Alvan Ikoku

Alvan Ikoku was a Nigerian educationist, statesman, activist and politician. He was born on August 1, 1900, in Amanagwu Arochukwu, present-day Abia State. He attended Hope Waddell College, Calabar, where he was influenced by James Emmanuel Aggrey, an eminent Ghanaian educationist. He later obtained his degree in Philosophy from the University of London through its external programme. He founded the Aggrey Memorial Secondary School, the first co-educational secondary school in West Africa, in 1932. He was also a pioneer of the Nigeria Union of Teachers and advocated for uniform education in Nigeria. He was nominated to the Eastern Nigeria House of Assembly in 1946 and became part of the Legislative Council in Lagos in 1947. He was a member of the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC) and later formed his own party, the United National Independence Party (UNIP). He was appointed Minister of Education in 1966 and later became the Vice President of the Senate. He died on November 18, 1971, after suffering a heart attack. He was honoured with the Order of the British Empire (OBE), the Queen's Coronation Medal (QCM), and the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR). He is regarded as one of the founding fathers of Nigeria and a champion of education and democracy.