Nnamdi Azikiwe Was Initiated into Phi Beta Sigma at Lincoln University of PA Before Becoming the First President of Nigeria

Nnamdi Azikiwe stands among the founding fathers of modern Africa, a scholar and statesman revered across the continent as the first President of Nigeria. Long before he rose to lead his nation, he journeyed to the United States to be educated at America’s historically Black colleges, and it was on one of those hallowed campuses that he was initiated into Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc.

Benjamin Nnamdi Azikiwe was born on November 16, 1904, in Zungeru, Nigeria. As a young man, he traveled to the United States to pursue his education, studying at several historically Black institutions, including Howard University and Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, where he earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees. He later earned a second master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

It was at Lincoln University that Azikiwe was initiated into Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc. through the Mu Chapter. Phi Beta Sigma was founded in 1914 at Howard University.

Azikiwe carried what he learned in America back home to West Africa, where he became one of the most important figures in the fight for African independence. He founded influential nationalist newspapers, mentored future leaders including Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah, and in 1944 co-founded the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons, a leading nationalist movement. He became known as the father of Nigerian nationalism.

When Nigeria won its independence from Britain in 1960, Azikiwe was appointed its first Nigerian Governor-General. Then, in 1963, when Nigeria became a republic, he made history. As Britannica notes, Azikiwe became the first President of Nigeria, serving until 1966, and he is remembered as one of the founding fathers of the modern Nigerian state.

Nnamdi Azikiwe died on May 11, 1996, in Enugu, Nigeria. His legacy stretches across two continents, from the HBCU campuses where he was educated to the highest office in Africa’s most populous nation.

From the Mu Chapter at Lincoln University to the presidency of Nigeria, Phi Beta Sigma’s Nnamdi Azikiwe carried the fraternity’s principles of scholarship and service onto the world stage.