The Fading Pan-Africanist Thinker: Nnamdi Azikiwe in the Historiography of Pan-Africanist Thought

Abstract

Nnamdi Azikiwe, sometimes called ‘Zik of Africa’, is frequently disregarded in the literature on Pan-Africanism, despite his active and significant role in developing African consciousness during the 1920s and 1930s—a period representing the high tide of the Negro Renaissance in the New World. This study addresses a major gap in the historiography of Pan-Africanist thought concerning the place accorded to Azikiwe. The study employs a quantitative research method and relies heavily on the historical approach, combining primary and secondary data sources, including newspapers, official documents, books, and journal articles. Findings show that when great Pan-African thinkers are mentioned, Nnamdi Azikiwe is often either totally excluded or mentioned only in passing, whereas individuals such as Kwame Nkrumah and Julius Nyerere are deified. This implication—that the latter figures were more Pan-Africanist than Azikiwe—is contrary to fact; Azikiwe was one of the earliest sub-Saharan African thinkers with a high intellectual pedigree in continental and international relations. The study concludes that Azikiwe cannot be denied his leading Pan-Africanist status, and therefore recommends more academic studies on this sagacious intellectual.