Nnamdi Azikiwe
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The Right Honourable Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe P.C. |
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|---|---|
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| 1st President of Nigeria | |
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In office 1 October 1963 – 16 January 1966 |
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| Prime Minister | Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa |
| Preceded by |
Elizabeth II as Queen of Nigeria |
| Succeeded by | Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi |
| 3rd Governor-General of Nigeria | |
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In office 16 November 1960 – 1 October 1963 |
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| Preceded by | James Robertson |
| Succeeded by | Himself as President |
| 1st President of the Senate of Nigeria | |
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In office 1 January 1960 – 1 October 1960 |
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| Preceded by | None (position created) |
| Succeeded by | Dennis Osadebey |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
16 November 1904 Zungeru, Northern Region, British Nigeria |
| Died | 11 May 1996 (aged 91) Enugu, Enugu State, Nigeria |
| Political party | |
| Spouse(s) |
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| Children |
7
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| Alma mater | |
| Religion | Christianity |
Benjamin Nnamdi Azikiwe, P.C. (16 November 1904 – 11 May 1996), usually referred to as Nnamdi Azikiwe or Zik, was one of the leading figures of modern Nigerian nationalism. He served as the second and last Governor-General of Nigeria from 1960 to 1963 and the first President of Nigeria from 1963 to 1966, holding the presidency throughout the Nigerian First Republic. Born in Zungeru, in present-day Niger State, Azikiwe learned to speak Hausa, the main indigenous language of the Northern Region at an early age. He later lived in Onitsha, his parental homeland where he was raised by his aunt and grandmother and learned the Igbo language. A sojourn in Lagos exposed him to the Yoruba language and he was in college, he had been exposed to different Nigerian cultures. Motivated to get a university education, he traveled to U.S. and attended various colleges including Storer College, Columbia University and Howard returning to Africa in 1934 to start work as a journalist in the Gold Coast. In British West Africa, Azikiwe was an important advocate of Nigerian and African nationalism, first as a journalist and later as political leader.
Azikiwe was born on 16 November 1904, in Zungeru, Northern Nigeria. Nnamdi means "My father is alive" in the Igbo language. His parents were Igbo; his father Obed-Edom Chukwuemeka Azikiwe (1879–1958), an Onitsha-indigene and clerk in the British Administration of Nigeria who traveled extensively because of the nature of his job. Zik's mother was Rachel Chinwe Azikiwe sometimes called Nwanonaku whose family was descended from a royal house in Onitsha; her paternal great grandfather was Obi Anazenwu. Azikiwe had one sibling, a sister named Cecilia Eziamaka Arinze. Growing up as a young boy in Northern Region, Nigeria|Northern Nigeria]], Azikiwe spoke Hausa, the language of the region, however, his father apprehensive of his child's fluency in Hausa and not Igbo sent him to Onitsha in 1912 to live with his paternal grandmother and aunt in order to learn the Igbo language and culture. In Onitsha, he attended Holy Trinity School, a Roman Catholic Mission school and then Christ Church School, an Anglican primary school. In 1914, his father was working in Lagos and when Azikiwe was bitten by a dog, his father worried about Zik's health asked him to come to Lagos so as to heal and also attend school in the city. Two years later, his father was posted out of Lagos to Kaduna and Azikiwe briefly lived with a relative who was married to a Muslim from Sierra Leone. He was back in Onitsha by 1918 and finished his elementary education at CMS Central School where he also served as a pupil-teacher supporting his mother with some of his earnings. In 1920, his father was posted back to Southern Nigeria in the Southeastern city of Calabar. Zik joined his father in Calabar and started his secondary school at Hope Waddell Training College. In Calabar, he was introduced to the teachings of Marcus Garvey, Garveyism later an important part in his nationalistic rhetoric.
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Wikipedia