He is known popularly as one of the driving forces behind the independence of Nigeria. He was considered and also became popularly known as the “father of Nigeria”. He served as the first president of Nigeria as a republic and also the popular face on the Five hundred Naira note (N500). His name is Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe and he is our hero today.
Hi there and welcome to my blog. It is a pleasure to have you on the maiden edition of Heroes of Nigeria. I started this series as a complement to the world-known social media theme for Thursdays, which is ‘Throwback Thursdays’. Today we would be looking briefly at the life and times of one of Nigeria’s biggest and well known hero and his achievements. I hope you find this article educational and interesting. I believe if you pay attention to details in this post, you’ll learn things that you never really knew about this hero. Let the ride begin.
EARLY FAMILY LIFE AND BIOGRAPHY
Nnamdi Azikiwe was born in Zungeru, Northern Nigeria on November 16, 1904. His parents were igbo; his father’s name being Obed-Edom Chukwuemeka Azikiwe who lived between 1829-1958. His father was an Onitsha-indigene and clerk in the British Administration of Nigeria. His father was well known traveler because of the nature of his job. His mother’s name was Rachel Chinwe azikiwe and was most times known as Nwanonaku. Nnamdi’s mother was a descendant of a royal house in Onitsha due to the fact that her paternal great grandfather was Obi Anazenwu. Dr Azikiwe was said to have had a female sibling; his sister’s name was Cecilia Eziamaka Arinze.
Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe was fluent in speaking Hausa language due to the fact that he grew up in the Northern part of Nigeria. This made his father to send him back to his paternal grandmother in Onitsha so he could also be fluent in speaking igbo. He attended the Holy Trinity school (which is a Roman Catholic mission school) and later attended the Christ church School, an Anglican primary school. Nnamdi Azikiwe also schooled in Lagos, CMS central school in Onitsha, Hope Waddell training college in Calabar, Methodists Boys High school in Lagos and so on.
EDUCATION AND CAREER
After attending several schools in Nigeria, he arrived in the United States in 1925 where he also attended various schools and bagged multiple certificates and degrees, including a bachelor's and master’s degree from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. He also bagged another master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania. Later in 1934, he later went on to Ghana (formally gold coast) where he founded a nationalist newspaper. He was also a mentor to the first president of Ghana- Kwame Nkrumah, before returning to Nigerian in 1937.
He also founded and edited newspapers in Nigeria and became actively involved in politics. He was involved with the Nigerian youth movement and later founded the national Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC). This movement was later identified with the igbo people living in southern Nigeria after 1951. Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, with the backing of the NCNC, was elected to the Nigerian Legislative Council 1948 and later served as the premier of the Eastern region in 1954-1959.
PROFESSIONAL WORLD AND ACHIEVEMENTS
In 1946, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe was inducted into the prestigious Agbalanze society of Onitsha has Nnanyelugo. It was a customary recognition for Onitsha men of significant accomplishment. He later became a second rank red cap chieftain in 1962 also known as Ndichie Okwa as the Oziziani Obi.
In 1972, he was made the Owelle-Osowa-Anya of Onithsa, making him a first-rank hereditary red cap nobleman or Ndichie Ume as the igbo people know it. It was in 1960 he established the popular University of Nigeria, Nsukka and Queen Elizabeth II appointed him to the Privy Council of the United Kingdom. That was when he was conferred with the highest national honour of Grand Commander of the Federal Republic (GCFR) by the Federal Republic of Nigerian, in 1980.
That would be all on Nnamdi Azikiwe for today guys. Hopefully, by next week we would be looking at another Nigerian hero. You can do me a favour by mentioning names of your favourite Nigerian hero in the comment section below. I remain your favourite steemain
