Nnamdi Benjamin Azikiwe, GCFR PC (16 November 1904 – 11 May 1996),[2] commonly referred to as Zik of Africa, was a Nigerian politician, statesman, and revolutionary leader who served as the 3rd and first black governor-general of Nigeria from 1960 to 1963 and the first president of Nigeria during the First Nigerian Republic (1963–1966).[3] He is widely regarded as the father of Nigerian nationalism as well as one of the major driving forces behind the country's independence in 1960.[4][5][6]
Born in Zungeru in present-day Niger State to Igbo parents from Onitsha, Anambra State, Azikiwe learned to speak Hausa which was the main indigenous language of the Northern Region. He was later sent to live with his aunt and grandmother in his hometown Onitsha, where he learnt the Igbo language.[7] Living in Lagos State exposed him to learning the Yoruba language, and by the time he was in college, he had been exposed to different Nigerian cultures and spoke the three major Nigerian languages.[8]
Azikiwe was well travelled. He moved to the United States where he was called Ben Azikiwe, and attended Storer College, Columbia University, the University of Pennsylvania and Howard University. He contacted colonial authorities with a request to represent Nigeria at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics since he was also an athlete.[9] He returned to Africa in 1934, where he started working as a journalist in the Gold Coast (present day Ghana). During the British West Africa, Azikiwe advocated as a political activist and journalist, for Nigerian and African nationalism.[10]
Early life and education
Youth: education and background
Map of Nigeria's linguistic groups: Azikiwe's birth land in the Northern region. (His native town, Onitsha, lies in the Southeastern part of the nation.)
Azikiwe was born on 16 November 1904 in Zungeru, Northern Nigeria. His first name, "Nnamdi", given to him by his parents is an Igbo name which literally means "my father is alive". His father, Obed-Edom Chukwuemeka Azikiwe, a native of Onitsha, was a clerk in the British Administration of Nigeria.[11] His mother Rachel Chinwe Ogbenyeanu Azikiwe (née Aghadiuno), who was sometimes called "Nwanonaku"[12][13] was the third daughter of Aghadiuno Ajie[14] and a descendant of a royal family in Onitsha; her paternal great-grandfather Ugogwu Anazenwu, was the Obi of Onitsha.[14] Azikiwe had one sibling, a sister, named Cecilia Eziamaka Arinze.[14]
Azikiwe with his parents, c. 1910s
As a young boy, Azikiwe spoke Hausa, the regional language.[15] His father, concerned about his son's fluency in Igbo and not Hausa, sent him to Onitsha in 1912 to live with his paternal grandmother and aunt to learn the Igbo language and culture.[16] In Onitsha, Azikiwe attended Holy Trinity School (a Roman Catholic mission school) and Christ Church School (an Anglican primary school).[17] In 1914, while his father was working in Lagos, Azikiwe was bitten by a dog; this prompted his worried father to send him to Lagos, that he may heal and continue school in the city.[18] He then attended Wesleyan Boys' High School, now known as Methodist Boys' High School, Lagos.[19] His father was sent to Kaduna two years later, and Azikiwe briefly lived with a relative who was married to a Muslim from Sierra Leone.[20] In 1918, he was back to Onitsha and finished his secondary education at CMS Central School.[21] Azikiwe then worked at the school as a student-teacher,[18] supporting his mother with his earnings.[20] In 1920, his father was posted back to Southern Nigeria Protectorate, in the city of Calabar. Azikiwe joined his father in Calabar, beginning tertiary education at the Hope Waddell Training College.[22] He was introduced to the teachings of Marcus Garvey,[23] Garveyism, which became an important part of his nationalistic rhetoric.
After attending Hope Waddell,[24] Azikiwe was transferred to Methodist Boys' High School, Lagos, and he made friends with classmates from old Lagos families such as George Shyngle, Francis Cole and Ade Williams (a son of the Akarigbo of Remo). These connections were later beneficial to his political career in Lagos.[18] While at Wesley Boys High school he excelled in his studies and gifted a book titled "from Log Cabin to the White House", a biography of James A. Garfield, former president of the United States, who rose from grass to grace. The book inspired him to be determined to succeed in life. Azikiwe heard a lecture by James Aggrey, an educator who believed that Africans should receive a college education abroad and return to effect change.[25] After the lecture, Aggrey gave the young Azikiwe a list of schools accepting black students in America.[20]
After completing his secondary education, Azikiwe applied to the colonial service and was accepted as a clerk in the treasury department. His time in the colonial service exposed him to racial bias in the colonial government.[26] Azikiwe's choice to study in the United States instead of Great Britain was due to influences of Dr. James Kwegyir Aggrey, the biographies of President A. Garfield and Abraham Lincoln, the Marcus Garvey Pan Africanism and the existence of assistances for indigent students, which was not available in Britain. Determined to travel abroad for further education, Azikiwe applied to universities in the U.S. He was admitted by Storer College, contingent on his finding a way to America.[27]
To reach America, he contacted a seaman and made a deal with him to become a stowaway.[28] However, one of his friends on the ship became ill and they were advised to disembark in Sekondi. In Ghana, Azikiwe worked as a police officer; his mother visited, and asked him to return to Nigeria. He returned, and his father was willing to sponsor his trip to America.[29]
Azikiwe in Storer College (1926)
Azikiwe attended Storer College's two-year preparatory school in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. To fund his living expenses and tuition, he worked a number of menial jobs before enrolling in Howard University in Washington, D.C. in 1927 to obtain a bachelor's degree in political science. In 1929, he transferred from Howard University to Lincoln University to complete his undergraduate studies and graduated in 1930 with a BA in political science.[30][31] Azikwe took courses with Alain Locke.[32] Azikiwe was a member of Phi Beta Sigma.[33] He then enrolled at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania and in the University of Pennsylvania simultaneously in 1930, receiving a master's degree in religion and philosophy from Lincoln University in 1932 and a master's degree in anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania in 1933.[34][35] Azikiwe became a graduate-student instructor in the history and political-science departments at Lincoln University, where he created a course in African history.[36] He was a candidate for a doctoral degree at Columbia University before returning to Nigeria in 1934.[37] Azikiwe's doctoral research focused on Liberia in world politics, and his research paper was published by A. H. Stockwell in 1934. During his time in America, he was a columnist for the Baltimore Afro-American, Philadelphia Tribune and the Associated Negro Press.[38] Azikiwe was influenced by the ideals of the African-American press, Garveyism and pan-Africanism.[39]
Associations and societies
Young Men's Christian Association, Storer College (1925–27)
International Cub of Howard University (1928)
Stylus Literary Society of Howard University (1923)
International Club of Columbia University (1930–32)
Life Fellow, Royal Anthropological Institute (1933)
Life Fellow, Royal Economic Society (1934)
Life Member, British Association for the Advancernent of Science (1947)
American Society of International Law (1933–34)
American Anthropological Association (1932–1934)
American Political Science Society (1933–34)
American Ethnological Society (1933–34)
Sodalitae Scientiae Civilis of Lincoln University (1934)[40]
Athletics career
Azikiwe playing American football, Storer College (1926)
At the start of his career, Azikiwe competed in boxing, athletics, swimming, football and tennis.[30] Football was brought to Nigeria by the British as they colonized Africa.[41] However, any leagues that were formed were segregated. Nnamdi saw this as an injustice and he emerged as a leader in terms of connection sports and politics at the end of the colonial period.[42] In 1934, Zik was denied the right to compete in a track and field event because Nigeria was not allowed to participate. This happened another time because of his Igbo background, and Zik had decided that enough was enough, and wanted to create his own club. Nnamdi founded Zik's Athletic Club (ZAC) which would open its doors to sportsmen and women of all races, nationalities, tribes, and classes of Nigeria.[43] In 1942, the club went on to win both the Lagos League and the War Memorial Cup. After these victories, Nnamdi opened up more ZAC branches throughout Nigeria. During the war years ZAC would go on tours.[44] ZAC matches would happen all over the country, and it made the people of Nigeria feel a sense of unity and nationalism that would help them fight for freedom.[45]
In 1949, some ZAC players participated in a tour of England. On the return from the tour they stopped in Freetown, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria defeated the locals by 2 goals. This victory was more than a decade before Nigerian independence, but it marked the birth of Nigeria's National Team.[46] Finally, after years of struggle, in 1959 the last British official left the NFA, and on 22 August 1960, a few weeks prior to its formal independence, Nigeria joined the world football body of FIFA.[47] None of this would have been possible if it was not for Nnamdi Azikiwe. He united Nigeria through sport and brought about a sense of nationalism that was referred to as 'Nigerian-ness'.
Sports achievements
Founder, ZiKs Athletic Club (with MRB. Oltun) for the promotion of athletics, boxing, cricket, swimming and tennis in Nigeria.
Reserve Goalkeeper and Forward, Methodist Boys High School, Lagos (1921)
Champion, High Jump, M.B.H.S, and Champion, Empire Day (1921)
Champion, Welterweight, Storer College (1925–27)
Champion & Gold Medalist, High Jump, HU Inter-Scholastic Games (1926);
Gold Medalist, Cross Country, One Mile Run, Quarket Mile Run, and High Jump, Storer College Silver championships(1926)
Medalist, Pentathlon, Storer College Championships (1925)
Captain, Storer College Cross Country Team (1927)
Gold Medalist, Cross Country, Storer College (1921)
Bronze Medalist, Laurel-Baltimore Marathon (1927)
Champion, Backstroke, Howard University (1928)
Co- Captain, Lincoln University Soccer Team (1930)
Winner, Two MIle Run, Dual Championship between Lincoln University & Cheyney State College (1930)
Silver Medalist, Two Mile Run, Central InterCollegiate Athletic Association Championships at Hampton Institute Virginia (1931)
Point Winner, Baltimore Cross Country Marathon (1929, 1930)
Bronze Medalist, Richmond Cross Country Marathon (1931)
Point Winner, Mid-Atlantic A.A.U. Cross Country Championships (1932)
Gold Medalist, 1,000 yards run, Caledonian Games in Brooklyn, New York (1932)
Gold Medalist, One Mile Run, and Three Mile Run, Y MC.A. Games, New York (1932)
Silver Trophy, Half Mile Race, and Silver Cup Winner in the One Mile Race, Democratie Field Day Championships, New Haven, Connecticut (1933)
Runners-up (with G.K Dorgu), Lagos Tennis Men's Double Championships Division B (1938)
Winners (Anchor man), ZAC Freestyle Relay Team at the Lagos Swimming Championships (1939)
Entered to represent Nigeria in the Half-Mile Race and One Mile Run at the 1934 British Empire Games, but was rejected on 'technical grounds' by the A.A.A of Great Britain. (This rejection made him write a famous letter, dropping his English name, Benjamin).
Membership
Diamond Football Club (1922–24)
Mercury Athletic Club of New York (1932–34)
Gold Coast Lawn Tennis Club of Accra (1935–1937)
Patron, Zik's Athletic Club (since 1956)
President, Nigerian Cricket Association (1940–44)
President, Nigerian Swimming Association (1938–41)
Vice-chairman, Nigerian Boxing Board of Control (since 1949)
President, Lagos District Amateur Football Association (1951–1954)
President, Amateur Athletic Association of Nigeria (since 1952)
President, Nigerian Table Tennis Association (since 1953)
Vice Patron and Committee Member, Nigerian Olympic Committee, and British Empire and Commonwealth Games Association (since 1951)
Old photo of Rt. Hn. Azikiwe Nnamdi