State Government Declares Tuesday As Public Holiday To Honor Nnamdi Azikiwe

Anambra State Government Declares Tuesday As Public Holiday To Honor Nnamdi Azikiwe

Anambra State government has declared Tuesday, November 16, 2021, as a public holiday in honour of Nigeria’s first president, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, who was born on November 16, 1904.

This was disclosed in a statement by the state commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Mr C. Don Adinuba.

Anambra State Governor, Chief Willie Obiano has previously called on the federal government to recognize the date as a nation-wide public holiday, in honour of Azikiwe’s contribution to Nigeria.

This year makes it the third year the Anambra State government would be observing the birthday anniversary.

Adinuba said in the statement released on behalf of Obiano: “It was the Great Zik of Africa who inspired such outstanding Pan-African leaders as Dr Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana who led his country to freedom from colonial rule on March 6, 1957.”

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Governor Obiano in the press statement reiterated his call on the Federal Government to declare November 16 a national holiday in memory of The Great Zik of Africa.

Obiano said: “After all, the Ghanaians observe the birthday of Dr Nkrumah as a national holiday, just the way Tanzanians observe President Julius Nyerere’s birthday as a national holiday.

“It is a huge national embarrassment that Nigeria has yet to declare November 16 a national holiday.”

GETTING TO KNOW NNAMDI AZIKIWE OF BLESSED MEMORY

Nnamdi Azikiwe, fondly knowns otherwise as “Zik”, was born on 16 November 1904 in Zungeru, Northern Nigeria. He was born of igbo parents (One of the major tribes in Nigeria). His father, Obed-Edom Chukwuemeka Azikiwe(1879–1958), a native of Onye Onitsha. His mother, Rachel Chinwe Ogbenyeanu (Aghadiuno) Azikiwe, was of a royal descent in Onitsha. Azikiwe had one sibling, a sister, named Cecilia Eziamaka Arinze. Azikiwe spoke hausa fluently, which was a major concern for his father, who was worried that his son could speak hausa, and not Igbo. Owing to this, in 1912, his father sent him to live with his paternal grandmother and aunt in onitsha, to learn Igbo language and culture. In Onitsha, Azikiwe attended Holy Trinity School (a Roman Catholic mission school) and Christ Church School (an Anglican primary school).

Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, played a key role in Nigeria’s emergence as a free nation. He spent most of his life working as a journalist and a politician to end British control of Nigeria.