Uche Azikiwe Quotes

After the war, he resumed the scholarship scheme for all of us because there were many of us that were beneficiaries. After the war, I completed my secondary school education, but no longer at Nsukka but at Holy Child Secondary School, Abakaliki. It was after my West African Senior School Certificate Examination in 1971 that he asked what I would want to do and I said I wanted to be a nurse. He said, okay, I will send you to London to be trained as a nurse; that was where I sent my sisters in the 50s. My niece was also going for the same training. He said, I’ll send both of you; that was when he came back after the war. So it was while I was preparing to travel to London for nursing that the story changed and we got married.

I met him through his scholarship scheme. I danced in my hometown – Afikpo – during the electioneering campaigns of the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons in the 60s; there were four of us. We were there to receive politicians coming to Afikpo for campaign, so we danced. In the end, he gave me a scholarship to go to secondary school and other things. My elder sister, who was the leader of the group, was given a job in Lagos. I don’t know what was done for the other two because there were four us. It was before the war, so the war disrupted my education as it did to everybody in the East.

Fortunately for me, I came into his life when he had made everything one would need in his life as a human being and a man. In 1973 when we got married, he was already everything; he had run his newspapers, been a Premier, Senate President, President and all that. I wouldn’t say I contributed anything at all because he had already achieved all that before I came into his life. So I will not claim that; the only thing I will claim is that I gave him comfort when he was at the age of 60, 70 and when he was old and in the latter part of his life. That was my contribution to his life. He was already successful when I came into his life.

It was regrettable that the men were still hiding under culture and traditions to relegate women to the background.

The country was standing on one leg and would hardly make any movement under such condition.

Why Nigeria is crawling.

That is why I will stand on behalf of Azikiwe to pray that whatever happens, Nigeria will never disintegrate. Please let us come together. It will make him happy and make some of his other contemporaries happy that Nigeria is one. Please, let our current leaders do something to make sure that Nigeria is one. One Nigeria is what we need.

Personally, all I want is the best for Nigeria. Anyone who will stop insecurity, poverty and all sorts of indices that often make people avoid Nigeria, I am totally in support of the person.

When I had my first degree, he wrote Mrs Uche Azikiwe B.Edu, to show you how he valued it. When I got master’s degree, he would write B. English (Education), M. Education (Curriculum) on the envelop. He did the same thing when I had my PhD. When I was able to achieve all that, he was so happy because he had asked if I would be able to combine everything. I am happy he was alive when I got my PhD in 1992.

I have never heard any research that say the brain of a man is bigger or smarter than that of a woman, it is the society that made the woman not to develop her potentials. Men hold grip of positions and they believe it is the best for the society

There is need for advocacy which we can do through our traditional rulers, people need to come together to advance this course; to assist the women to play their role, everybody was born with a potential, God created all of us equal.

The patriarchy is still in men; it’s like some men are afraid of allowing women to come up; they feel a woman should not be competing with a man, I feel advocacy is needed, that please, men, we are not coming to compete, there is no way a woman can be a man, I have my role to play, due to biological parts, a man has his own role to play, but if it comes to development of the society, both of them should work together.

Any nation that realizes that women constitutes the other leg, you will see the impact, the country will grow and develop, it is my area sociology of education and gender studies; It has been proven that without women contributing, if you still believe in patriarchy, you are going nowhere.

One leg is the male, the other leg is the female but in our society, it seems as if it is only one leg we are running with, that’s why we are where we are now.

If you overlook the women and their contributions, you are going nowhere, it seems as if you have two legs and you are running with just one; you won’t go anywhere.