Raymond Amanze Njoku (August 1915 – 1977)West Africa - Page 1075, 1961
/ref> was a Nigerian politician and former minister for Transport. The son of an

Igbo Igbo may refer to: * Igbo people, an ethnic group of Nigeria * Igbo language, their language * anything related to Igboland, a cultural region in Nigeria See also * Ibo (disambiguation) * Igbo mythology * Igbo music * Igbo art * * Igbo-Ukwu, a ...

Chief, he was born in

Owerri Owerri ( , ) is the capital city of Imo State in Nigeria, set in the heart of Igboland. It is also the state's largest city, followed by Orlu, Okigwe and Ohaji/Egbema. Owerri consists of three Local Government Areas including Owerri Municipal, ...

and raised in a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

household. He attended Our Lady's School at

Emekuku Emekuku, is a town in Owerri North Local Government of Imo state in South-Eastern Nigeria. There are two great rivers in Emekuku: Okitankwo and Oramuru-ukwa. Emekuku people belong to a group of people generally referred to as 'Owerre people' s ...

, for primary education. Later on, at St Charles, college,

Onitsha Onitsha ( or just ''Ọ̀nị̀chà'') is a city located on the eastern bank of the Niger River, in Anambra State, Nigeria. A metropolitan city, Onitsha is known for its river port and as an economic hub for commerce, industry, and education. ...

, where he was studying, he applied and won a scholarship that earned him an admission into a teachers training school. After brief stints at tutorship in various schools including

St Gregory's College, Lagos St. Gregory's College, Lagos, is a catholic missionary school for boys, with boarding facilities, located 1.0 km from Tafawa Balewa Square in the vicinity of Ikoyi – Obalende, Lagos State, Nigeria. History The college, originally a coed ca ...

and St Charles, Onitsha, he decided to change course and study law. After completing his Law studies at Cambridge: LLB Hons Peterhouse College Cambridge, England; he was called to the bar at Inner Temple. Njoku returned to Nigeria and was a successful lawyer in Aba, Eastern Nigeria, 1949–1954. He was president of Igbo State Union of Nigeria in succession to Dr

Nnamdi Azikiwe Nnamdi Benjamin Azikiwe, (16 November 1904 – 11 May 1996), usually referred to as "Zik", was a Nigerian statesman and political leader who served as the first President of Nigeria from 1963 to 1966. Considered a driving force behind the n ...

; Vice President NCNC (National Council of Nigeria & the Cameroon), and also served the Aba community as the leader of the Aba Community League of the Ibo State Union. He contested for a regional seat in 1951, but was unsuccessful. However, in 1954, he was elected to the Federal House of Representative. He was appointed cabinet minister: Commerce & Industry, Transport & Aviation 1954- 1966. The final and definitive motion for

Nigerian Independence Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of G ...

on 1 October 1960 was moved by Prime Minister

Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa (December 1912 – 15 January 1966) was a Nigerian politician who served as the first and only Prime Minister of Nigeria upon independence. Early life Abubakar Tafawa Balewa was born in December 1912 in modern-day B ...

and endorsed by his cabinet colleague Raymond Njoku, minister of Trade & Industry. He was the chairman of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association; addressed British parliamentarians, including Prime Minister

Harold Macmillan Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, (10 February 1894 – 29 December 1986) was a British Conservative statesman and politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963. Caricatured as "Supermac", he ...

, at the Guildhall, London. During the

Biafra War The Nigerian Civil War (6 July 1967 – 15 January 1970), also known as the Nigerian–Biafran War or the Biafran War, was a civil war fought between Nigeria and the Republic of Biafra, a secessionist state which had declared its independence f ...

Prime Minister

Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He ...

read his telegram to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

calling for a ceasefire. Sir Hugh Fraser,

Duncan Sandys Edwin Duncan Sandys, Baron Duncan-Sandys (; 24 January 1908 – 26 November 1987), was a British politician and minister in successive Conservative governments in the 1950s and 1960s. He was a son-in-law of Winston Churchill and played a key ro ...

and

Patrick Wall Sir Patrick Henry Bligh Wall, (14 October 1916 – 15 May 1998) was a British commando in the Royal Marines during the Second World War and later a Conservative Party politician. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Haltemprice in the Eas ...

were among his members of parliament friends. Njoku was made a knight of St Sylvester & St Gregory by Pope Paul VI.

References

Rosalynde Ainslie Ros de Lanerolle (22 January 1932 – 23 September 1993),Haward, Pat, "Jennifer Rosalynde de Lanerolle 1932–1993" (obituary), ''History Workshop Journal'' (1994), 37 (1):261–266, Oxford University Press. doi: 10.1093/hwj/37.1.261. also known ...

, Catherine Hoskyns,

Ronald Segal Ronald Michael Segal (14 July 1932 – 23 February 2008) was a South African activist, writer and editor, founder of the anti-apartheid magazine '' Africa South'' and the Penguin African Library.Denis Herbstein"Ronald Segal"(obituary), ''The Gua ...

; ''Political Africa: A Who's Who of Personalities and Parties''. Frederick A. Praeger, 1961. Hansard Nigerian House of Representatives, Hansard House of Commons, University attended, Inner Temple, Daily Telegraph London, Daily Times Lagos. 1915 births 1977 deaths People from Owerri Nigerian Roman Catholics Igbo politicians Alumni of the University of London National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons politicians Members of the House of Representatives (Nigeria) Federal ministers of Nigeria St Gregory's College, Lagos alumni {{Nigeria-politician-stub