Starting in 1951 and spanning 3 years, a man named Kenneth Onwuka Dike ran a survey on public records in Nigeria. Based on his findings, he thought it wise for the country to have an office of public records, a place where historical data can be housed and protected for future generations to use.

This brilliant idea was the genesis of official archiving in Nigeria and today, there are archives all over the country that house historical documents that date far back.

Kenneth Dike was an educator and historian, so he understood the value of this information and knowledge sharing. He was the first Nigerian vice-chancellor of the country's premier University (University of Ibadan). He foresaw the importance of safeguarding these records so that people like us can have historical breadcrumbs to follow.

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SETTING THE RECORDS STRAIGHT:
Here are some facts about academia in Nigeria. Don't let anyone deceive you as these facts can be verified:

-1). The first Black Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan was an Igbo man named Professor Kenneth Dike. He was also the first Nigerian professor of History was an Igbo man.

-2). The first Nigerian Professor of Botany was an Igbo man named Professor Eni Njoku. He went on to become the very first vice chancellor of the university of LAGOS. He also became a vice chancellor of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka from 1966 to 1970. He fought the war on the Biafran side.

-3). The first Nigerian Rector of the then Yaba College of Technology was also an Igbo man.

-4). The first Nigerian Professor of Mathematics was an Igbo man named Professor Chike Obi – the man who solved Fermat’s Last Theorem. Chike Obi was followed by another Igbo man named Professor James Ezeilo, Professor of Differential Calculus and the founder of the Ezeilo Constant.

-5). The first Nigerian Professor of Anatomy and
Physiology is Professor Chike Edozien an Igbo man who is also the current Obi of Asaba.

-6). The first Nigerian Professor of Physics was Professor Okoye an Igbo man who became a Professor of Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA in 1960.
Okoye was followed by the likes of Professor Alexander Anumalu who has been nominated for the Nobel Prize for Physics three times for his research in Intermediate Quantum Physics.

In Nuclear Physics and Chemistry – again another Igbo man – Professor Frank Ndili who gained a Ph.D in his early 20s at Cambridge Univesity in Nuclear Physics and Chemistry in the early ’60s. This young Asaba man had made a First Class in Physics and Mathematics at the then University College Ibadan in the early 1950s.

-7). The First Professor of Statistics, Professor James Nwoye Adichie whose research on Non-Parametric Statistics led to new areas in statistical research. Adichie is the father of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the well known author of Purple Hibiscus and Half of a Yellow Sun (which was a Biafran story).

-8 ). The first Nigerian Professor of Medicine was also an Igbo man named Professor Herbert C Kodilinye – he was appointed a Professor of Medicine at the University of London in 1952. He later became the Vice Chancellor of the University of Nigeria Nsukka after the war from 1971 to 1975.

-9). What about Astronomy – again another Igbo man was the first Professor of Astronomy – Professor Ntukoju He was the first to earn a double Ph.D. in Astronomy and Mathematics.

-10). Let’s go to the Social Sciences: Demography and statistical research into population studies – again another Igbo man – Professor Chukwuka Okonjo.

He is the father of Dr. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala former Nigerian minister of finance whose all children attended Harvard University. Ngozi also studied at Harvard. It was Prof Chukwuka Okonjo who set up the first Centre for Population Research in Ibadan in the early 1960s.

He was also a double Ph.D holder in Mathematics and Economics. He was the first Nigerian Head of Department and Dean of Faculty (UNN).

-11). Philosophy – Professor G. D. Okafor, who became a Professor of Philosophy at the Amherst College USA in 1953.

-12). Economics – Dr. Pius Okigbo (elder brother to Chris Okigbo, the poet, who died in action at Nsukka during the war) who became a visiting scholar and Professor of Economics at the University of London in 1954. He is also the first Nigerian Ph.D. in Economics.

-13). Theology and theological research – Professor Njoku who became the first Nigerian to earn a Ph.D in Theology from Queens University Belfast in Ireland. He was appointed a Professor of Theology at the University College Zambia in 1952.

At the Nigerian Universities Commission (NUC), the state with the highest number of professors in Nigeria and as at 2018 is Imo State. You can go to this commission and verify. Anambra state was the first in WAEC, UNITY SCHOOLS ENTERANCE EXAMS, NECO AND PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE in 2013, 2014 and 2015.

Therefore, whenever some people address you Igbos as mere traders, tell them that in addition to doing very well in business, science, technology and SPORTS you are also ahead in academia.No amount of hatred can change blessings from God almighty. Let the hating continue while we keep doing what we know best....

DEVELOPMENT ADVICE FOR NIGERIANS. Let Nigerians compete fairly (without quota system) and give the best positions to the brightest – be it Igbo, Yoruba, Hausa or Fulani, and then we shall see who the most successful Nigerians are.

Researched and written by Dr. Maduka Ogwueleka (MRCPUK) and Dr. Samuel Okafor (PhD History).

© Maduka Chinemelum Ogwueleka.

nlfpmod

This is the case when you are first among equals. nlfpmod

A long read but worth reading.

No doubt, we have well trained breeds scholars who are Igbo, but it doesn't mean Yorubas and the north don't have scholars too, infact I read about particular proff from the north, he was a genius at medicine, his profile was mind blowing. In a nutshell Nigerians are outstanding in Africa.