About

DR BENJAMIN NNAMDI AZIKIWE was born on November 16, 1904 at Zungeru Niger State in North-Central Nigeria and died on the 11th May, 1996, at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH) Enugu.
Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, popularly known as “Zik of Africa”, was a Nationalist and a political leader, who ferociously fought against the colonial imperialism in Nigeria and Africa untill Nigeria got her independence in 1960.

ZIK was elected first Premier of Easter Region of Nigeria in what is today SouthEast and SouthSouth geopolitical regions. He served as the first President of Nigeria Senate, first indigenous Governor- General of Nigeria 1960- 1963 and first indigenous President and Commander – in – Chief (C-in-C) of the Armed Forces of Nigeria from 1963 to 1966 when the first military coup took place.

The father of ZIK was Obed-Edom Chukwuemeka Azikiwe, born in 1879 and died on March 3, 1958 from Onitsha in present day Anambra State. His mother was Rachel Chinwe Ogbenyeanu Azikiwe 1883 – 1958 also hail from Onitsha Anambra State.

Ziks father Obed was a clerk in the British Administration of Nigeria. As a Railway Staff, he traveled extensively in Nigeria as part of his job. This afforded ZIK the opportunity to be educated in different parts of Nigeria.

Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe had his early education in his home town Onitsha. He first attended Holy Trinity School (a Roman Catholic mission school) in Onitsha and later Christ Church School (an Anglican primary school) also in Onitsha

He later transfered to Lagos where he continued till1918 when he returned back to Onitsha to complete his elementary education at CMS Central School.

In 1920, his father Obed was posted to Calabar, where ZIK joined him and this enabled him do his secondary school in Calabar at the Hope

Waddell Training College Calabar from where he transfered again to Methodist Boys High Lagos where he completed his college education.

Because of the constant transfer of Ziks father to different parts of Nigeria, ZIK became a polyglot, versatile in speaking several Nigeria

languages; Hausa, Yoruba, Calabar and his native Igbo. These multiple languages would later help him immensely in spreading his message of nationalism during independence struggle.

His quest for tertiary education and to know what the colonial masters knew took him to the United States of America where he studied at various Universities, like Storer College, Howard University in Washington, D.C. where in 1927 he obtain a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science.

Between 1929 – 1932 ZIK attended Lincoln University and Pennsylvania University where he obtained his Masters in Religion and Sociology and Anthropology.

ZIK later did his doctoral degree at Columbia University before returning to Nigeria in 1934 to fully participate in the liberation struggle for Nigeria.

In the field of Journalism, ZIK excelled. He founded and edited several Newspapers including the famous West African Pilot that was considered “a turn in the esh of the colonial masters.”

Since his death in 1996 ZIK has been immortalized with so many monuments in Nigeria including the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja, Nnamdi Azikiwe Federal University Awka, Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium Enugu

Nnamdi Azikiwe Library in university of Nigeria Nsukka of which he founded and so many others.