Kingsley Ozumba Mbadiwe (1915–1990) 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 ...

nationalist, politician, statesman, and government minister in the

Nigerian First Republic The First Republic was the republican government of Nigeria between 1963 and 1966 governed by the first republican constitution. The country's government was based on a federal form of the Westminster system. The period between 1 October 1960, ...

and a Biafran Roving ambassador during the civil war.

Early life

Mbadiwe was born to the family of Mbadiwe Odum from

Arondizuogu Arondizuogu (Aro-ndizuogu) is a town inhabited by the Aro people, an Igbo subgroup in Imo State of Nigeria. The Arondizuogu community is believed to have migrated from Arochukwu in the present Abia State to their current settlements in Imo State, ...

then under then Orlu division of present-day

Imo State Imo () is a States of Nigeria, state in the South East (Nigeria), South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered to the north by Anambra State, Rivers State to the west and south, and Abia State to the east. It takes its name from the Imo R ...

. His uncle, Igwegbe Odum, was a warrant chief in the

colonial era Colonial period (a period in a country's history where it was subject to management by a colonial power) may refer to: Continents *European colonization of the Americas * Colonisation of Africa * Western imperialism in Asia Countries * Col ...

Education

He started primary education at St Mary's Catholic School,

Port Harcourt Port Harcourt (Pidgin: ''Po-ta-kot or Pi-ta-kwa)'' is the capital and largest city of Rivers State in Nigeria. It is the fifth most populous city in Nigeria after Lagos, Kano, Ibadan and Benin. It lies along the Bonny River and is locate ...

, and finished it at a government school in Aba. He then attended the

Hope Waddell Training Institute The Hope Waddell Training Institution (HOWAD) is a school in Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria. It founded by missionaries from the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland in 1895. It is named after the Reverend Hope Masterton Waddell. Establ ...

Calabar Calabar (also referred to as Callabar, Calabari, Calbari, Cali and Kalabar) is the capital city of Cross River State, Nigeria. It was originally named Akwa Akpa, in the Efik language, as the Efik people dominate this area. The city is adjac ...

, Aggrey Memorial College,

Arochukwu Arochukwu Local Government Area, sometimes referred to as Arochuku or Aro Oke igbo is the third largest local government area in Abia State (after Aba and Umuahia) in southeastern Nigeria and homeland of the Igbo subgroup, Aro people. It ...

, Igbobi College, Lagos and the Baptist Academy, Lagos. At Baptist Academy,

Samuel Akintola Chief Samuel Ládòkè Akíntọ́lá otherwise known as ''S.L.A.'' (6 July 1910 – 15 January 1966) was a Nigerian politician, aristocrat, orator, and lawyer. He served as Oloye Aare Ona Kakanfo XIII of Yorubaland and served as premier ...

and E.E. Esau were staff members, while some of his schoolmates at Igbobi were Taslim Elias, Horatio Thomas and Justice F.O. Coker. After his secondary education, he dabbled into trading by establishing Mbadiwe Produce Association in 1937. He left Nigeria to study at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

and

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

for a number of years. While in America, he helped to establish an African student's association, through which he gained the attention of the U.S. First Lady

Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt ( ; October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the longest-serving First Lady of the United States, first lady of the United States, during her husband Franklin D ...

, who received him and his organization in the White House.

Career

After returning from the U.S., he started another business and established a research institute on African Arts. He soon entered the Nigerian political scene and joined the

National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons The National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC) (later changed to the National Convention of Nigerian Citizens), was a Nigerian nationalist political party from 1944 to 1966, during the period leading up to independence and immediatel ...

. In 1951, he was elected into the Eastern Region House of Assembly. He was re-elected in 1954, and shortly thereafter appointed Minister for Lands and National Resources. In 1957, he was appointed Minister for Commerce. However, his political success was to undergo a great challenge when in mid-1958, he and Kola Balogun attempted to remove Dr.

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 ...

as the leader of

(NCNC). Mbadiwe set up his own newspaper, ''The Daily Telegraph'', as an organ of protest. He later re-joined the party and was appointed Minister for Trade and Communications and also served as a special adviser to the Prime Minister, advising on African affairs. After the

secession Secession is the formal withdrawal of a group from a Polity, political entity. The process begins once a group proclaims an act of secession (such as a declaration of independence). A secession attempt might be violent or peaceful, but the goal i ...

of the Eastern Region he was appointed as a Roving Ambassador by the Biafran president Odumegwu Ojukwu and held this post till the end of the civil war.

Personal life

Seeing the world in black & white, p16, Linus T. Ogbuji, Africa World Press, 2007
, 9781592214860 Mbadiwe had six children namely Betty, Greg, Paul, Chris, George, and Francis. His brother, James Green Mbadiwe was a businessman conducting on his account in the Northern Region, he owned the now defunct Green's Hotel on Ahmadu Bello Way, Kaduna built in 1939 and commissioned by Azikiwe. The property later became a shopping center, J. Green Mbadiwe died in 1980. He built and inhabited the landmark residence, The Palace of The People, at Ndianiche Uno. It was commissioned by Prime Minister Sir

Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa (December 1912 – 15 January 1966) was the first and only Prime Minister of Nigeria, Prime Minister of Nigeria. A dominant figure of Nigerian Independence, he was a conservative Anglophile. His political career spa ...

in 1965. He married three wives.

Early life

Education

Career

Personal life

References

Further reading