Nnamdi Azikiwe i the first President of Nigeria and remains a legend
till tomorrow. Here is a picture of his wedding to his sweetheart and
one-time First Lady of Nigeria, then Miss Flora Ogoegbunam in 1936. The
wedding was held in James Town, Accra, Ghana. Hear what foremost
historian, Max Siollun has to say about the late Zik of Africa: If Zik
had killed himself, there would have been no Nigeria today – period. He
more than anyone else (with the exception of Gowon) is responsible for
the continued unity of Nigeria.
The wife died in 1983 and Zik
himself later died in 1996. Actually, there was a time the great Zik
wanted to commit suicide. In the words of Bimbola Babarinde, an expert
on Nigerian history, Zik’s early years in America were so difficult and
at one point he attempted suicide by lying across train tracks and
waiting for an oncoming train to crush him. A good Samaritan saved his
life by pulling him off the track with the train only a few yards from
him. Life in America then for a lonely young African man was terrible,
especially with all the discrimination, segregation and economic
depression. -
