Military revolution in Nigeria

This material is held atRoyal Commonwealth Society Library

Scope and Content

A study of the political history of Nigeria, 1960-1970, comprising thirty chapters, each with a bibliography. The book was written during the course of the Nigerian civil war. It was based on Azikiwe's personal experiences, official war bulletins, interviews, radio broadcasts, books, newspapers and periodicals, supplemented with data collected when he was residing in Nigeria, Paris and London. The main text is comprised of photocopies of the original annotated typescript pages. This is supported by additional typescript and manuscript pages and notes.

Administrative / Biographical History

Benjamin Nnamdi Azikiwe (1904-1996), known as 'Zik of Africa', was born in Zungeru on 16 November 1904. He attended Christian mission schools before studying in the United States from 1925. In 1934 he went to the Gold Coast, where he became editor of the 'African Morning Post'. He returned to Nigeria in 1937, and founded a chain of newspapers, which he used to promote the nationalist cause. In 1944 he helped to establish the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons. He was the Council's President, 1946-1960. Azikiwe became Governor-General of Nigeria in 1960, and the first President of the Nigerian Republic in 1963. He remained in power until a coup d'état in 1966. At the outbreak of the civil war, which began with the attempted secession of Biafra in 1967, Azikiwe supported the Biafran cause, but as the revolt faltered he advocated the reunification of Nigeria. Following the conclusion of the war he was a vocal critic of the ruling party. Azikiwe died on 11 May 1996.

Access Information

Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).

Acquisition Information

The provenance of the collection is unknown.

Note

Includes index.

Other Finding Aids

A catalogue of the collection can be found on ArchiveSearch.

Additional Information

This collection level description was created by RAS.

Azikiwe, Benjamin Nnamdi, 1904-1996, President of Nigeria