Nnamdi Benjamin Azikiwe, GCFR PC was born on November 16, 1904 in Zungeru, Northern Nigeria. He attended Wesleyan Boys' High School, now known as Methodist Boys’ High School, Broad Street Lagos.

In 1918, Azikwe finished his secondary education at CMS Central School. When Nigeria became a republic in 1963, Azikiwe became its first president, though his role was largely ceremonial.

He and his civilian colleagues were removed from office in the January 15, 1966 military coup, and he was the most prominent politician to avoid assassination after the coup. Azikiwe was a spokesman for Biafra and advised its leader, Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, during the Biafran War (1967–1970).

He switched his allegiance back to Nigeria during the war, and appealed to Ojukwu to end the war in pamphlets and interviews. The New York Times said about his politics, "Throughout his life, Dr. Azikiwe's alliance with northerners put him at odds with Obafemi Awolowo, a socialist-inclined leader of the Yoruba, the country's other important southern group."

After the war, Azikiwe was chancellor of the University of Lagos from 1972 to 1976. He joined the Nigerian People's Party in 1978, making unsuccessful bids for the presidency in 1979 and 1983. He left politics involuntarily after the December 31, 1983 military coup.

He died on May 11, 1996 after a prolonged illness. He was 91-years-old, and was buried in his native Onitsha on November 16, 1996, on what would have become his 92nd birthday. Azikiwe was given a state funeral by the government of Sani Abacha.

MyNigeria/Wikipedia