Notable Nigerians Trivia Quiz

Answer:

Nnamdi Azikiwe was the son of the powerful Obed Azikiwe who helped keep the peace between the native Nigerians and the British. Obed made sure his son, Nnamdi, had the best education including a college education in the United States. Azikiwe entered politics by being active in the Nigerian Youth Movement. Zik was also active as a journalist allowing him to reach a broader audience with his opposition to colonial rule. Eventually, he headed a group named after himself titled the Zikist Movement which conducted non-violent protests against the autocratic British rule. Azikiwe became the first president of an independent Nigeria on 1 January 1960.

Emeka Anyaoku studied at University College Ibadan with advanced studies in both France and England. Like Zik, Anyaoku had an active role in Nigeria's gaining independence from Britain. He spent time as a diplomat at the United Nations in New York before joining the Commonwealth Secretariat. He played an invaluable role in helping South Africa transition from an apartheid government to Mandela's system of racial equality.

A book could be written on the accomplishments of Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. She received her BA degree from Harvard and her doctorate from MIT. On that front, she has collected over 20 honorary doctorates from prestigious universities around the world. She has spent her career fighting corruption and bringing no-nonsense solutions to problems. Despite her highly influential positions throughout her career, Okonjo-Iweala insists on being frugal with minimal staff and even inexpensive outfits (which are quite beautiful).

Flora Nwapa was a truly remarkable woman. After the success of her first novel, "Efuru," Nwapa opened a publishing house in Nigeria where she helped several other authors to share their voices. She also published several other novels of her own along with a pair of short story anthologies. On top of this, Nwapa was very active in reconstructing Nigeria after the Biafran War where she focused her efforts on helping refugees and orphans.

Wole Soyinka won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1986. From a young age, he was outspoken about corruption and injustice. He has even been jailed a few times for being a dissident including when he broke into a radio station and played a tape condemning the corrupt government. He has written several plays which have a poetic quality to them with topics ranging from mythology to political struggle all with a moral silver lining.

Not only is Agbani Darego beautiful, but she is also a scholar. She studied mathematics and computer science at the University of Port Harcourt and earned her degree in psychology from New York University. Since becoming Miss World she has had a successful career as a top model for many of the leading companies in the fashion industry.

One of the early titles given to Alhaji Aliko Dangote is the "Cement King" as his first major business venture allowing Nigeria to become self-sufficient for this building material. Dangote was just getting started when he established a sugar refinery and a flour mill. His business became the leading producer of both commodities and is the major supplier to the beverage and baking industries in Nigeria. Dangote is also a noted philanthropist with a focus on health, education, and poverty. On top of being a believer in providing job opportunities for local people, Dangote is also a huge supporter of gender equality in the workplace.

Mohammed Bah Abba came up with the brilliant Pot-in-Pot solution for the lack of refrigeration in the hot desert climate of northern Nigeria. The Pot-in-Pot is an elegantly simple idea that keeps food up to 14 degrees Celsius cooler than the surrounding area. Both pots are earthenware with the inner pot being glazed and the outer pot being unglazed. As water evaporates from the wet sand found between the layers, it draws heat out from the inner pot. A wet cloth is placed on top of the food that is within the inner pot. Without its use vegetables like squash would spoil in about 3 days but with the Pot, they can last up to 3 weeks. The best part of all is the price tag is affordable at under $1 for a set of pots. Mohammed Bah Abba received a Rolex Award for Enterprise in 2001 which had a prize of $75,000 allowing him to make his invention available to most of Nigeria while employing several people at the same time.