafemi Awolowo in the Western Region's House of Assembly. In 1952, he moved to the Eastern Region, and was elected to the position of Chief Minister and in 1954 became Premier of Nigeria's Eastern Region. On November 16, 1960, he became the Governor General, with Abubakar Tafawa Balewa as Prime Minister. On the same day became the first Nigerian named to the Privy Council of the United Kingdom. With the proclamation of a republic in 1963, he became the first President of Nigeria.

In both posts, Azikiwe's role was largely ceremonial 1958 LancasterHouse Conference on Nigerian Independence —(From Left) Alan Lennox-Boyd, British Colonial Secretary with the big four: Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Premier of the West Region; Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Federal Prime Minister; Alhajii Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto, Premier of the North Region; Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Premier of the East Region. Azikiwe and his civilian colleagues were removed from power in the military coup of January 15, 1966. During the Biafran (1967–1970) war of secession, Azikiwe became a spokesman for the nascent republic and an adviser to its leader Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu . After the war, he served as Chancellor of Lagos University from 1972 to 1976. He joined the Nigerian People's Party in 1978, making unsuccessful bids for the presidency in 1979 and again in 1983.

He left politics involuntarily after the military coup on December 31, 1983. He died on May 11, 1996, at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, in Enugu, Enugu State, after a protracted illness. His time in politics spanned most of his adult life and he was referred to by admirers as "The Great Zik of Africa". His motto in politics was: "You talk I listen, you listen I talk." The writings of Azikiwe spawned a philosophy of African liberation Zikism, which identifies five concepts for Africa's movement towards freedom: spiritual balance, social regeneration, economic determination, mental emancipation, and political resurgence. Nnamdi Azikiwe. Nigerian statesman and nationalist leader Nnamdi Azikiwe answers questions at a news conference in London in August 1968. Azikiwe served as president of Nigeria from 1963 to 1966.

Places named after Azikiwe include the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium in Enugu, the Nnamdi Azikiwe University in Awka, Anambra State, Nnamdi Azikiwe Press Centre, Dodan Barracks, Obalende, Ikoyi, Lagos. His portrait adorns Nigeria's five hundred naira currency note. History reveals Zik as the only individual whose name appeared in a democratic constitution. The Nigeria's 1963 Republican Constitution which was an amendment of the 1960 Independent Constitution has the following words: “Nnamdi Azikiwe shall be deemed to have been elected President and Commander in-Chief of the Armed Forces,” as submitted by then Prime Minister Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa who posited that, “Nigeria can never adequately reward Dr. Azikiwe” for his nationalism. Governor-General Nnamdi Azikiwe Achievements He was inducted into the prestigious Agbalanze society of Onitsha as Nnayelugo in 1946, a customary recognition for Onitsha men of significant accomplishment.

Then, in 1962, he became a second-rank red cap chieftain or Ndichie Okwa as the Oziziani Obi. In 1970, he was installed as the Owelle-Osowa-Anya of Onitsha, making him a first-rank, hereditary red cap nobleman or Ndichie Ume. In 1960, Queen Elizabeth II appointed him to the Privy Council of the United Kingdom. He was conferred with the highest national honour of Grand Commander of the Federal Republic (GCFR) by the Federal Republic of Nigeria, in 1980. He has received fourteen honorary degrees from Nigerian, American and Liberian universities, which include Lincoln University, Storer College, Howard University, Michigan State University, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, University of Lagos, Ahmadu Bello University, University of Ibadan, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, and University of Liberia. (L-R)Ambassador Alex Quaison Sackey (Ghana), Dr.

Nnamdi Azikiwe (Nigeria), Diallo Telli (Guinea)and US Diplomat nd Nobel Laureate Ralph Bunche at the International House, United Nations July 19, 1959. Photo: Paul Cordes, courtesy of Department of Special Collections UCLA Charles E. Young Research Library Sports Azikiwe was actively involved in sports at every stage of his life, and he was successful in many of the events that he participated in. They include Welterweight Boxing Champion Storer College (1925–27); High Jump champion, Howard University Inter-Scholastic Games (1926); Gold Medalist in Cross Country, Storer College (1927); Back-stroke Swimming Champion and No.

3 swimmer in Freestyle Relay team, Howard University (1928); Captain, Lincoln University Soccer Team (1930); Winner Two Miles Run, Central Inter-Collegiate Athletic Association Championships at Hampton Institute Virginia (1931); Bronze Medalist, Richmond Cross Country Marathon (1931); Gold Medalist in the 1,000 yard run, One Mile Run and Three Mile Run, Catedonian Games in Brooklyn, NY (1932); Silver Trophy winner in the Half Mile race, and Silver Cup winner in the One Mile Race, Democratic Field Day Championships, New Haven, Connecticut (1933); Runner-up (with G.K. Dorgu) at the Lagos Tennis Men’s Double Championships (Division B 1938); anchor man for the ZAC team which won the 50 yards Freestyle Relay at the Lagos Swimming Championships (1939).

He won letters in athletics (Lincoln University) and cross country (Storer College and Lincoln University), swimming (Howard University), and football (soccer) (Lincoln University); entered to compete in the Half-Mile Race and One-Mile run at the British Empire Games to represent Nigeria, but was rejected by the A.A.A. of Great Britain on technical grounds (he dropped his English Christian name, “Benjamin”); and founded (with M. R. B. Ottun) of the Zik’s Athletic Club to promote athletics, boxing, cricket, football, swimming and tennis in Nigeria. Politics During his lifetime, he held several political posts, especially in Nigeria.

They include Executive Committee Member of Ga Mambii Party of Gold Coast led by iron-hot nationalist fighter Kojo Thompson (father of late Tommy Thompson,owner of free press newspaper) between (1935–37); General Secretary of National Council of Nigerian and the Cameroons (1944–45); President of the NCNC (1946–60); Vice-President of the Nigerian National Democratic Party (1947–60); Member for Lagos in the Legislative Council of Nigeria (1947–51); Member for Lagos and Leader of the Opposition in the Western House of Assembly (1952–53) Member for Onitsha in the Eastern House of Assembly (1954–60); Minister of Internal Affairs (Jan.–September 1954); Minister of Internal Affairs, Eastern Region (1954); Member of His Excellency Privy Council, Eastern Nigeria (1954–59); Primer of Eastern Nigeria (1954–59); President of the Senate of the Federation (January-November 1960); Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief of Nigeria (1960–63); President of

 the Republic of Nigeria (1963–1966); and Chairman and Presidential candidate of the Nigeria People’s Party (1978–83).

Professional world He made a name for himself in the professional world. The many posts he held included: Third-class Clerk, Treasury Department, Lagos (1921–24); Recruit, Gold Coast Police Force (July-September 1924); Solicitor Clerk to the late Mr.

Justice Graham Paul at Calabar (January-Augut 1925); Instructor in Political Science, Lincoln University (1931–34); University Correspondent for the Baltimore Afro-American (1928–34); General and Sports Correspondent for the Philadelphia Tribune (1928–34); Editor-in Chief of the West African Pilot (1937–45); Correspondent for the Associated Negro Press (1944–47); Correspondent for Reuters (1944–46); Managing Director of Zik’s Press Limited printers and publishers of the West African Pilot (Lagos), Eastern Guardian (Port Harcourt), Nigerian Spokesman (Onitsha), Southern Nigeria Defender (Ibadan), Daily Comet (Kano), and Eastern Sentinel (Enugu); Managing Director of Comet Press Limited (1945–53); Chairman of West African Pilot Limited and the Associated Newspapers of Nigeria Limited and six other limited liability companies (1952–53); Chairman, Nigerian Real Estate Corporation Limited (1952–53).

Nnamdi Azikiwe Societies and organizations He was a member of many organizations and societies, including Anti-Slavery Society for the protection of Human Rights; Phi Beta Sigma fraternity (Alpha Chapter and Mu Chapter); West African Students' Union; Onitsha Improvement Union; Zik’s Athletic Club; Ekine Sekiapu Society of Buguma, Kalabari; St. John’s Lodge of England; Royal Economic Society; Royal Anthropological Institute; British Association for the Advancement of Science; American Society of International Law; American Anthropological Association; American Political Science Association; American Ethnological Society; Amateur Athletic Association of Nigeria; Nigerian Swimming Association, Nigerian Boxing Board of Control; Nigerian Cricket Association; Ibo State Union; Nigerian Table Tennis Association; Nigeria Olympic Committee and British Empire and Commonwealth Games Association. Nnamdi Azikiwe LITERARY WORKS - In his lifetime, he wrote a lot of books, poetry, and articles. His celebrated publications include Liberia in World Politics: Renascent Africa (1934); Political Blueprint for Nigeria (1943); Economic Reconstruction of Nigeria (1943); Zik: A Selection of the Speeches of Dr.

Nnamdi Azikiwe (1961); Assassination Story: True or False?

(1946); “Essentials for Nigeria’s Survival.” (1965); “Before Us Lies The Open Grave” (1947); “The Future of Pan-Africanism” (1961); “The Realities of African Unity” (1965); “Origins of the Nigerian Civil War” (1969); I Believe in a One Nigeria (1969); Peace Proposals for Ending the Nigerian Civil War (1969); My Odyssey: An Autobiography (1970); Dialogue on a New Capital for Nigeria (1974); “Creation of More States in Nigeria, A Political Analysis” (1974); Democracy with Military Vigilance (1974); “Reorientation of Nigerian Ideologies: lecture on 9th December 1976, on eve of the launching of the UNN Endowment Fund” (1976); Our Struggle for Freedom; Onitsha Market Crisis (1976); Let Us Forgive Our Children, An appeal to the leaders and people of Onitsha during the market crisis (1976); A Collection of Poems (1977);

 Civil War Soliloquies: More Collection of Poems (1977); “Themes in African Social and Political Thought” (1978); Restoration of Nigerian Democracy (1978); Matchless Past Performance: My Reply to Chief Awolowo’s Challenge (1979); A Matter of Conscience (1979); Ideology for Nigeria: Capitalism, Socialism or Welfarism?

(1980); “Breach of Trust by the NPN” (1983); and History Will Vindicate The Just (1983). The Spirit-Man: Nnamdi Azikiwe Obituary: Nnamdi Azikiwe Obituary: Nnamdi Azikiwe Nigeria's First President LAGOS, May 13 [1996] (Reuter) - Nnamdi Azikiwe, Nigeria's first president, whose death was reported on Monday by the state-owned News Agency of Nigeria, was a champion of African nationalism and master of compromise in his country's turbulent politics. Widely known as "Zik of Africa," the politician, scholar, poet and journalist helped to end the Biafran civil war that had plunged his Ibo people into mass suffering. The agency said Azikiwe, 91, died on Saturday at the hospital where he had been admitted for some time with an undisclosed illness. An imposing figure standing over six feet (1.83 metres), Azikiwe was sworn in as Nigeria's first president in 1963 when it became a republic after independence from Britain in 1960.

He remained until the first coup d'etat in 1966, which led to civil war in June 1967 when Ibos in the east seceded to set up their own state of Biafra under then Colonel Emeka Ojukwu. An estimated one million people died, many from starvation, in the 30-month civil war. When Azikiwe saw the hopelessness of the war, he hastened its end by returning to the federal side. This was denounced as a sellout by the Biafran leadership, but his esteem among Ibos was such that when the army allowed elections in 1979 he again emerged as their most popular figure. "Zik has a good place in history in arousing West Africa and thereby African blacks to seeking independence," Ojukwu once told Reuters. "Beyond that, when others have come up he has distanced himself from them. He has never been able to be part of the West African movement," he added. Azikiwe's Ibo-dominated Nigerian People's Party came third in the 1979 polls, won by the National Party of Nigeria headed by Shehu Shagari, a Hausa-Fulani from the north.

He took his party into alliance with Shagari, obtaining plum jobs for its members. The alliance ended when he wanted more. A strong believer in democracy, the welfare state and the rule of law, Azikiwe, a titled chief in Iboland, became an important sounding board for an array of latter-day leaders, including former military President Ibrahim Babangida. But he went into virtual seclusion for some time after August 1983 when his wife Flora died. They had several children and many grandchildren. Azikiwe was born in Zungeru, northern Nigeria, on November 16, 1904. His father was a clerical worker for the then British administrator. He was educated at Christian mission schools before going to the United States, where he studied for nine years at Lincoln University, Pennsylvania, and the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in philosophy and anthropology. Lincoln University instituted a professorial chair in honour of Azikiwe at a lavish ceremony in 1994 where he was eulogised. To pay his way, the ambitious young African took jobs as a lift operator, miner and dishwasher. He was also a keen athlete.

Azikiwe returned home in 1937 and became a messianic figure in the nationalist movement while working in journalism, commerce and politics. He once described Nigeria's achievement of independence from Britain as "the consummation of my life's work." But despite his anti-colonialism struggle, he retained friendship with Britain. After his American studies he went to the Gold Coast -- now Ghana -- as a propagandist for the nationalist cause. One of his pupils was the late Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana's future president. Within 10 years he had become president of the National Council for Nigeria and the Cameroons, a political party which joined radical elements that emerged during World War Two. He also launched five newspapers and wrote regular columns, stirring up nationalism in Nigeria and the West Coast of Africa. After a long period in opposition in the Western House of Assembly, Azikiwe became the first prime minister of Eastern Nigeria, one of the then colony's three regions. Adult sufferage, a wide programme of economic and social development, and administrative reorganisation were introduced under his premiership. Return to the H-AFRICA Home Page.

[an error occurred while processing this directive] Nnamdi Azikiwe Nnamdi Azikiwe Location of death: Enugu, Nigeria [1] Cause of death: Illness Remains: Buried, at his home, Onitsha, Nigeria Gender: Male Nationality: Nigeria Executive summary: First President of Nigeria, 1963-66 As a boy Benjamin Azikiwe achieved fluency in all three major languages spoken in his region, and as a young man he studied and taught political science in the United States. He began his newspaper career in 1934, joining the Ghana's African Morning Post as editor, where he was charged and imprisoned for sedition after publishing an article examining Africans' relationship to religion (his conviction was overturned on appeal). In 1937 he established the West African Pilot, a strongly nationalist newspaper in his native Nigeria, and over the next decade his newspaper empire grew to six Nigerian dailies. He co-founded the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons in 1944, a group urging a unified, independent Nigeria, and he held a series of rising political offices through the 1940s and '50s.

When Nigeria was granted independence from Great Britain in 1960, Azikiwe (nicknamed "Zik") was appointed Governor-General, and three years later when his country became a republic Azikiwe became its first President. He was disposed as President in a military coup on 15 January 1966. In the subsequent Nigerian-Biafran civil war, Azikiwe first supported an independent Biafra, but later returned to his long-time call for a unified Nigeria. He ran for President on the Nigeria People's Party ticket in 1979 and 1983, losing both times, and retired from politics in 1986.

Question: Benjamin Nnamdi Azikiwe was the first President of which African country?
Answer: Nigeria