The Anambra State Governor, Chief Willie Obiano, has declared today, November 16, a work-free day in honor of Nigeria’s first president, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe.
As popularly called, ‘Zik of Africa’ inspired a generation of Africans, including Nigerians, into African nationalism. The list includes Chief Obafemi Awolowo who wrote that he decided to study law in the United Kingdom after watching Zik address the Nigerian Youth Movement in Yaba, Lagos; in appreciation Chief Awolowo launched his Nigerian Tribune on November 16, 1949, Zik’s 45th birthday.
Another great Nigerian whom Zik inspired into embracing Pan-Africanism was the late Chief MKO Abiola, who won the 1993 presidential election fair and square but was tragically denied victory. The Nigerian people are consoled by the fact that this great Zikist has officially been declared the winner of the historic vote, though posthumously, and June 12 proclaimed a national holiday.”
Governor Obiano, in the statement, said Dr. Azikiwe remained Nigeria’s most detribalized leader in Nigeria’s history, adding that, “He spoke the three main Nigerian languages, gave his children non-Igbo names and fought more than any person for Nigeria’s unity and indivisibility like all Pan Africanists of his generation who were determined to prove to the world that Africans were capable of governing themselves admirably in peace and unity.
Nigeria is in dire need of transformational leaders like Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, the symbol of national unity and progress. All Nigerians are grateful to the memory of this great man of philosophy and action.
Credit: The Whistler
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