K. O. Mbadiwe

Who is K. O. Mbadiwe?

Kingsley Ozuomba Mbadiwe was a Nigerian nationalist, politician, statesman and former government minister. He was born in the Orlu division of present day Imo State and attended the Hope Waddell Training Institute, Calabar for primary education. He then attended Aggrey Memorial College, Arochukwu, of present day Abia State Igbobi College, Lagos and the Baptist Academy Lagos for further studies.

He left Nigeria to study at Columbia and the New York University for collegiate education. There, he helped to establish an African student's association,where he gained the attention of then-First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt,who received him and his organization in the White House.

After returning from the U.S., he started his own business and established a research institute on African Arts. He soon entered the Nigerian political scene and joined the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons. In 1951, he was elected into the Eastern Region House of Assembly, he was re-elected in 1954, and made minister for Lands and National Resources. In 1957, he was made the Minister for Commerce. However, his political success was to undergo a great challenge when in mid-1958 he and Kola Balogun attempted to remove Nnamdi Azikiwe as the leader of N.C.N.C. Mbadiwe set up his own newspaper, The Daily Telegraph, as an organ of protest. He later re-joined the party and was appointed Minister for Trade and Communications and also served as a special adviser to the Prime Minister, advising on African affairs.