Benjamin Nnamdi Azikiwe; First President of Nigeria

Benjamin Nnamdi Azikiwe, 91, first president of Nigeria after its independence from Britain. Affectionately known as “Zik,” he was governor general of the Nigerian Federation at independence in 1960 and president from 1963 to 1966, when his brief tenure ended in a military coup. He was considered the father of modern Nigerian nationalism and a champion of independence for all African nations from European colonial rule. Educated in missionary schools, Azikiwe earned degrees from Howard, Lincoln and Columbia universities in the United States, where he helped support himself as a dishwasher and boxer. A teacher and journalist before entering politics, he published a series of newspapers, using them to campaign against British rule. Azikiwe joined the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons, Nigeria’s first political party, and in 1959 teamed up with the Nigeria Peoples Congress to form a federal government. He was the recipient of Nigeria’s highest national award, the designation as Grand Commander of the Federal Republic. On Saturday in eastern Nigeria.