Raymond Amanze Njoku (August 1915 – 1977)West Africa - Page 1075, 1961
/ref> was a Nigerian politician and former minister for Transport. The son of an

Igbo Igbo may refer to: * Igbo people, an ethnic group of Nigeria * Igbo language, their language * anything related to Igboland, a cultural region in Nigeria See also * Ibo (disambiguation) * Igbo mythology * Igbo music * Igbo art * * Igbo-Ukwu, a t ...

Chief, he was born in

Owerri Owerri ( , ) is the capital city of Imo State in Nigeria, set in the heart of Igboland. It is also the state's largest city, followed by Orlu, Nigeria, Orlu, Okigwe and Ohaji/Egbema. Owerri consists of three Local Government Areas of Nigeria, Loc ...

and raised in a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

household. He attended Our Lady's School at Emekuku, for primary education. Later on, at St Charles, college,

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 ...

, where he was studying, he applied and won a scholarship that earned him an admission into a teachers training school. After brief stints at tutorship in various schools including St Gregory's College, Lagos and St Charles, Onitsha, he decided to change course and study law. After completing his Law studies at Cambridge: LLB Hons Peterhouse College Cambridge, England; he was called to the bar at Inner Temple. LSE Football 1st XI 1944-45

Njoku returned to Nigeria and was a successful lawyer in Aba, Eastern Nigeria, 1949–1954. He was president of Igbo State Union of Nigeria in succession to 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 ...

; Vice President NCNC (National Council of Nigeria & the Cameroon), and also served the Aba community as the leader of the Aba Community League of the Ibo State Union. He contested for a regional seat in 1951, but was unsuccessful. However, in 1954, he was elected to the Federal House of Representative. He was appointed cabinet minister: Commerce & Industry, Transport & Aviation 1954- 1966. The final and definitive motion for

Nigerian Independence Nigeria's Independence Day is a public holiday observed annually on 1 October to commemorate the country's declaration of independence from British rule in 1960. It marked the end of over sixty years of colonial governance and the emergence o ...

on 1 October 1960 was moved by Prime Minister

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 ...

and endorsed by his cabinet colleague Raymond Njoku, minister of Trade & Industry. He was the chairman of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association; addressed British parliamentarians, including Prime Minister

Harold Macmillan Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton (10 February 1894 – 29 December 1986), was a British statesman and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963. Nickn ...

, at the Guildhall, London. During the

Biafra War The Nigerian Civil War (6 July 1967 – 15 January 1970), also known as the Biafran War, Nigeria-Biafra War, or Biafra War, was fought between Nigeria and the Republic of Biafra, a secessionist state which had declared its independence from N ...

Prime Minister

Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx (11 March 1916 – 23 May 1995) was a British statesman and Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, from 1964 to 1970 and again from 197 ...

read his telegram to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

calling for a ceasefire. Sir Hugh Fraser,

Duncan Sandys Duncan Edwin Duncan-Sandys, Baron Duncan-Sandys (; 24 January 1908 – 26 November 1987), was a British politician and minister in successive Conservative governments in the 1950s and 1960s. He was a son-in-law of Winston Churchill and played a ...

and

Patrick Wall Sir Patrick Henry Bligh Wall, (14 October 1916 – 15 May 1998) was a British commando in the Royal Marines during the Second World War and later a Conservative Party politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Haltemprice in the Eas ...

were among his members of parliament friends. Njoku was made a knight of St Sylvester & St Gregory by Pope Paul VI.

References

Rosalynde Ainslie Ros de Lanerolle (22 January 1932 – 23 September 1993),Haward, Pat, "Jennifer Rosalynde de Lanerolle 1932–1993" (obituary), '' History Workshop Journal'' (1994), 37 (1):261–266, Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/hwj/37.1.261. also know ...

, Catherine Hoskyns,

Ronald Segal Ronald Michael Segal (14 July 1932 – 23 February 2008) was a South African activist, writer and editor, founder of the anti-apartheid magazine '' Africa South'' and the Penguin African Library. Life Ronald Segal was born on 14 July 1932, int ...

; ''Political Africa: A Who's Who of Personalities and Parties''. Frederick A. Praeger, 1961. Hansard Nigerian House of Representatives, Hansard House of Commons, University attended, Inner Temple, Daily Telegraph London, Daily Times Lagos. 1915 births 1977 deaths People from Owerri Nigerian Roman Catholics Igbo politicians Alumni of the University of London National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons politicians Members of the House of Representatives (Nigeria) Federal ministers of Nigeria St Gregory's College, Lagos alumni {{Imo-politician-stub