Nikanor Hoveka (ca. 1875–1951) was chief of the

Ovambanderu The Mbanderu (''Ovambanderu'') are a population inhabiting eastern parts of Namibia and western parts of Botswana. They speak Mbanderu (''Otjimbanderu)'' a Bantu language History and Culture Etymology While earlier theories of the meaning of t ...

, a Herero clan in

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and e ...

(then

South West Africa South West Africa ( af, Suidwes-Afrika; german: Südwestafrika; nl, Zuidwest-Afrika) was a territory under South African administration from 1915 to 1990, after which it became modern-day Namibia. It bordered Angola ( Portuguese colony before ...

). He succeeded his father Kanangati Hoveka in 1896 as chief of the Ovambanderu. This came at the time when

Imperial Germany The German Empire (), Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditar ...

had just begun to colonise the area and to establish

German South-West Africa German South West Africa (german: Deutsch-Südwestafrika) was a colony of the German Empire from 1884 until 1915, though Germany did not officially recognise its loss of this territory until the 1919 Treaty of Versailles. With a total area of ...

. When the Herero and Namaqua War of 1904–1907 broke out, Hoveka fought against the Germans. In 1905 he was interned at ''Otjihaenena''

concentration camp Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simp ...

near Okatumba. After

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

Hoveka became engaged in early

Pan-Africanism Pan-Africanism is a worldwide movement that aims to encourage and strengthen bonds of solidarity between all Indigenous and diaspora peoples of African ancestry. Based on a common goal dating back to the Atlantic slave trade The Atlantic ...

. He was one of the first Namibians to support and spread this idea and helped to set up the

Windhoek Windhoek (, , ) is the capital and largest city of Namibia. It is located in central Namibia in the Khomas Highland plateau area, at around above sea level, almost exactly at the country's geographical centre. The population of Windhoek in 20 ...

office of the

Universal Negro Improvement Association The Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA-ACL) is a black nationalist fraternal organization founded by Marcus Garvey, a Jamaican immigrant to the United States, and Amy Ashwood Garvey. The Pan-African o ...

(UNIA) in 1922. In April 1946, the

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

n administration of South-West Africa held a referendum among the indigenous population to gather support for an incorporation of the area as its fifth province. The referendum was worded in a deceiving way, offering choices "to join the Chinese, the Russians, or even the British", blurring the real issue of surrendering their territory to the South Africans. The referendum went in favour of the South Africans but was rejected by the

UN General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Cur ...

. Nikanor Hoveka and

Hosea Kutako Chief Hosea Katjikururume Komombumbi Kutako (1870 – 18 July 1970), was an early Namibian nationalist leader and a founder member of Namibia's first nationalist party, the South West African National Union (SWANU). "During his life, he ex ...

were the first to petition the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...

about this issue. Nikanor Hoveka died in 1951. He was succeeded as chief of the Ovambanderu by

Stephanus Hoveka Stephanus is a masculine given name, a surname and a genus. It may refer to: Sole name * Stephanus I of Antioch, Patriarch of Antioch 342–344 * Stephanus of Byzantium, 6th century author of an important geographical dictionary * Stephanus of Alex ...

References

1870s births 1951 deaths Herero people {{Namibia-bio-stub