Nnamdi Azikiwe (1904–1996), popularly known as Zik, was a Nigerian journalist, nationalist and statesman who served as the first President of Nigeria from 1963 to 1966. Before that he was Premier of the Eastern Region, President of the Senate and Governor-General of the newly independent federation. Through his newspapers and his leadership of the NCNC, he did more than almost anyone to turn the demand for independence into a mass movement across West Africa.
Early life and family
Benjamin Nnamdi Azikiwe was born on 16 November 1904 in Zungeru, in present-day Niger State, where his father, Obed-Edom Chukwuemeka Azikiwe, worked as a clerk in the colonial administration. His family came from Onitsha in today’s Anambra State, and his mother was Rachel Chinwe Ogbenyeanu Azikiwe.
Because his father was posted to different towns, young Azikiwe grew up in both northern and southern Nigeria and learned Hausa and Yoruba as well as his native Igbo. Many historians link this upbringing to his lifelong belief in a united Nigeria.
Education
Schools in Nigeria
He attended Holy Trinity School and Christ Church School in Onitsha, the Wesleyan Boys’ High School (now Methodist Boys’ High School) in Lagos, the CMS Central School in Onitsha and the Hope Waddell Training Institute in Calabar. In Calabar he was inspired by the ideas of Pan-Africanist thinkers, and he resolved to continue his education in the United States.
Studies in the United States
Azikiwe travelled to the United States in 1925. After preparatory studies at Storer College in West Virginia, he studied at Howard University in Washington, D.C., and then at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in political science in 1930 and a master’s degree in religion and philosophy in 1932. He also obtained a master’s degree in anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania in 1933. To pay his way he took a series of manual jobs, and he later taught at Lincoln University.
Career in journalism
In 1934 Azikiwe moved to Accra in the Gold Coast (now Ghana), where he became the founding editor of the African Morning Post, a daily newspaper that promoted African nationalism. His fiery writing led to a sedition trial in 1936. In Accra he also influenced a young Kwame Nkrumah, who later led Ghana to independence.
Azikiwe returned to Lagos in 1937 and founded the West African Pilot, whose motto was “Show the light and the people will find the way.” The Pilot and the chain of newspapers he built around it, the Zik Group, spread nationalist ideas to readers all over Nigeria and made him one of the best-known Africans of his generation. That same year he published Renascent Africa, a book setting out his vision of African freedom.
Political career
The NCNC
Azikiwe was active in the Nigerian Youth Movement before co-founding the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC) with Herbert Macaulay in 1944. He became the party’s general secretary and, after Macaulay’s death in 1946, its president. In 1948 he was elected to the Legislative Council.
Premier of the Eastern Region
Under the regional system created in the 1950s, Azikiwe served as Premier of the Eastern Region from 1954 to 1959. During this period he promoted education and laid the foundations of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, which opened in October 1960. He later served as its first chancellor.
Independence: Senate President, Governor-General and President
After the 1959 federal elections the NCNC formed a coalition with the Northern People’s Congress, and Abubakar Tafawa Balewa became Prime Minister. Azikiwe became President of the Senate in January 1960. On 16 November 1960, his 56th birthday, he was sworn in as Governor-General, the first Nigerian to hold the office. When Nigeria became a republic on 1 October 1963, he became its first President. The role was largely ceremonial, with executive power held by the Prime Minister.
His presidency ended with the military coup of January 1966, which took place while he was abroad.
The civil war and later life
During the Nigerian Civil War (1967–1970), Azikiwe initially supported Biafra and travelled to seek international recognition for it. In 1969 he changed his position and called for an end to the war and the reunification of Nigeria. When civilian politics returned, he led the Nigerian People’s Party (NPP) and ran unsuccessfully for president in 1979 and 1983. He withdrew from politics after the military coup at the end of 1983. In 1972 he was installed as the Owelle of Onitsha, and his autobiography, My Odyssey, appeared in 1970.
Personal life
Azikiwe married Flora Ogoegbunam in 1936; she died in 1983. He later married Uche Ewah. He had several children.
Death and legacy
Nnamdi Azikiwe died on 11 May 1996 at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital in Enugu, aged 91, and was buried in his hometown of Onitsha. He is honoured as one of Nigeria’s founding fathers: his portrait appears on the 500-naira note, and Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja and Nnamdi Azikiwe University in Awka are named after him.