Dr Sebastian Okechukwu Mezu (born April 30, 1941) is a Nigerian writer, scholar, philanthropist, and publisher. He was involved in politics in

Nigeria 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 o ...

in the late 1970s.

Background

Sebastian Okechukwu Mezu was born on April 30, 1941, in Ezeogba,

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 ...

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, ...

Imo State Imo State ( ig, Ȯra Imo) is a States of Nigeria, state in the South East (Nigeria), South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered to the north by Anambra State, Rivers State to the west and south, and Abia State to the east. It takes its n ...

. He received a B.A. in French (1964) with minors in German and Philosophy from

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

. He obtained an LL.B. in 1966 from

La Salle Extension University La Salle Extension University (LSEUDe Sola, Ralph (1981). ''Abbreviations dictionary.'' Elsevier, ), also styled as LaSalle Extension University,The university styled its name as both "La Salle" and "LaSalle" in print mediahttp://aycu21.webshots.c ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, and an M.A. (1966), Ph.D (1967) in Romance Languages from

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, Maryland.

Diplomatic service

When the

Biafran 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 ...

broke out in 1967, due to the recognition of his valuable contributions and activism as a young scholar in the United States, where he had voluntarily translated volumes of documents for his country into French and other languages, Mezu was appointed Biafran Government Special Representative and Ambassador to

Abidjan, Ivory Coast Abidjan ( , ; N'Ko script, N’ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the economic capital of the Ivory Coast. As of the Demographics of Ivory Coast, 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of overall population of the country, ...

, at the age of 27 by Colonel

C. Odumegwu Ojukwu Chukwuemeka "Emeka" Odumegwu Ojukwu (4 November 1933 – 26 November 2011) was a Nigerian military officer, statesman and politician who served as the military governor of the Eastern Region of Nigeria in 1966 and the president of the se ...

and was charged with affairs in Francophone and Anglophone West Africa. Mezu was the co-founder and Deputy Director of the Biafra Historical Research Center,

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, July 1967 – July 1968, then Biafra's semi-official diplomatic mission to France and Europe. He was Biafran delegate and French expert to various peace delegations including to Ivory Coast (President

Félix Houphouët-Boigny Félix Houphouët-Boigny (; 18 October 1905 – 7 December 1993), affectionately called Papa Houphouët or Le Vieux ("The Old One"), was the first president of Ivory Coast, serving from 1960 until his death in 1993. A tribal chief, he wo ...

), Senegal, (President

Leopold Sedar Senghor Leopold may refer to: People * Leopold (given name) * Leopold (surname) Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters * Leopold (''The Simpsons''), Superintendent Chalmers' assistant on ''The Simpsons'' * Leopold Bloom, the protagonist o ...

), Gabon (President

Albert Bernard Bongo El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba (born Albert-Bernard Bongo; 30 December 1935 – 8 June 2009) was a Gabonese politician who was the second President of Gabon for 42 years, from 1967 until his death in 2009. Omar Bongo was promoted to key positions as ...

), and was Biafran delegate and French expert to various peace conferences in Niamey, Niger Republic (President

Hamani Diori Hamani Diori (6 June 1916 – 23 April 1989) was the first President of the Republic of Niger. He was appointed to that office in 1960, when Niger gained independence. Although corruption was a common feature of his administration, he gained in ...

, 1968) and in Addis-Ababa, Ethiopia (Emperor

Haile Selassie Haile Selassie I ( gez, ቀዳማዊ ኀይለ ሥላሴ, Qädamawi Häylä Səllasé, ; born Tafari Makonnen; 23 July 189227 August 1975) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He rose to power as Regent Plenipotentiary of Ethiopia (' ...

, 1968).

Black Academy Press

In 1969 Mezu establishe
Black Academy Press
Inc, in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...

, one of the first black-owned academic publishing companies that set the tone for Africana studies in the 1960s in the US. Black Academy Press remains one of the longest standing historic black publishing companies today.

Political career

In the 1970s, Mezu founded the Imo State branch of the

Nigerian Peoples Party The Nigerian Peoples Party (NPP) was one of the major political parties that contested elections in the Nigerian Second Republic. The party was made up of three major groups: the Lagos Progressives, Club 19, and the Nigerian Council of Understanding ...

(NPP) and as Secretary of the NPP he installed and helped to elect to office Governor Samuel Onunaka

Sam Mbakwe Samuel "Sam" Onunaka Mbakwe (1929 – 5 January 2004) also known as Dee Sam was an Igbo politician and first democratic governor of Imo State, southern Nigeria from 1 October 1979 until 31 December 1983. The Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport, ...

and other notable names. Following the success of the NPP at the polls, Mezu became Chairman of the Golden Breweries Limited (1979–80), rehabilitating and revitalizing the brewery during a $50 million expansion; and as chairman of

Newspapers Ltd where he raised the daily circulation of the ''Nigerian Statesman'' from 50,000 to 150,000. He was Campaign Director, Party Secretary and principal architect of the NPP, which won a landslide victory (over 80%) in the Imo State Legislative, Gubernatorial and Presidential Elections in

in 1979.

Selected bibliography

*''The Philosophy of Pan-Africanism'', editor. Washington, D.C., Georgetown University Press, 1965, 142 pp. *''The Tropical Dawn'' (poems), Baltimore, Maryland, 1966; Buffalo, NY: Black Academy Press, Inc., 1970, 60 p. *''Leopold Sédar Senghor et la défense et illustration de la civilisation noire'', Paris: Marcel Didier, 1968, 232 pp. *''Black Leaders of the Centuries'', editor, with Ram Desai. Buffalo: Black Academy Press, 1970, 302 pp. *'' Behind the Rising Sun'' (novel about the Biafran war). London, William Heinemann, 1971, 242p; paperback (

African Writers Series The African Writers Series (AWS) is a collection of books written by African novelists, poets and politicians. Published by Heinemann, 359 books appeared in the series between 1962 and 2003. The series has provided an international audience fo ...

, No. 113) London, Heinemann Educational Books, 1972. *''Modern Black Literature'', editor. Buffalo: Black Academy Press, 1971 *''The Literary Works of Senghor'', London Heinemann Educational Books, 1972, 121 pp. *''Igbo Market Literature'', compiler. 5 vols, Buffalo: Black Academy Press, 1972, 4000 pp. *''The Meaning of Africa to Afro-Americans: A Comparative Study Of Race & Racism'', editor. Buffalo: Black Academy Press, 1972, 175 pp. *''Umu Ejima'' (The Twins). An Igbo adaptation of the Latin play ''

Menaechmi ''Menaechmi'', a Latin-language play, is often considered Plautus' greatest play. The title is sometimes translated as ''The Brothers Menaechmus'' or ''The Two Menaechmuses''. The ''Menaechmi'' is a comedy about mistaken identity, involving a se ...

'' by

Plautus Titus Maccius Plautus (; c. 254 – 184 BC), commonly known as Plautus, was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are the earliest Latin literary works to have survived in their entirety. He wrote Palliata comoedia, the gen ...

. Owerri: Black Academy Press, 1975, 60 pp. *''Leopold Sedar Senghor''. London: Heinemann, 1973. *''Ken Saro-Wiwa: The Life and Times'', editor. Baltimore, Black Academy Press, Inc. 1996.

References

External links

Black Academy Press, Inc.