The first president of Nigeria was Nnamdi Azikiwe.
Usually referred to as Zik, he was born in zungeru Niger State on 16th November 1904.
He was the governor general of Nigeria from 1960 to 1963 and the first Nigerian presidents from 1963 to 1966.
He was considered to be the driving force behind the nation’s independence and was known as father of Nigerian nationalism.
He was fluent in the languages of the three major ethnic groups, Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba.
In 1934 he worked as an editor of African morning post, a daily newspaper in Accra Ghana. In 1937, he returned to Lagos and founded the west African pilot.
In his time, Zik controlled 6 daily newspapers in Nigeria; 2 in lagos and four strategically placed in the urban centres of Ibadan, Onitsha, portharcourt and kano. This played a crucial role in stimulating Nigerian nationalism.
To support his business ventures and to express his economic nationalism, Zik founded the African continental bank in 1944.
He died on 11th May 1996 after the age of 92 years.