Chief Chukwuma Bamidele Azikiwe (February 1940 – 10 May 2015) was a

Nigerian Nigerians or the Nigerian people are citizens of Nigeria or people with ancestry from Nigeria. The name Nigeria was derived from the Niger River running through the country. This name was allegedly coined in the late 19th century by British jo ...

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

and political figure. He was the second Owelle-Osowa-Anya of

Onitsha Onitsha ( or simply ''Ọ̀nị̀chà'') is a city on the eastern bank of the Niger River, in Anambra State, Nigeria. Onitsha along with various cities and towns in southern Anambra State, northern Imo State and neighboring Delta State on the we ...

and the eldest son of

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Nnamdi Azikiwe Nnamdi Benjamin Azikiwe, (16 November 1904 – 11 May 1996), commonly referred to as Zik of Africa, was a Nigerian politician, statesman, and revolutionary leader who served as the 3rd and first black governor-general of Nigeria from 1960 ...

, the first holder of the

chieftaincy A tribal chief, chieftain, or headman is a leader of a tribal society or chiefdom. Tribal societies There is no definition for "tribe". The concept of tribe is a broadly applied concept, based on tribal concepts of societies of western Af ...

Education and political career

Azikiwe studied at

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate education, undergraduate college of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Part of the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Scienc ...

where he participated in track and field (broad jump) and graduated in 1963. He then graduated from

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

in 1964. He ran unsuccessfully for the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

Anambra State gubernatorial nomination in 1991. After his father died in 1996, he succeeded him as the second Owelle-Osowa-Anya of Onitsha.

Death

Azikiwe died at Borommeo Hospital in Onitsha on 10 May 2015 at the age of 75. He is said to have suffered from respiratory ailments prior to his death. While the Nigerian federal government indicated interest to give him a state burial in which the burial activities were coordinated through some Nigeria State Governors (Lagos, Anambra, Enugu, Oyo, and Kaduna states) at that period, the burial was sponsored by the Anambra State Government.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Azikiwe, Chukwuma 1940 births 2015 deaths Anambra State politicians Chukwuma Nigerian diplomats Igbo politicians Harvard Business School alumni Nigerian expatriates in the United States Igbo diplomats