Azikiwe compromised his political interest for Nigeria’s survival, unlike today’s politicians

Former Niger State governor, Mu’azu Aliyu, has said that Nigeria’s founding father, Nnamdi Azikiwe, made significant political compromises to ensure the survival and unity of the nation.

Mr Aliyu said this at the Nnamdi Azikiwe’s sixth Annual Award Lecture 2025 (121-Posthumous Birthday Celebration) themed “The Power of Pan-African Unity, Strengthening Nigeria’s Role in African Integration and Development” in Abuja on Sunday.

Mr Aliyu, who was the Chairperson of the National Planning Committee of the lecture, said that the early years of Nigeria’s independence were fraught with existential tensions, and Zik’s pragmatic decisions helped steer the fragile federation away from potential disintegration.

“Zik was a Nigerian even before Nigeria gained its independence. Zik was in the forefront of the independence of Nigeria. And you could see that he could, as a realist, compromise to ensure the survival of the nation.

“If you recall, before the coup of 1966, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe entered a relationship between his party and the MPC and became a ceremonial president. And indeed, during the Second Republic, again, his party and the MPN came to ensure that Nigeria remains one.

“If we were to choose where to be born, probably many people may not want to be born in Nigeria. But since it was not a choice, your creator chose that you should be born here, it is only natural that you should be proud and love your country.”

According to Mr Aliyu, “In all the religious dictums, it is part of the principles that loving one’s country is very important; and this, Azikiwe has taught Nigerians.”

Call for moral rebirth

The keynote speaker, Mainasara Umar-Kogo, the Chairperson of the Code of Conduct Tribunal, called for moral rebirth and Pan-African unity.

Mr Umar-Kogo argued that in spite of the groundwork laid by Africa’s founding fathers such as Mr Azikiwe, Kwame Nkrumah, Nelson Mandela, and others, the continent remained shackled by failures of leadership, corruption, and disunity.

He lamented that the ideals of the 20th-century liberation struggle have been betrayed in practice.

“Let us be honest with ourselves. What kind of house have we built after Zik? A house divided by ethnic strife cannot endure. A house corroded by corruption cannot inspire.

“A house without justice cannot lead. If Nigeria is to serve as a cornerstone of Africa, then our house must first be in order. A divided Nigeria cannot unify Africa.

“A corrupt Nigeria cannot inspire Africa. A lawless Nigeria cannot lead Africa, and that is why Africa is in a comatose state. Unity is a moral compass.”

Mr Umar-Kogo explained that unity cannot be built on injustice, adding that Pan-Africanism, which Zik stood for, was not only an economic project but a political project that Nigerians should continue to emulate.

He emphasised Nigeria’s urgent need for principled leadership rooted in integrity, courage, justice and service.

He warned that leaders obsessed with wealth and power have replaced those who once saw leadership as a sacred trust to be accounted for “before God and history.”

Chineme Onyeke, the director-general of the annual award, said the lecture was organised out of a noble conviction that nations should not merely remember their heroes, but renew and sustain the dreams they inspired.

Mr Onyeke said this year’s lecture theme was timely, positioning Nigeria to lead the rise of the African continent in solidarity.

He said the group hoped to establish the Zik Centre for Leadership and African Studies, a citadel of learning and research designed to inspire new generations of Nigerians and Africans to lead with wisdom, courage and compassion.

“We therefore appeal to the federal government, through the Minister of FCT, Nyesom Wike to graciously support this vision by allocating land for this national legacy project.

“As we reflect on the legacy of Zik, let us be reminded that history does not remember us by the titles we bear or the speeches we deliver, but by the values we upheld and the institutions we built.”

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Azikiwe’s widow speaks

Uche, the widow of Mr Azikiwe, commended the organisers for the initiative.

She called for the need to write the history of Nigeria and the contributions of statesmen like Mr Azikiwe into a book so that young people would learn history.

“This is because our problem is that we do not know what happened in the past. We do not know the history.

“Even as the wife of Nnamdi Azikiwe, I did not know most of the things said about Zik here and the history of Nigeria.

“If we know the history and the foundation of this country, Nigeria would have been something else.”

(NAN)