Benjamin Nnamdi Azikiwe (1904-1996), known as 'Zik of Africa', was born in Zungeru on 16 November 1904. He attended Christian mission schools before studying in the United States from 1925. In 1934 he went to the Gold Coast, where he became editor of the 'African Morning Post'. He returned to Nigeria in 1937, and founded a chain of newspapers, which he used to promote the nationalist cause. In 1944 he helped to establish the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons. He was the Council's President, 1946-1960. Azikiwe became Governor-General of Nigeria in 1960, and the first President of the Nigerian Republic in 1963. He remained in power until a coup d'état in 1966. At the outbreak of the civil war, which began with the attempted secession of Biafra in 1967, Azikiwe supported the Biafran cause, but as the revolt faltered he advocated the reunification of Nigeria. Following the conclusion of the war he was a vocal critic of the ruling party. Azikiwe died on 11 May 1996.