The Remarkable May 11 Link Between Macaulay, Awolowo and Azikiwe

May 11 holds an unusual place in the history of three Nigerian nationalist icons: Herbert Macaulay, Obafemi Awolowo and Nnamdi Azikiwe. Herbert Macaulay, widely regarded as the father of Nigerian nationalism, was buried at Ikoyi Cemetery on May 11, 1946. Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe delivered the funeral oration. Exactly 50 years later, on May 11, 1996, Chief Obafemi Awolowo was finally interred in Ikenne, nearly nine years after his death. On that same day, Azikiwe, Awo's longtime political rival and fellow independence leader, died in Enugu at the age of 91. The date links three defining figures in Nigeria's nationalist history across five decades.

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