Dr Sebastian Okechukwu Mezu (born April 30, 1941) is a Nigerian writer, scholar, philanthropist, and publisher. He was involved in politics in

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

in the late 1970s.

Background

Sebastian Okechukwu Mezu was born on April 30, 1941, in Ezeogba, Emekuku,

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 ...

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 ...

. He received a B.A. in French (1964) with minors in German and Philosophy from

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

. He obtained an LL.B. in 1966 from La Salle Extension University,

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, and an M.A. (1966), Ph.D (1967) in Romance Languages from

Johns Hopkins University The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

, Maryland.

Diplomatic service

When the

Biafran 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 ...

broke out in 1967, due to the recognition of his valuable contributions and activism as a young scholar in the United States, where he had voluntarily translated volumes of documents for his country into French and other languages, Mezu was appointed Biafran Government Special Representative and Ambassador to Abidjan, Ivory Coast, at the age of 27 by Colonel C. Odumegwu Ojukwu and was charged with affairs in Francophone and Anglophone West Africa. Mezu was the co-founder and Deputy Director of the Biafra Historical Research Center,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, July 1967 – July 1968, then Biafra's semi-official diplomatic mission to France and Europe. He was Biafran delegate and French expert to various peace delegations including to Ivory Coast (President

Félix Houphouët-Boigny Félix Houphouët-Boigny (; 18 October 1905 – 7 December 1993), affectionately called Papa Houphouët or Le Vieux ("The Old One"), was an Ivorian politician and physician who served as the first List of heads of state of Ivory Coast, pr ...

), Senegal, (President

Leopold Sedar Senghor Leopold may refer to: People * Leopold (given name), including a list of people named Leopold or Léopold * Leopold (surname) Fictional characters * Leopold (''The Simpsons''), Superintendent Chalmers' assistant on ''The Simpsons'' * Leopold B ...

), Gabon (President

Albert Bernard Bongo Omar Bongo Ondimba (born Albert-Bernard Bongo; 30 December 1935 – 8 June 2009) was a Gabonese politician who was the second president of Gabon from 1967 until Death and state funeral of Omar Bongo, his death in 2009. A member of the Gabonese De ...

), and was Biafran delegate and French expert to various peace conferences in Niamey, Niger Republic (President

Hamani Diori Hamani Diori (6 June 1916 – 23 April 1989) was the first President of the Republic of Niger. He was appointed to that office in 1960, when Niger gained independence from France. Although corruption was a common feature of his administration, ...

, 1968) and in Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia (Emperor

Haile Selassie Haile Selassie I (born Tafari Makonnen or ''Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles#Lij, Lij'' Tafari; 23 July 189227 August 1975) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He rose to power as the Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles, Rege ...

, 1968).

Black Academy Press

In 1969 Mezu establishe
Black Academy Press
Inc, in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

, one of the first black-owned academic publishing companies that set the tone for Africana studies in the 1960s in the US. Black Academy Press remains one of the longest standing historic black publishing companies today.

Political career

In the 1970s, Mezu founded the Imo State branch of the Nigerian Peoples Party (NPP) and as Secretary of the NPP he installed and helped to elect to office Governor Samuel Onunaka

Sam Mbakwe Samuel "Sam" Onunaka Mbakwe (1929 – 5 January 2004) also known as Dee Sam, was an Igbo people, Igbo politician and first democratic Governor of Imo State, governor of Imo State, south east Nigeria, from 1 October 1979 until 31 December 1983. ...

and other notable names. Following the success of the NPP at the polls, Mezu became Chairman of the Golden Breweries Limited (1979–80), rehabilitating and revitalizing the brewery during a $50 million expansion; and as chairman of

Newspapers Ltd where he raised the daily circulation of the ''Nigerian Statesman'' from 50,000 to 150,000. He was Campaign Director, Party Secretary and principal architect of the NPP, which won a landslide victory (over 80%) in the Imo State Legislative, Gubernatorial and Presidential Elections in

in 1979.

Selected bibliography

*''The Philosophy of Pan-Africanism'', editor. Washington, D.C., Georgetown University Press, 1965, 142 pp. *''The Tropical Dawn'' (poems), Baltimore, Maryland, 1966; Buffalo, NY: Black Academy Press, Inc., 1970, 60 p. *''Leopold Sédar Senghor et la défense et illustration de la civilisation noire'', Paris: Marcel Didier, 1968, 232 pp. *''Black Leaders of the Centuries'', editor, with Ram Desai. Buffalo: Black Academy Press, 1970, 302 pp. *'' Behind the Rising Sun'' (novel about the Biafran war). London, William Heinemann, 1971, 242p; paperback (

African Writers Series The African Writers Series (AWS) is a collection of books written by African novelists, poets and politicians. Published by Heinemann (publisher), Heinemann, 359 books appeared in the series between 1962 and 2003. The series has provided an int ...

, No. 113) London, Heinemann Educational Books, 1972. *''Modern Black Literature'', editor. Buffalo: Black Academy Press, 1971 *''The Literary Works of Senghor'', London Heinemann Educational Books, 1972, 121 pp. *''Igbo Market Literature'', compiler. 5 vols, Buffalo: Black Academy Press, 1972, 4000 pp. *''The Meaning of Africa to Afro-Americans: A Comparative Study Of Race & Racism'', editor. Buffalo: Black Academy Press, 1972, 175 pp. *''Umu Ejima'' (The Twins). An Igbo adaptation of the Latin play ''

Menaechmi ''Menaechmi'', a Latin-language play, is often considered Plautus' greatest play. The title is sometimes translated as ''The Brothers Menaechmus'' or ''The Two Menaechmuses''. ''Menaechmi'' is a comedy about mistaken identity, involving a set o ...

'' by

Plautus Titus Maccius Plautus ( ; 254 – 184 BC) was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are the earliest Latin literary works to have survived in their entirety. He wrote Palliata comoedia, the genre devised by Livius Andro ...

. Owerri: Black Academy Press, 1975, 60 pp. *''Leopold Sedar Senghor''. London: Heinemann, 1973. *''Ken Saro-Wiwa: The Life and Times'', editor. Baltimore, Black Academy Press, Inc. 1996.

References

External links

Black Academy Press, Inc.