Who are Nigeria's True Heroes?

Benjamin Nnamdi Azikiwe Benjamin Nnamdi Azikiwe (November 16, 1904 – May 11,  1996),[2] usually referred to as Nnamdi Azikiwe and popularly  known as "Zik", was one of the leading figures of modern  Nigerian nationalism who became the first President of Nigeria  after Nigeria secured its independence from the United  Kingdom on 1 October 1960; holding the presidency  throughout the Nigerian First Republic


Newspaper career  
After teaching at Lincoln, Azikiwe, in November 1934, took the  position of editor for the African Morning Post, a daily  newspaper in Accra, Ghana. In that position he promoted a  pro-African nationalist agenda. Smertin has described his  writing there: "In his passionately denunciatory articles and  public statements he censured the existing colonial order: the  restrictions on the Africans' right to express their opinions, and  racial discrimination. He also criticised those Africans who  belonged to the 'elite' of colonial society and favoured retaining  the existing order, as they regarded it as the basis of their well  being." As a result of publishing an article on May 15, 1936 titled "Has the African a God?" written by I.T. A. Wallace-  Johnson he was brought to trial on charges of sedition. Although he was found guilty of the charges and  sentenced to six months in prison, he was acquitted on appeal. He returned to Lagos, Nigeria, in 1937 and  founded the West African Pilot which he used as a vehicle to foster Nigerian nationalism. He founded the Zik  Group of Newspapers, publishing multiple newspapers in cities across the country.

Political career
After a successful journalism enterprise, Azikiwe entered into politics, co-founding the National Council of  Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC) alongside Herbert Macaulay in 1944. He became the secretary-general of  the National Council in 1946, and was elected to Legislative Council of Nigeria the following year. In 1951, he  became the leader of the Opposition to the government of Obafemi Awolowo in the Western Region's House  of Assembly. In 1952, he moved to the Eastern Region, and was elected to the position of Chief Minister and  in 1954 became Premier of Nigeria's Eastern Region. On November 16, 1960, he became the Governor  General and on the same day became the first Nigerian named to the Queen's Privy Council. With the  proclamation of a republic in 1963, he became the first President of Nigeria, while Abubakar Tafawa Balewa  was the Prime Minister.  Azikiwe and his civilian colleagues were removed from power in the military coup of January 15, 1966. During  the Biafran (1967–1970) war of secession, Azikiwe became a spokesman for the nascent republic and an  adviser to its leader Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu. After the war, he served as Chancellor of Lagos  University from 1972 to 1976. He joined the Nigerian People's Party in 1978, making unsuccessful bids for the  presidency in 1979 and again in 1983. He left politics involuntarily after the military coup on December 31,  1983. He died on May 11, 1996 at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, in Enugu, Enugu State, after a  protracted illness.  His time in politics spanned most of his adult life and he was referred to by admirers as "The Great Zik of  Africa". His motto in politics was "talk I listen, you listen I talk."  The writings of Azikiwe spawned a philosophy of African liberation Zikism, which identifies five concepts for  Africa's movement towards freedom: spiritual balance, social regeneration, economic determination, mental  emancipation, and political resurgence.  Places named after Azikiwe include the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, the Nnamdi Azikiwe  Stadium in Enugu, the Nnamdi Azikiwe University in Awka, Anambra State, Nnamdi Azikiwe Press Centre,  Dodan Barracks, Obalende, Ikoyi, Lagos. His portrait adorns Nigeria's five hundred naira currency note.

Five hundred Naira
History reveals Zik as the only individual whose name appeared in a democratic constitution. The Nigeria's  1963 Republican Constitution which was an amendment of the 1960 Independent Constitution has the  following words: “Nnamdi Azikiwe shall be deemed to have been elected President and Commander in-Chief of  the Armed Forces,” as submitted by then Prime Minister Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa who posited that,  “Nigeria can never adequately reward Dr. Azikiwe” for his nationalism.