Kí été nwí Nnamdi Azikiwe

== Governor General of Nigeria ==
{{quote box|As a young man I saw visions: visions of Nigeria becoming a great country in the emerging continent of Africa; visions of Nigeria offering freedom to those in bondage, and securing the democratic way of life to those who had been lulled into an illusion of security under colonial rule..I trust that I shall dream my dreams amid the peace and ever-increasing prosperity of the people of my native Nigeria. The motto of the independent federation of Nigeria is Unity and Faith. I pray that we may guard our unity and keep our faith.|source=– Nnamdi Azikiwe (summer 1960, London)<ref name="inigerian.com">{{cite web |url=https://www.inigerian.com/nigerias-forgotten-heroes-nnamdi-azikiwe-father-of-the-nation-part-2/ |title=Nigeria's Forgotten Heroes: Nnamdi Azikiwe – "Father of the Nation" (Part 2) |date=12 May 2010}}</ref>|width=20em|align=right|style=padding:8px;}}

Azikiwe was recommended as the successor to [[James Wilson Robertson|Sir James Robertson]], by the British Prime Minister [[Harold Macmillan]], during his visit to Lagos in early 1960. The post of Governor-General of the federation in titular terms made him the representative of the British Queen in Nigeria. Azikiwe's inauguration in November 1960, witnessed some of his colleagues in the Black Atlantic, some of them which includes [[Martin Luther King Jr.|Martin Luther King Jr]], [[Langston Hughes]], [[Nina Simone]], [[Horace Mann Bond|Dr. Horace Mann Bond]], [[Ralph Bunche]], [[W. E. B. Du Bois|W.E.B. Du Bois]], [[Shirley Graham Du Bois]], [[Amy Jacques Garvey]], and [[George Schuyler|George S. Schuyler]].<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://dx.doi.org/10.14321/jwestafrihist.7.1.0001|doi=10.14321/jwestafrihist.7.1.0001|title=A Gilded Cage? Nnamdi Azikiwes Pan-Africanism as Governor-General of Nigeria, 1960–63|date=2021|last1=Reeves|first1=Mark|journal=Journal of West African History|volume=7|pages=1–26|s2cid=242294844}}</ref> Martin Luther King Jr. remarked that the liberation struggles in Nigeria and in other African nations were having a profound impact on the American civil rights movement, noting that Azikiwe and other African leaders were “popular heroes on most Negro college campuses. In Azikiwe's inaugural speech, he commented on "the need to revive the stature of man in Africa and restore the dignity of man in the world."

Towards the end of his address, Zik said, "those of us, who may be rightly described as the makers of contemporary Nigeria, have ushered freedom into our country and preserved our unity as a nation," which "history has assigned to me an important part to play in order that this unity may have lasting effects and to bring home to our people the need to maintain it religiously." He also said "I shall not have consideration for personal comforts or even safety or even life itself, if these are the price I must pay for leadership in order to preserve the freedom and unity of my country."<ref>{{Cite web|title=Azikiwe, Nnamdi. Respect for human dignity: an inaugural address by His Excellency Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, P.C. Governor-General nd Commander-in Chief, Federation of Nigeria 16 November, 1960. Onitsha : Chike Mbadugha, 1960.|url=https://collections.libraries.indiana.edu/africancollections/items/show/8901|access-date=2023-12-13|website=collections.libraries.indiana.edu}}</ref>

Azikiwe attended the First [[International Labour Organization]] (ILO) African Regional Conference, that was held in Lagos, Nigeria in December 1960. In attendance were: Mr. Johnson, Labour Minister of Nigeria and Chairperson of the Conference, Mr. Demby, Labour Minister of Sierra Leone, and [[David A. Morse|David A Morse]], ILO Director-General.<ref>{{Cite web|title=PowerPoint Presentation|url=https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---africa/---ro-abidjan/---ilo-abuja/documents/publication/wcms_701393.pdf|access-date=August 18, 2024|website=www.ilo.org}}</ref> In December 1961 the [[American Society of African Culture]] (AMSAC) organised a large music festival in Lagos, Nigeria. American celebrities such as Nina Simone, Langston Hughes, and Lionel Hampton went on AMSAC's fully sponsored trip to strengthen African-American/African connections. They were welcomed by Azikiwe in Lagos.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14794012.2018.1423601|doi=10.1080/14794012.2018.1423601|title=Performances in the theatre of the Cold War: The American Society of African Culture and the 1961 Lagos Festival|date=2018|last1=Geerlings|first1=Lonneke|journal=Journal of Transatlantic Studies|volume=16|pages=1–19}}</ref>
[[Fáílú:Dr._John_A._Hannah,_Dr._Nnamdi_Azikiwe_and_Dr._George_Johnson_on_the_campus_of_the_University_of_Nigeria,_Nsukka.jpg|right|thumb|Azikiwe with Dr. John A. Hannah (left) and Dr. George Johnson(right) on the campus of University of Nigeria, 1961.]]
On 17 November 1961, in a speech at the [[University of Nigeria]] in Nsukka, Zik made public his proposal for Nigeria to adopt a republican constitution while remaining a member of the Commonwealth. In 1962, Azikiwe urged African leaders in a Lagos conference, to create an organization of African states. The Lagos Conference drafted a proposed charter for an "Inter-African and Malagasy Organization" under Azikiwe's chairmanship. It was later adopted in May 1963 by the [[Organisation of African Unity]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/azikiwe-nnamdi|title=Azikiwe, Nnamdi &#124; The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute|website=kinginstitute.stanford.edu}}</ref>

In 1963, Azikiwe commissioned the first brewery plant built by Guinness outside of Ireland and Great Britain in Lagos.