User:SafariScribe/Nnamdi Azikiwe
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nnamdi Benjamin Azikiwe GCFR PC (16 November 1904 – 11 May 1996),[1] usually referred to as Zik, was a Nigerian politician, author, 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).[2] He was widely regarded as the father of Nigerian nationalism for driving force behind the nation's independence in 1960.[3][4]
Born in Zungeru, Colonial Nigeria in the 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, Nigeria. He was later sent to live with his aunt and grandmother in his hometown Onitsha, where he learnt Igbo language and the culture.[5] After he had joined his father in Lagos, he was also exposed to Yoruba culture, and by the time he was in college, had incorporated the three major languages of Nigeria and cultures.
Azikiwe moved to the United States after his father's willingness to train him abroad. He attended Storer College and after two years left for Howard University. He later transferred to the University of Pennsylvania and Lincoln University where he obtained his masters degree in philosophy and religion and in anthropology respectively. He also has his doctorate at Columbia University. Azikiwe founded the ZAC, a football playing team following the segregation given to athletes and the incident that after he had contacted the colonial authorities with a request to represent Nigeria at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics, he was rejected since Nigeria cannot participate.[6] He returned to Africa in 1934, where he started working as a journalist in Gold Coast (now called Ghana). Azikiwe's writing career included journalism and he advocated in politics which would later lead to the Independence of Nigeria.