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Nnamdi Azikiwe
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Benjamin Nnamdi Azikiwe | |
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| In office October 1, 1963 – January 16, 1966 |
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| Preceded by | None (position created) |
| Succeeded by | Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi |
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| In office November 16, 1960 – October 1, 1963 |
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| Preceded by | James Robertson |
| Succeeded by | None (position abolished) |
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| In office January 1, 1960 – October 1, 1960 |
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| Preceded by | None (position created) |
| Succeeded by | Dennis Osadebey |
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| Born | November 16, 1904 Zungeru, Nigeria |
| Died | May 11, 1996 (aged 91) Enugu, Nigeria |
| Political party | National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons; Nigerian People's Party |
| Religion | Christianity[1] |
Benjamin Nnamdi Azikiwe (November 16, 1904 – May 11, 1996), usually referred to as Nnamdi Azikiwe, or, informally and popularly, as "Zik", was the founder of modern Nigerian nationalism and the first President of Nigeria, holding the position throughout the Nigerian First Republic.
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Azikiwe was born on November 16, 1904 in Zungeru, northern Nigeria to Igbo parents.[2] After stydying in Nigeria, Azikiwe went to the United States. While there he attended Howard University, Washington DC [3] before enrolling in and graduating from Lincoln University, Pennsylvania in 1930. He obtained a masters degree in 1933 from a prestigious Ivy League institution, the University of Pennsylvania.[4] He worked as an instructor at Lincoln before returning to Africa.
After teaching at Lincoln, Azikiwe, in November 1934, took the position of editor for the African Morning Post, a daily newspaper in Accra, Ghana. 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."[5] 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 titles in cities across the country. Some of the renowned post-independent journalists in Nigeria got their training from working with Azikiwe, whose newspapers were generally anti-colonialism.
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, and in 1954 became Premier of Nigeria's Eastern Region. Very soon after the granting of Nigeria's independence in 1960 he gained the office of Governor-General, and with the proclamation of a republic in 1963 he became the first President of Nigeria, while Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was the Prime Minister.
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 Igbo republic and an adviser to its leader Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu; in 1969, however, he switched to the side of the Nigerian government.[2] 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 sickness.
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 "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. [1]
Places named after Azikiwe include the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja and the Nnamdi Azikiwe University in Awka, Anambra State. His portrait adorns Nigeria's five hundred naira currency note. Several streets and university campus hostels are also named after him including Nnamdi Azikiwe street in Lagos, Zik Avenue in Enugu, Ziks Flat at University of Nigeria, Nsukka and Azikiwe Hall at University of Ibadan , Nigeria.
- Zik (1961)
- My Odyssey: An Autobiography (1971) — ISBN 0900966262 [2]
- Renascent Africa (1973) — ISBN 071461744X
- Liberia in World Politics (1931) — ISBN 0837137748
- One hundred quotable quotes and poems of the Rt. Hon. Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe (1966) — ISBN 9782736090
"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" — from My Odyssey, No. 5
- Zikist philosophy
- Zik of New Africa (1961), by Vincent Ikeotuonye
- A Life of Azikiwe (1965), by K.A.B. Jones-Quartey
- Nnamdi Azikiwe and Kwame Nkrumah, first Presidents of Nigeria and Ghana respectively, were educated at the same tertiary institutions: Lincoln University and the Ivy League University of Pennsylvania.
- Azikiwe was a member of the Phi Beta Sigma fraternity [2]
- ^ Mamza, Paul. Odd Men For Odd Political Jobs: Its Time Up!. Dawodu.com. Segun Toyin Dawodu. Retrieved on 2007-05-03.
- ^ a b c Nnamdi Azikiwe. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Retrieved on 2007-05-03.
- ^ Biography of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe. [www.onlinenigeria.com]. Retrieved on 2007-09-05.
- ^ Alumni, Faculty, and Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania Who Have Served as Heads of State or Government. University of Pennsylvania. University Archives and Records Center University of Pennsylvania. Retrieved on 2007-09-05.
- ^ Yuri Smertin, Kwame Nkrumah, Moscow, 1977, Progress. p 9.
| Preceded by Position created |
Senate President of Nigeria 1960–1960 |
Succeeded by Dennis Osadebey |
| Preceded by Sir James Robertson |
Governor-General of Nigeria 1960–1963 |
Succeeded by Position abolished |
| Preceded by Position created |
President of Nigeria 1963–1966 |
Succeeded by Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi |
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| Nnamdi Azikiwe • Nwafor Orizu • Joseph Wayas • Iyorchia Ayu • Ameh Ebute • Evan Enwerem • Chuba Okadigbo • Pius Anyim • Adolphus Wabara • Ken Nnamani • David Mark |  |
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| First Republic |
Azikiwe
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| Military regime (1st time) | ||
| Second Republic | ||
| Military regime (2nd time) | ||
| Fourth Republic | ||
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* civilian; headed transition to abortive Third Republic
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