List of Igbo people
Encyclopedia
The list of Igbo people includes notable individuals who have full or significant ancestry to the Igbo people
Igbo people
Igbo people, also referred to as the Ibo, Ebo, Eboans or Heebo are an ethnic group living chiefly in southeastern Nigeria. They speak Igbo, which includes various Igboid languages and dialects; today, a majority of them speak English alongside Igbo as a result of British colonialism...

 of southeastern Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...

. As the Igbo are an ethnicity, people listed come from variety of different nations, and may have other ancestry as well as Igbo.

The Igbo people (who are sometimes referred to as the Ibo(e), Ebo(e), Eboans or Heebo) are an ethnic group
Ethnic group
An ethnic group is a group of people whose members identify with each other, through a common heritage, often consisting of a common language, a common culture and/or an ideology that stresses common ancestry or endogamy...

 in West Africa
West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...

. Most Igbo people live in southeastern Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...

 where they are one of the three largest and most influential groups, the two others being the Hausa
Hausa people
The Hausa are one of the largest ethnic groups in West Africa. They are a Sahelian people chiefly located in northern Nigeria and southeastern Niger, but having significant numbers living in regions of Cameroon, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, Chad and Sudan...

 and Yoruba people
Yoruba people
The Yoruba people are one of the largest ethnic groups in West Africa. The majority of the Yoruba speak the Yoruba language...

. Further populations live in other nations out of Africa due to migration and to the effects of the Atlantic slave trade
Atlantic slave trade
The Atlantic slave trade, also known as the trans-atlantic slave trade, refers to the trade in slaves that took place across the Atlantic ocean from the sixteenth through to the nineteenth centuries...

. The Igbo peoples involvement in the Nigerian-Biafran war (6 July 1967 – 13 January 1970) is well known as they were the main group calling for secession
Secession
Secession is the act of withdrawing from an organization, union, or especially a political entity. Threats of secession also can be a strategy for achieving more limited goals.-Secession theory:...

 and recognition of the Republic of Biafra out of Nigeria.

Artists and illustrators

Name Born Death Notability Reference
Chike Aniakor
Chike Aniakor
Chike Aniakor is a Nigerian painter. A native of Abatate, Aniakor received his first artistic training at Ahmadu Bello University, receiving his master's degree in 1974; he received a doctorate in art history from Indiana University in 1978, writing his dissertation on Igbo architecture...

 
1939
Ifeanyi Chijindu
Ifeanyi Chijindu
Ifeanyi also credited as Ifeanyi Chijindu is a Nigerian-American author/writer, entrepreneur, artist, actress and screenwriter.-Early life:Ifeanyi was born in Nigeria and is a first generation Nigerian-American...

 
Ndidi Dike
Ndidi Dike
Ndidi Dike is a visual artist working in sculpture and mixed media painting. She is one of Nigeria's leading female artists.- Exhibitions :Dike has participated in several solo and group exhibitions in Nigeria, Africa and internationally, including Women to Women, Weaving Cultures, Shaping History ...

 
George Edozie
George Edozie
- Biography :George Edozie was born on May 11, 1972. He attended the University Primary School, Nsukka, Washington Memorial School, Onitsha and he studied Fine & Applied Arts at the University of Benin, Benin City where he majored in Painting in 1996...

 
Ben Enwonwu
Ben Enwonwu
Benedict Chuka Enwonwu , better known as Ben Enwonwu was an Igbo Nigerian painter and sculptor.-Early Life and Studies:Ben Enwonwu was born a twin on July 14, 1921 into the noble family of Umueze-Aroli in Onitsha, Nigeria. His father, Omenka Odigwe Emeka Enwonwu was a technician who worked with...

 
1921 1994
Tony Nsofor
Tony Nsofor
- Exhibitions :Tony Nsofor has featured widely in group exhibitions in Nigeria and abroad. Some of them are:"6 new painters from Nsukka 1997"The British Council, Enugu,...

 
Demas Nwoko
Demas Nwoko
Demas Nwoko is a Nigerian artist, protean designer and architect. As an artist, he strives to incorporate modern techniques in architecture and stage design to enunciate the African subject matters in most of his works. In the 1960s, he was a member of the Mbari club of Ibadan, a committee of...

 
1935
Mendi & Keith Obadike
Mendi & Keith Obadike
Mendi Obadike and Keith Obadike are a married Igbo Nigerian American couple who create music and art. They were both born in 1973. Their music, live art, and conceptual Internet artworks have been exhibited internationally. Mendi is a poet and Keith is a composer and sound designer...

 
1973
Chris Ofili
Chris Ofili
Chris Ofili is a Turner Prize winning British painter best known for artworks referencing aspects of his Nigerian heritage, particularly his incorporation of elephant dung. He was one of the Young British Artists, and is now based in Trinidad.-Early life:Ofilli was born in Manchester. He had a...

 
10 October 1968
Uche Okeke
Uche Okeke
Uche Okeke is a Nigerian painter and teacher of art. A founding member of the Nsukka group, he developed, together with Chike Aniakor and others, the art program of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka....

 
1933
Nnenna Okore
Nnenna Okore
Nnenna Okore is a Nigerian artist living and working in the United States. She received a B.A degree in Painting from the University of Nigeria in 1999, and an M.A and M.F.A...

 
1975
Dawn Okoro
Dawn Okoro
Dawn Okoro , is an artist who paints figurative art works inspired by fashion and popular culture.Her work has been exhibited throughout the United States and internationally, and has also been commissioned by celebrities....

 
1980
Ada Udechukwu
Ada Udechukwu
Ada Udechukwu is a Nigerian artist and poet associated with the Nsukka group.Born in Enugu, Udechukwu was the daughter of an Igbo father and an American mother. She grew up in Nigeria, moving with her family to the United States at the start of the Biafran War and returning when it was over...

 
1960
Obiora Udechukwu
Obiora Udechukwu
Obiora Udechukwu is a Nigerian painter and poet.Born in Onitsha in 1946 to parents from Agulu in Anambra State, Nigeria. He studied for one year at Ahmadu Bello University before serving in the Biafran War. He completed his bachelor's degree in fine arts in 1972, receiving his master's in 1977;...

 
1946

Actors and Actresses

Name Born Death Notability Reference
Stella Damasus-Aboderin
Stella Damasus-Aboderin
Stella Damasus-Aboderin is a Nigerian actress and singer. She was nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role at the African Movie Academy Awards in 2009.-Early life:Damasus-Aboderin was born Stella Ojukwu in Asaba, Delta State...

 
April 24, 1978
Francis Agu
Francis Agu
Francis Agu was a Nigerian TV and cinema actor. He was best known for his role on the long-running Nigerian television series Checkmate.- Early life :...

 
February 18, 1965 March 20, 2007
Ifeanyi Chijindu
Ifeanyi Chijindu
Ifeanyi also credited as Ifeanyi Chijindu is a Nigerian-American author/writer, entrepreneur, artist, actress and screenwriter.-Early life:Ifeanyi was born in Nigeria and is a first generation Nigerian-American...

 
Caroline Chikezie
Caroline Chikezie
Caroline Chikezie is a British actress, born of Nigerian heritage. She is probably most famous for playing the role of 'Sasha Williams' in the British teen soap As If from 2001 to 2004...

 
1979
Chioma Chukwuka
Chioma Chukwuka
Chioma Chukwuka is a Nigerian actress. In 2007 she won the African Movie Academy Award for Best Actress in a leading role.- Early life :Chukwuka was born in Oraifite, Anambra State, Nigeria...

 
12 March 1980
Rita Dominic
Rita Dominic
Rita Uchenna Nkem Dominic Waturuocha is a Nigerian actress.-Early life:Rita Dominic is a member of the Royal Waturuocha family of Aborh Mbaise local government area in Imo State. She is the youngest of 4 siblings. Her late parents were medical practitioners; her father was a medical doctor and her...

 
12 July 1975
Megalyn Echikunwoke
Megalyn Echikunwoke
Megalyn Ann Echikunwoke is an American actress and model.-Early life:Echikunwoke was born on May 28, 1983, in Spokane, Washington, but she was raised on a Navajo Native American Reservation in Chinle, Arizona. She is the daughter of a Nigerian-Igbo father and a German/Scots-Irish American mother...

 
May 28, 1983
Pete Edochie
Pete Edochie
Pete Edochie is a Nigerian actor. A devout Catholic, he is considered one of Africa’s most talented actors, by both Movie Awards and Movie Magic’s Africa Magic Cable network...

 
Chiwetel Ejiofor
Chiwetel Ejiofor
Chiwetelu Umeadi "Chiwetel" Ejiofor, OBE is an English actor of stage and screen. He has received numerous acting awards and award nominations, including the 2006 BAFTA Awards Rising Star, three Golden Globe Awards' nominations, and the 2008 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor for his...

 
10 July 1974 An award-winning and two-time Golden Globe Award-nominated actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...

 
Osita Iheme
Osita Iheme
Osita Iheme is a Nigerian actor. He is widely known for playing the role of 'Pawpaw' in the film Aki na Ukwa alongside Chinedu Ikedieze. In 2007 Osita received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the African Movie Academy Awards...

 
Chinedu Ikedieze
Chinedu Ikedieze
Chinedu Ikedieze, MFR is a Nigerian actor. He is best known for playing alongside Osita Iheme in most movies after their breakthrough in the movie Aki na Ukwa. In 2007 Ikedieze received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the African Movie Academy Awards.-Filmography:-References:...

 
Genevieve Nnaji
Genevieve Nnaji
Genevieve Nnaji is a Nigerian actress. In 2005 she won the African Movie Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role. CNN states that she is referred to as the "Julia Roberts of Africa".- Early life :...

 
May 3, 1979 Best Actress in a Leading Role, African Movie Academy Award
African Movie Academy Award
The African Movie Academy Awards, popularly known as AMAA Awards, are presented annually to recognize excellence of professionals in the African film industry, including directors, actors, and writers. The awards are aimed at honouring and promoting excellence in the African movie industry as well...

 2005
Chike Nwoffiah
Chike Nwoffiah
Chike C. Nwoffiah is an actor, theater director, educator and award winning filmmaker, and consultant on theater, film, television and multimedia projects....

 
Stephanie Okereke
Stephanie Okereke
Stephanie Onyekachi Okereke is a Nigerian actress, film director and model. She has received several awards and nominations for her work as an actress, including the 2003 Reel Award for Best Actress, the 2006 Afro Hollywood Award for Best Actress, and three nominations for Best Actress in a...

 
1982 Best Actress - English & Best Actress of the year 2003, Reel Awards 2003 - also nominated twice for the African Movie Academy Award
African Movie Academy Award
The African Movie Academy Awards, popularly known as AMAA Awards, are presented annually to recognize excellence of professionals in the African film industry, including directors, actors, and writers. The awards are aimed at honouring and promoting excellence in the African movie industry as well...

 2005 and 2009 for Best Actress in a Leading Role
Onyeka Onwenu
Onyeka Onwenu
Onyeka Onwenu is a Nigerian singer, actress and politician. In 2006 she won the African Movie Academy Award for Best Actress in a supporting role. She is currently the chairperson of the Imo State Council for Arts and Culture.-Filmography:...

 
Cyril Nri
Cyril Nri
Cyril Nri is a British actor, writer and director. He attended the Young Vic Youth Theatre in Waterloo, London. He trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, and is probably best known for playing the role of Superintendent Adam Okaro, now Chief Superintendent, in the long-running ITV police...

 
1961
Kanayo O. Kanayo
Kanayo O. Kanayo
Anayo Modestus Onyekwere is a Nigerian actor. In 2006 he won the African Movie Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role....

 
March 1, 1962
Oby Kechere
Oby Kechere
Oby Kechere is a Nigerian actress and film director. She comes from Mbaise in Imo State, Nigeria. , Nigeria Daily News, Retrieved November 1, 2010...

 
Michael Ezuruonye
Michael Ezuruonye
Mike Ezuruonye is a Nigerian actor. He received two nominations for Best Actor in a Supporting Role and Best Actor in a Leading Role at the African Movie Academy Awards in 2008 and 2009.- External links :...

 
Chiké Okonkwo
Chiké Okonkwo
Chiké Okonkwo is an English actor, known for portraying PC Clark in New Tricks and DC Callum Gada in Paradox.-Background:Born and raised in Kingston upon Thames, Okonkwo is of Nigerian descent...

 
18 March 1982
Antonia Okonma
Antonia Okonma
Antonia Okonma is a British actress of Nigerian descent. She is best known for playing the role of Darlene Cake in the ITV1 series Bad Girls from 2004–2006....

 
24 July 1984
Oge Okoye
Oge Okoye
Oge Okoye is a Nigerian actress. Born in London, she graduated from the Nnamdi Azikiwe University with a degree in Theatre Arts.- Filmography :* Blackbery Babes * War Game * 11:45.....

 
Ngoli Onyeka Okafor
Ngoli Onyeka Okafor
Ngoli “Ngo” Onyeka Okafor is a Nigerian American male model, actor and Two-time Golden Gloves boxer and actor. He is of Igbo decent, with both of his parents being Igbo. Ngo has been called one of the quickest studies the boxing world has ever seen...

 
December 30, 1979
Zack Orji
Zack Orji
Zachee Ama Orji was born in Libreville, Gabon in the 1960s. He is a Nigerian actor, director, producer and filmmaker. He is a graduate of University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Having grown up in Cameroon, Benin and Togo he speaks both English and French fluently. His first movie was in 1991, which is...

 
Phina Oruche
Phina Oruche
Phina Oruche is a British actress, radio presenter and former model best known for her performances as Liberty Baker in ITV's Footballers' Wives, for which she won a Screen Nations Award for Favourite TV Star....

 
August 31, 1975
Nkem Owoh
Nkem Owoh
Nkem Owoh is a Nigerian actor and comedian. In 2008 he won the African Movie Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role.-Early life:Owoh was born in Enugu, Nigeria. After his primary and secondary school he headed to the University of Ilorin and studied engineering...

 
Paul Robeson
Paul Robeson
Paul Leroy Robeson was an American concert singer , recording artist, actor, athlete, scholar who was an advocate for the Civil Rights Movement in the first half of the twentieth century...

 
April 9, 1898 January 23, 1976 A multi-lingual American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

 actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...

, athlete, Basso cantante concert singer, writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....

, civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...

 activist, fellow traveler, Spingarn Medal
Spingarn Medal
The Spingarn Medal is awarded annually by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People for outstanding achievement by an African American....

 winner, and Stalin Peace Prize laureate.
Forest Whitaker
Forest Whitaker
Forest Steven Whitaker is an American actor, producer, and director. He has earned a reputation for intensive character study work for films such as Bird and Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, and for his recurring role as ex-LAPD Lieutenant Jon Kavanaugh on the gritty, award-winning television...

 
July 15, 1961 An American actor, producer, and director who won an Academy Award for his performance as Uganda
Uganda
Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by...

n dictator Idi Amin
Idi Amin
Idi Amin Dada was a military leader and President of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. Amin joined the British colonial regiment, the King's African Rifles in 1946. Eventually he held the rank of Major General in the post-colonial Ugandan Army and became its Commander before seizing power in the military...

 in the 2006 film The Last King of Scotland
The Last King of Scotland
The Last King of Scotland is an award-winning 1998 novel by journalist Giles Foden. Focusing on the rise of Ugandan President Idi Amin and his reign as dictator from 1971 to 1979, the novel is written as the memoir of a fictional Scottish doctor in Amin's employ. Giles Foden's novel received...

'.
Blair Underwood
Blair Underwood
Blair Underwood is an American television and film actor. He is perhaps best known as headstrong attorney Jonathan Rollins from the NBC legal drama L.A. Law, a role he portrayed for seven years. He has gained critical acclaim throughout his career, receiving numerous Golden Globe Award...

 
August 25, 1964 An American television and film actor nominated for a 2009 Golden Globe Award
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...

 for his role on In Treatment
In Treatment
In Treatment is an American HBO drama, produced and developed by Rodrigo Garcia, about a psychologist, 50-something Dr. Paul Weston, and his weekly sessions with patients, as well as those with his own therapist at the end of the week. The program, which stars Gabriel Byrne as Paul, debuted on...

 
Joshua Uzoigwe
Joshua Uzoigwe
Joshua Uzoigwe was a Nigerian composer and ethnomusicologist. A member of the Igbo ethnic group, many of his works draw on the traditional music of that people.-Early life and education:...

 
July 1, 1946 October 2005

Authors

Name Born Death Notability Reference
Chris Abani
Chris Abani
Christopher Abani is a Nigerian author. Abani's first novel, Masters of the Board, was about a Neo-Nazi takeover of Nigeria...

 
December 27, 1966 Notable for his first novel, Masters of the Board, which was about a Neo-Nazi takeover of Nigeria.
Chinua Achebe
Chinua Achebe
Albert Chinụalụmọgụ Achebe popularly known as Chinua Achebe is a Nigerian novelist, poet, professor, and critic...

 
November 16, 1930 A novelist, poet and critic, Achebe is best known for his award winning novel, Things Fall Apart
Things Fall Apart
Things Fall Apartis a 1958 English language novel by Nigerian author Chinua Achebe. It is a staple book in schools throughout Africa and widely read and studied in English-speaking countries around the world. It is seen as the archetypal modern African novel in English, and one of the first African...

.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a Nigerian writer.Her family is of Igbo descent. In 2008 she was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship.-Early life and education:...

 
September 15, 1977 Best known for Half of a Yellow Sun
Half of a Yellow Sun
Half of a Yellow Sun is a novel by the Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Published in 2006 by Knopf/Anchor, it tells the story of two sisters, Olanna and Kainene, during the Biafran War.-Plot:...

 
Nnorom Azuonye
Nnorom Azuonye
Nnorom Azuonye is a Nigerian theater director, playwright, and poet. He wrote Letter To God & Other Poems in 2003...

 
July, 1967
William Napolean Barleycorn
William Barleycorn
William Napolean Barleycorn , born in Santa Isabel, Fernando Po, Spanish Guinea and a Fernandino of Igbo descent, was Primitive Methodist missionary who went to Fernando Po in Africa, about 1880. From there, he traveled to Edinburgh University...

 
1884 1925 a Spanish Guinea
Spanish Guinea
Spanish Guinea was an African colony of Spain that became the independent nation of Equatorial Guinea.-History:The Portuguese explorer, Fernão do Pó, seeking a route to India, is credited with having discovered the island of Bioko in 1472. He called it Formosa , but it quickly took on the name of...

n Primitive Methodist missionary
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...

 and author of the first Bube language primer. He was a member of a prominent Fernandino
Fernandino
Named in reverence of the Portuguese explorer Fernão do Pó who is given credit for discovering their indigenous and adopted homelands, Fernandinos are creole, multi-ethnic or multi-race populations of Equatorial Guinea and former Spanish Guinea. Each population hails from a distinct ethnic, social,...

 family.
Edward Wilmot Blyden
Edward Wilmot Blyden
Edward Wilmot Blyden was an Americo-Liberian educator, writer, diplomat, and politician primarily in Liberia. He also taught for five years in Sierra Leone, and his writings were influential in both countries....

 
3 August 1832 7 February 1912 Liberia
Liberia
Liberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Sierra Leone on the west, Guinea on the north and Côte d'Ivoire on the east. Liberia's coastline is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the more sparsely populated inland consists of forests that open...

n educator, clergyman and Pan-Africanist.
Ifeanyi Chijindu
Ifeanyi Chijindu
Ifeanyi also credited as Ifeanyi Chijindu is a Nigerian-American author/writer, entrepreneur, artist, actress and screenwriter.-Early life:Ifeanyi was born in Nigeria and is a first generation Nigerian-American...

 
Michael Echeruo
Michael Echeruo
Michael Joseph Chukwudalu Echeruo is a Nigerian academic, professor and literary critic from Okigwe, Imo State. He was educated at the University College, Ibadan from 1955 to 1960 and was contemporaries with a few notable writers and poets from the college, such as Christopher Okigbo...

 
March 14, 1937
Buchi Emecheta
Buchi Emecheta
Dr Buchi Emecheta is an African novelist who has published over 20 books, including Second-Class Citizen , The Bride Price , The Slave Girl and The Joys of Motherhood...

 
July 21, 1944
E. Nolue Emenanjo
E. Nolue Emenanjo
Emmanuel Nwanolue Emenanjo, also known as ‘Nolue Emenanjo is a Nigerian scholar and writer.Born in Katsina State to Igbo parents, he is the executive director of the National Institute of Nigerian Languages, Aba and a Professor of Linguistics...

 
1943
Okwui Enwezor
Okwui Enwezor
Okwui Enwezor is an Igbo Nigerian-born American curator, art critic, writer, poet, educator, and specializing in art history. He lives in New York.- Biography :...

 
1963
Cyprian Ekwensi
Cyprian Ekwensi
Cyprian Ekwensi, MFR was a Nigerian short story writer and author of children's books.-Early life, education and family:Ekwensi, an Igbo, was born in Minna, Niger State...

 
September 26, 1921 November 4, 2007
Olaudah Equiano
Olaudah Equiano
Olaudah Equiano also known as Gustavus Vassa, was a prominent African involved in the British movement towards the abolition of the slave trade. His autobiography depicted the horrors of slavery and helped influence British lawmakers to abolish the slave trade through the Slave Trade Act of 1807...

 
c. 1745 31 March 1797 also known as Gustavus Vassa, was a writer and abolitionist.
Paschal Eze
Paschal Eze
C. Paschal Eze, also known to people in his target audience as The Rebranding Strategist, is an American tourism marketing consultant who currently serves as Vice President for Africa at the Hawaii USA-headquartered International Council of Tourism Partners which helps city, regional and national...

 
Africanus Horton
Africanus Horton
Africanus Horton , also known as James Beale, was a Creole African nationalist writer and an esteemed Medical Surgeon in the British Army from Freetown, Sierra Leone....

 
1835 1883 Also known as James Beale, he was a writer and folklorist from Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...

.
Chinweizu Ibekwe 
Vincent Chukwuemeka Ike
Vincent Chukwuemeka Ike
Vincent Chukwuemeka Ike, born in Anambra state, Nigeria is a Nigerian writer known for a mixture of lampoon, humor and satire. He owes a little bit of his style to his Igbo cultural upbringing...

 
Uzodinma Iweala
Uzodinma Iweala
Dr. Uzodinma Iweala is an author and physician who hails from Washington, DC and Nigeria. His debut novel, Beasts of No Nation, is a formation of his thesis work at Harvard. It depicts a child soldier in an unnamed African country...

 
November 5, 1982
T.D. Jakes  June 9, 1957
Uchechi Kalu
Uchechi Kalu
Uchechi Kalu is a Nigerian-born American poet, teacher, and activist whose work has appeared in several publications including Revolutionary Voices: A Multicultural Queer Youth Anthology edited by Amy Sonnie...

 
Nnedi Okorafor 
Uche Nduka
Uche Nduka
Uche Nduka is a Nigerian poet, writer, lecturer and songwriter who was awarded the Association of Nigerian Authors Prize for Poetry in 1997. He currently lives in New York.-Life:...

 
14 October 1963
Nkem Nwankwo
Nkem Nwankwo
Nkem Nwankwo was a Nigerian novelist and poet. Born in Nawfia, Nigeria, he attended University College in Ibadan...

 
June 12, 1936 June 12, 2001
Flora Nwapa
Flora Nwapa
Florence Nwanzuruahu Nkiru Nwapa was a Nigerian author best known as Flora Nwapa. Her novel Efuru is among the first English language novels by a woman from Africa....

 
January 18, 1931 1993
Onyeka Nwelue
Onyeka Nwelue
Onyeka Nwelue is a Nigerian writer and filmmaker.- Biography :Onyeka Nwelue is a Nigerian writer and filmmaker...

 
January 31, 1988
Okey Ndibe
Okey Ndibe
Okey Ndibe is a novelist, political columnist, and essayist. Of Igbo ethnicity, Ndibe was born in Yola, Nigeria. He is the author of Arrows of Rain, a critically acclaimed novel published in 2000...

 
1960
Onuora Nzekwu
Onuora Nzekwu
Onuora Nzekwu is a Nigerian professor, writer and editor from the Igbo people.-Works:*Wand of Noble Wood *Blade Among the Boys *Highlife for Lizards -References:...

 
February 19, 1928
Ike Oguine
Ike Oguine
Ike Oguine is a writer living in Lagos, Nigeria, and one of the standard-bearers of the current resurgence in Nigerian literature. As a commentator, he has written several opinion pieces for the New Internationalist, West Africa and Times Literary Supplement, and has written several short...

 
Christopher Okigbo
Christopher Okigbo
Christopher Ifekandu Okigbo was a Nigerian poet, who died fighting for the independence of Biafra. He is today widely acknowledged as the outstanding postcolonial English-language African poet and one of the major modernist writers of the twentieth century.-Early life:Okigbo was born on August...

 
1932 1967
Obinna Charles Okwelume
Obinna Charles Okwelume
Dr. Obinna Charles Okwelume Jnr. is an African scholar, writer and playwright.-Biography:...

 
September 20, 1981
Ifeoma Onyefulu
Ifeoma Onyefulu
Ifeoma Onyefulu is a Nigerian children's author and novelist. She is a member of the Igbo ethnic group of Nigeria, and a professional photographer...

 
Ada Udechukwu
Ada Udechukwu
Ada Udechukwu is a Nigerian artist and poet associated with the Nsukka group.Born in Enugu, Udechukwu was the daughter of an Igbo father and an American mother. She grew up in Nigeria, moving with her family to the United States at the start of the Biafran War and returning when it was over...

 
1960
F. Nnabuenyi Ugonna
F. Nnabuenyi Ugonna
Frederick Nnabuenyi Ugonna, often abbreviated to F. Nnabuenyi Ugonna was a Nigerian ethnologist, linguist, and writer. He is best known for his work on the Igbo language and other African languages as well as African literature.Ugonna was the first who initiated the thesis of J. E...

 
October 12, 1936 June 5, 1990
Chuka Umunna
Chuka Umunna
Chuka Harrison Umunna is a British Labour Party politician and employment lawyer. He has been the Member of Parliament for Streatham since 2010. After less than 18 months in Parliament, he was promoted to the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Business Secretary by Labour Leader Ed Miliband on 7 October 2011...

 
October 1978
Chika Unigwe
Chika Unigwe
Chika Unigwe is a Nigerian-born author and she writes in English and Dutch.Chika Unigwe has a Ph.D in Literature from the University of Leiden in the Netherlands. Her debut novel, De Feniks was published in 2005 by Meulenhoff and Manteau and was shortlisted for the Vrouw en Kultuur debuutprijs...

 
1974

Film makers and producers

Name Born Death Notability Reference
Chico Ejiro
Chico Ejiro
Chico Ejiro is a Nigerian movie auteur. Little is known about Ejiro other than he originally studied agriculture, and he was drawn into video production because Nigerians would not buy blank videocassettes...

 
Oby Kechere
Oby Kechere
Oby Kechere is a Nigerian actress and film director. She comes from Mbaise in Imo State, Nigeria. , Nigeria Daily News, Retrieved November 1, 2010...

 
Kingsley Ogoro
Kingsley Ogoro
Kingsley Ogoro is a noted Nigerian film director, screenwriter and film producer best known for the acclaimed film Osuofia in London of 2003 in which he worked with Nkem Owoh....

 
Izu Ojukwu
Izu Ojukwu
Izu Ojukwu is a Nigerian film director and actor. In 2007 he won the African Movie Academy Award for Best Director for the film Sitanda, which received 9 nominations and won 5 awards at the 3rd African Movie Academy Awards, including Best Picture & Best Nigerian Film.-Selected Filmography :*White...

 
Uzo
Uzo
Uzo is a Nigerian-American filmmaker and graphic artist. He has made two feature films, Walls & Bridges and Better Than Ever...

 

Models and beauty pageant contestants

Name Born Death Notability Reference
Adaeze Igwe
Adaeze Igwe
Adaeze Yobo is a former Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria, and step-daughter of former football player John Fashanu...

 
Lynda Chuba-Ikpeazu 
Emma Komlousy
Emma Komlousy
Aret Kapetanovic is a British singer/songwriter, actress and producer.The daughter of entertainer Patti Boulaye,Kapetanovic was raised in England, but briefly lived in Nigeria with her grandparents. As a child, she was a British Junior Backstroke Champion...

 
Munachi Nwanknwo
Munachi Nwanknwo
Munachi Abii is a Nigerian rap / hip-hop artiste, songwriter, former beauty queen, television presenter and model who performs under the name Muna.-Early Life:...

 
Chinenye Ochuba
Chinenye Ochuba
Chinenye Akinlade is a former beauty queen.Akinlade is the seventh of eight children and also a twin. Following completion of her secondary education at Regan Memorial Secondary School, she won the 2002 edition of the Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria pageant while awaiting admission into university...

 
Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu 
Ngoli Onyeka Okafor
Ngoli Onyeka Okafor
Ngoli “Ngo” Onyeka Okafor is a Nigerian American male model, actor and Two-time Golden Gloves boxer and actor. He is of Igbo decent, with both of his parents being Igbo. Ngo has been called one of the quickest studies the boxing world has ever seen...

 
December 30, 1979
Ikenna Bryan Okwara
Ikenna Bryan Okwara
Ikenna Bryan Okwara is a Nigerian pageant contestant who won the title of Mr. Nigeria 2007 and reached the semi-finals in the Mister World 2007 competition for Nigeria. Okwara is Igbo.-References:...

 
Oluchi Onweagba
Oluchi Onweagba
-Early life:Onweagba grew up in the suburbs of Lagos, Nigeria with her two brothers and sisters. She is the daughter of a civil servant father and mother who was a nurse. When Onweagba was 16 years old, she won the "Face Of Africa" contest.-Discovery:...

 
August 1, 1980
Ebuka Obi-Uchendu
Ebuka Obi-Uchendu
- Biography :Ebuka Obi-Uchendu who hails from Okija in Anambra State Nigeria, was born and raised in Benin City, Edo State and in Abuja. He had his secondary education at Christ The King College Abuja graduating in 1997 , his university education in The University of Abuja, graduating in 2004 and...

 
July 14, 1982
Sabina Umeh
Sabina Umeh
Sabina Umeh-Akamune , is a Nigerian singer/songwriter and model.The daughter of a playwright, Umeh-Akamune, then a recent graduate of the University of Benin with a degree in Theatre Arts, was crowned Most Beautiful Girl in Nigeria 1990 in December 1989, and would participate in Miss Universe,...

 

Singers and Musicians

Name Born Death Notability Reference
Dr Alban 
Stella Damasus-Aboderin
Stella Damasus-Aboderin
Stella Damasus-Aboderin is a Nigerian actress and singer. She was nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role at the African Movie Academy Awards in 2009.-Early life:Damasus-Aboderin was born Stella Ojukwu in Asaba, Delta State...

 
1978, April 24
Oliver De Coque
Oliver De Coque
Oliver De Coque is a well known name in Nigeria as well as the Nigerian music circle. Though many believe he was not a Nigerian owing to his popular name which has a French leaning, he had started music with Ekpili at the age of 17. Oliver De Coque was from Ezinifite, Nnewi South Local Government...

 
Bright Chimezie
Bright Chimezie
Bright Chimezie , also known as Okoro Junior, is a Nigerian highlife musician. His type of music, popularly known as zzigima, became widely available in Nigeria from the early 80s.- References :...

 
Chikezie
Chikezie
Chikezie Ndubuisi Eze is an American singer and the tenth place finalist on the seventh season of the television series American Idol.-Early life:...

 
Faze
Faze (musician)
Faze is a Nigerian musician and is a member of Nigerian hip hop group Plantashun Boiz...

 
Naeto C
Naeto C
Naetochukwu Chikwe , stage name Naeto C, is a Nigerian rapper, Afrobeat artist and record producer. He was born in Houston, Texas and is of Nigerian origin.-Early life:...

 
December 17, 1982
Nneka
Nneka (singer)
Nneka Lucia Egbuna is a Nigerian-German hip hop/soul singer and songwriter. She sings in both English and Igbo.- Biography :Nneka is the daughter of an Anambra state- Igbo Nigerian father and a German mother...

 
1981, December 24 Afro-German
Afro-Germans
Afro-Germans , African-Germans or Black Germans are defined as the Black African community and diaspora in Germany.Historic backgrounds vary; so does allocation: in particular, cities like Hamburg and Berlin have substantial grown Black communities, with a high percentage of ethnically mixed...

 
Ego Ihenacho
Ego Ihenacho
Ego Ihenacho is member of the Africano music band Lagbaja. Ego is a Nigerian singer. She was born in Imo state and has worked for over 10 years in the Lagbaja band. She sings a soaring solo in Lagbaja's song titled "Never Far Away" causing listeners to suggest she released a single or break out...

 
Lachi
Lachi
Lachi is a singer-songwriter, pianist and author based in New York City. Her music is often described as jazz influenced, piano driven alternative rock.-Early life:...

 
New York City, Singer/Songwriter
Lemar
Lemar
Lemar Obika , professionally known simply as Lemar, is an English recording artist. Obika has had a run of chart success in the UK, Europe and Australia...

 
1978, April 4
Prince Nico Mbarga
Prince Nico Mbarga
Prince Nico Mbarga was a highlife musician, born to a Nigerian mother and a Cameroonian father in Abakaliki, Nigeria...

 
Ninja
Ninja (musician)
Nkechi Ka Egenamba known as Ninja is an English rapper and the female lead vocalist for the British indie band The Go! Team. Doing a mixture of rapping, chanting and singing, Ninja is well known for her energetic stage performances and dancing...

 
Mendi & Keith Obadike
Mendi & Keith Obadike
Mendi Obadike and Keith Obadike are a married Igbo Nigerian American couple who create music and art. They were both born in 1973. Their music, live art, and conceptual Internet artworks have been exhibited internationally. Mendi is a poet and Keith is a composer and sound designer...

 
Jide Obi
Jide Obi
Jide Obi Ibo is a Nigerian music star of the 1980s.Jide Obi was born in England to a Nigerian barrister of England's Lincoln Inn, and a teacher....

 
Ezebuiro Obinna 
Kele Okereke
Kele Okereke
Kelechukwu "Kele" Rowland Okereke is a British musician, best known as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the indie rock band Bloc Party.-Early life:...

 
1981, 13 October He is the vocalist
Singing
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...

 and rhythm guitarist for English indie rock
Indie rock
Indie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...

 band
Rock Band
Rock Band is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems, published by MTV Games and Electronic Arts. It is the first title in the Rock Band series. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions were released in the United States on November 20, 2007, while the PlayStation 2 version was...

 Bloc Party
Bloc Party
Bloc Party are a British Indie rock band, composed of Kele Okereke , Russell Lissack , Gordon Moakes , and Matt Tong...

.
Queen Theresa Onuorah 
Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe
Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe
Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe , often referred to as just Osadebe, was an Igbo Nigerian Highlife musician from Atani. His career spanned over 40 years, and he is one of the most well known Igbo highlife musicians...

 
P-Square
P-Square
P-Square are a Nigerian R&B duo composed of non-identical twin brothers Peter and Paul Okoye.-History:The story of P-Square began in St. Murumba secondary school, a small Catholic school in Jos, Nigeria...

 
A R&B duo composed of identical twin brothers Peter and Paul Okoye.
Ruggedman
Ruggedman
Michael Stephens, known by his name Ruggedman, born on September 20 in Ehen, Abia State, is a Nigerian rapper.A graduate of political science from Lagos State University, Ọ̀jọ́, he started loving music in 1989. He had his own songs done in 1991 and released a CD, which had two tracks...

 
Samsong
Samsong
Samsong is an award winning Nigerian gospel artist, based in Abuja, Nigeria. He has had a successful recording career with radio hits like Bianule, and a handful of accolades such as The Psalmist Award in 2000, and recently being nominated as "best Gospel Artist" by Nigerian Entertainment Awards ...

 
Joshua Uzoigwe
Joshua Uzoigwe
Joshua Uzoigwe was a Nigerian composer and ethnomusicologist. A member of the Igbo ethnic group, many of his works draw on the traditional music of that people.-Early life and education:...

 

Education

Eni Njoku(1917-1970)
Name Born Death Notability Reference
Maria Louisa Bustill
Maria Louisa Bustill
Maria Louisa Bustill Robeson was a Quaker schoolteacher; the wife of the Reverend William Drew Robeson of Witherspoon Church in Princeton, New Jersey and the mother of Paul Robeson and his siblings.-Birth:...

 
1853, November 8 January 20, 1904 A Quaker
Religious Society of Friends
The Religious Society of Friends, or Friends Church, is a Christian movement which stresses the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. Members are known as Friends, or popularly as Quakers. It is made of independent organisations, which have split from one another due to doctrinal differences...

 schoolteacher; the mother of Paul Robeson
Paul Robeson
Paul Leroy Robeson was an American concert singer , recording artist, actor, athlete, scholar who was an advocate for the Civil Rights Movement in the first half of the twentieth century...

; and the wife of the Reverend William Drew Robeson.
Michael Echeruo
Michael Echeruo
Michael Joseph Chukwudalu Echeruo is a Nigerian academic, professor and literary critic from Okigwe, Imo State. He was educated at the University College, Ibadan from 1955 to 1960 and was contemporaries with a few notable writers and poets from the college, such as Christopher Okigbo...

 
1937, March 14
E. Nolue Emenanjo
E. Nolue Emenanjo
Emmanuel Nwanolue Emenanjo, also known as ‘Nolue Emenanjo is a Nigerian scholar and writer.Born in Katsina State to Igbo parents, he is the executive director of the National Institute of Nigerian Languages, Aba and a Professor of Linguistics...

 
1943
Okwui Enwezor
Okwui Enwezor
Okwui Enwezor is an Igbo Nigerian-born American curator, art critic, writer, poet, educator, and specializing in art history. He lives in New York.- Biography :...

 
Uche Nduka
Uche Nduka
Uche Nduka is a Nigerian poet, writer, lecturer and songwriter who was awarded the Association of Nigerian Authors Prize for Poetry in 1997. He currently lives in New York.-Life:...

 
1963, October 14
Onuora Nzekwu
Onuora Nzekwu
Onuora Nzekwu is a Nigerian professor, writer and editor from the Igbo people.-Works:*Wand of Noble Wood *Blade Among the Boys *Highlife for Lizards -References:...

 
1928, February 19
P. N. Okeke-Ojiudu
P. N. Okeke-Ojiudu
Patrick Nwokoye Okeke-Ojiudu , also referred to as P.N. or P.N. Okeke, was a Nigerian politician, businessman, teacher, philanthropist and the patriarch of the Okeke-Ojiudu Family...

 
1914 1995
Kenneth Dike
Kenneth Dike
Kenneth Dike was a Nigerian historian and the first Nigerian Vice Chancellor of the nation's premier college, the University of Ibadan. During the Nigerian civil war, he moved to Harvard University, Boston....

 
1917 1983
John Ogbu
John Ogbu
John Uzo Ogbu was a Nigerian-American anthropologist and professor known for his theories on observed phenomena involving race and intelligence, especially how race and ethnic differences played out in educational and economic achievement. He suggested that being a "caste-like minority" affects...

 
1939, May 9 20 August 2003

Historians

Name Born Death Notability Reference
Adiele Afigbo
Adiele Afigbo
Adiele Eberechukwu Afigbo was a Nigerian historian known for the history and historiography of Africa, more particularly Igbo history and the history of Southeastern Nigeria...

 
1937, 22 November 9 March 2009
Kenneth Dike
Kenneth Dike
Kenneth Dike was a Nigerian historian and the first Nigerian Vice Chancellor of the nation's premier college, the University of Ibadan. During the Nigerian civil war, he moved to Harvard University, Boston....

 
1917 1983
Paul Robeson, Jr.
Paul Robeson, Jr.
Paul Robeson, Jr. is an American author, archivist and historian.-Biography:Robeson was born in New York City to entertainer and activist Paul Robeson and Eslanda Goode Robeson. As his family moved to Europe he grew up in England and Moscow, in the Soviet Union. In Moscow he attended an elite...

 
1927, 2 November

Philosophers

Name Born Death Notability Reference
Emmanuel Chukwudi Eze
Emmanuel Chukwudi Eze
Emmanuel Chukwudi Eze was a Nigerian-born American philosopher. Eze was a specialist in postcolonial philosophy. He wrote as well as edited influential postcolonial histories of philosophy in Africa, Europe, and the Americas...

 
1963 2007

Heads of organizations and business executives

Name Born Death Notability Reference
C. T. Onyekwelu
C. T. Onyekwelu
Christopher Tagbo Onyekwelu was a prominent Nigerian businessman who played a pioneering role in developing an indigenous recording industry in the country. He was born in Nawfia, Anambra State and attended a primary school nearby.-Business life:...

 
1898
Leo Stan Ekeh
Leo Stan Ekeh
Leonard "Leo" Stanley Nnamdi Ekeh is an Igbo Nigerian businessman and chairperson of Zinox Technologies. In addition to Zinox, he has been involved with companies Task Systems, Guaranty Trust Insurance, and IT Solutions and Technology Distributions Limited.- Early life and education :Ekeh was born...

 
February 22, 1956
Ikechukwu Ndefo  1957
Joe Maduekwe
Joe Maduekwe
Joe Maduekwe is a Nigerian businessman. An Igbo Christian who hails from Anambra State, Maduekwe was the Managing Director of the Nigerian Railway Corporation from 1991 to 1995. After which he went into private business. He is the CEO of Vicmore Nigerian Enterprises. And Serves on the Board of...

 
Mathias Ugochukwu
Mathias Ugochukwu
Mathias Nwafor Ugochukwu was a prominent Nigerian businessman from Anambra State. A leading industrialist from the Eastern Region of Nigeria, he played a pioneering role in large scale manufacturing in the region. He was sometimes called by his alias, Ugobuzuo. He was a friend to various Igbo...

 
1926 1990
Louis Odumegwu Ojukwu
Louis Odumegwu Ojukwu
Sir Louis Odumegwu Ojukwu, KBE, was an extremely successful Nigerian businessman from Nnewi. Ojukwu was the first and founding President of The Nigerian Stock Exchange as well as President of The African Continental Bank. He was also on the board of directors of some of Nigeria's most powerful and...

 
1909 1966
P. N. Okeke-Ojiudu
P. N. Okeke-Ojiudu
Patrick Nwokoye Okeke-Ojiudu , also referred to as P.N. or P.N. Okeke, was a Nigerian politician, businessman, teacher, philanthropist and the patriarch of the Okeke-Ojiudu Family...

 
1914 1995
Obi G Okoli  March 6, 1968 IT Consultant, Writer, and politician. The former QA Test Manager, notable for being the first Black person to hold the position in the Olympic Delivery Authority in United Kingdom, He also heads the Arondizuogu Patriotic Union UK and is a Director in Timelink Consult Ltd.

Economists

Name Born Death Notability Reference
Pius Okigbo
Pius Okigbo
Pius Okigbo was an eminent Nigerian economist from Ojoto, Anambra State. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics through private study, after, he proceeded to Northwestern University, where he earned an MA and Ph.D in Economics.As a scholar, he contributed a great deal in propelling...

 
February 6, 1924
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was appointed in July 2011 as Nigeria's “de facto prime minister” and the new Minister of Finance for the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Prior to this appointment, she was the Managing Director of World Bank and has also held the position of a Finance Minister and Foreign...

 
June 13, 1954 The former Finance Minister
Finance Minister of Nigeria
The Minister of Finance of Nigeria is a senior cabinet official in the Nigerian Federal Executive Council. The Finance Minister's directs the Nigerian Ministry of Finance and ensures that it operates in a transparent, accountable and efficient manner to bolster the country's economic development...

 and Foreign Minister
Foreign Minister of Nigeria
The Nigerian foreign ministry is a statutory body created to handle the external push of Nigeria's domestic vision and ideals; it is headed by the Foreign Minister of Nigeria. As of late its mission has geared towards increasing awareness about Nigeria's economic potential...

 of Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...

, notable for being the first woman to hold either of those positions.
Charles Chukwuma Soludo  28 July 1960 A economics professor and the former Governor and Chairman of the Board of Directors
Board of directors
A board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...

 of the Central Bank of Nigeria
Central Bank of Nigeria
The Central Bank of Nigeria was established by the CBN Act of 1958 and commenced operations on July 1, 1959.The major regulatory objectives of the bank as stated in the CBN act of 1958 is to: issue legal tender, maintain the external reserves of the country, promote monetary stability and a sound...

 (CBN).
Onyema Ugochukwu
Onyema Ugochukwu
Onyema Ugochukwu is a Nigerian economist, journalist, and politician. Ugochukwu served as the senior Special Adviser on Communication to Nigerian President, Olusegun Obasanjo and the first Executive Chairman of the Niger Delta Development Commission .On February 25, 2008, an Abia State elections...

 
November 9, 1944 A economist, journalist, and politician.

Journalists

Name Born Death Notability Reference
Chinweizu
Chinweizu
Chinweizu is a Nigerian critic, poet, and journalist. Though he has identified himself and is known simply as Chinweizu, he was born Chinweizu Ibekwe at Eluoma in Isuikwuato in the part of Eastern Region that is known today as Abia State, and was educated at Government Secondary School, Afikpo. He...

 
Christina Anyanwu
Christina Anyanwu
Christiana 'Chris' Anyanwu MFR is a Nigerian journalist, publisher, author, and politician, hailed as one of the female pioneers in Nigerian journalism and broadcasting...

 
1951
Chima Simone
Chima Simone
Chima Simone is a freelance journalist from West Hollywood, California, best known as a former contestant on Big Brother 11. She is also notable for surviving an attack by the Bathtub Killer. Her story was recounted in the true crime cable television show Cold Case Files...

 
July 28, 1976
Kizzi Nkwocha
Kizzi Nkwocha
Kizzi Nkwocha is a media consultant and public relations specialist based in the United Kingdom.He was born in Nigeria, eventually emigrating to the United Kingdom. At 21, he became the UK's youngest newspaper editor, editing the 10-edition Recorder Group in West London...

 
Michael Okwu
Michael Okwu
Michael Okwu is a Nigerian American television journalist and correspondent.Michael Okwu joined NBC News as a correspondent in April 2004. Okwu is based in Burbank, California, and contributes to Today, NBC Nightly News and MSNBC....

 
Adaora Udoji
Adaora Udoji
Adaora Elizabeth Udoji is a Nigerian American and was the co-host of The Takeaway with John Hockenberry until May 2009. Previously, she was a host on Court TV. She is a former correspondent for CNN and a former foreign correspondent for ABC News based in London...

 
1967

Judges

Name Born Death Notability Reference
Pats Acholonu
Pats Acholonu
Ignatius Chukwudi Pats Acholonu was a Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria from Imo State.-References:...

 
July 15, 1936 May 14, 2006

Activists

Name Born Death Notability Reference
Margaret Ekpo
Margaret Ekpo
Margaret Ekpo was a Nigerian women's rights activist and social mobilizer who was a pioneering female politician in the country's First Republic and was a leading member of a class of traditional Nigerian women activists, many of whom rallied women beyond notions of ethnic solidarity...

 
1914 2006 Women's rights
Women's rights
Women's rights are entitlements and freedoms claimed for women and girls of all ages in many societies.In some places these rights are institutionalized or supported by law, local custom, and behaviour, whereas in others they may be ignored or suppressed...

 activist
Gogo Chu Nzeribe
Gogo Chu Nzeribe
Gogo Chu Nzeribe was a Nigerian trade unionist and a leader of the nation's communist movement during the drive towards independence in the 1950s. He was the secretary general of the All Nigeria Trade Union Federation which had Michael Imoudu has its president. He was murdered in 1967 by troops...

 
Okey Ndibe
Okey Ndibe
Okey Ndibe is a novelist, political columnist, and essayist. Of Igbo ethnicity, Ndibe was born in Yola, Nigeria. He is the author of Arrows of Rain, a critically acclaimed novel published in 2000...

 
1960 a novelist, poet, political activist from Yola, Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...

. He is the author of Arrows of Rain, a critically reviewed novel published in 2000.

Politicians

Name Born Death Notability Reference
Enyinnaya Abaribe
Enyinnaya Abaribe
Enyinnaya Harcourt Abaribe is a Nigerian politician who was elected to the Abia-South Senatorial District of Abia State in the Senate of Nigeria in April 2007.He holds the title Nnadiohanma Ngwa.-Education:...

 
Catherine Obianuju Acholonu
Catherine Obianuju Acholonu
Prof. Catherine Obianuju Acholonu is a Nigerian writer, researcher and former lecturer on African Cultural and Gender Studies...

 
Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi
Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi
Major General Johnson Thomas Umunnakwe Aguiyi-Ironsi was a Nigerian soldier. He served as the Head of State of Nigeria from January 16, 1966 until he was overthrown and killed on July 29, 1966 by a group of northern army officers who revolted against the government.- Early life :Thomas Umunnakwe...

 
March 3, 1924 July 29, 1966
Igwe Aja-Nwachukwu
Igwe Aja-Nwachukwu
Igwe Aja-Nwachuku ended his term as education minister of Nigeria on 17 December 2008. He had been appointed education minister eighteen months earlier. He was replaced as education minister by Dr. Sam Egwu. Dr. Aja-Nwachukwu graduated from the university of Ibadan with a B.Sc in statistics, holds...

 
Frank Ajobena
Frank Ajobena
Air Vice Marshal Frank O. Ajobena, CON was the military administrator of Abia State from 28 August 1991 until January 1992. When Felix Mujakperuo was chosen as Orodje of Okpe Kingdom in 2004, Ajobena filed suit in favor of his own claim to the throne. Ajobena's suit was dismissed, and Mujakperuo...

 
Dora Akunyili
Dora Akunyili
Dora Nkem Akunyili is the former Director General of National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control of Nigeria and former Nigerian Minister of Information and Communications...

 
July 14, 1954 Former Director General of National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control
National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control is a Nigerian government agency under the Federal Ministry of Health that is responsible for regulating and controlling the manufacture, importation, exportation, advertisement, distribution, sale and use of food, drugs, cosmetics,...

 (NAFDAC) of Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...

 and current (since December 17, 2008) Nigerian Minister of Information and Communications.
Rotimi Amaechi
Rotimi Amaechi
Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi is a Nigerian politician, who became Governor of Rivers State in June 2007. He was previously Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly from 1999 until 2007....

 
Emeka Anyaoku
Emeka Anyaoku
Emeka Anyaoku, GCVO, CON was the third Commonwealth Secretary-General. He is a Nigerian of Igbo descent.-Education:Born in Obosi, he attended the University College of Ibadan, then a college of the University of London, from which he obtained an honours degree in Classics.-Political career:In...

 
Nnamdi Azikiwe
Nnamdi Azikiwe
Benjamin Nnamdi Azikiwe , usually referred to as Nnamdi Azikiwe and popularly known as "Zik", was one of the leading figures of modern Nigerian nationalism who became the first President of Nigeria after Nigeria secured its independence from the United Kingdom on 1 October 1960; holding the...

 
Chukwuemeka Chikelu
Chukwuemeka Chikelu
Chukwuemeka Chikelu is a Nigerian lawyer and politician who was a National Representative from Anambra State , and then was Minister of Information and National Orientation during the second term of President Olusegun Obasanjo.-Background:...

 
Uche Chukwumerije
Uche Chukwumerije
Uche Chukwumerije was elected a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in April 2003, representing Abia North Senatorial District....

 
Edward Wilmot Blyden
Edward Wilmot Blyden
Edward Wilmot Blyden was an Americo-Liberian educator, writer, diplomat, and politician primarily in Liberia. He also taught for five years in Sierra Leone, and his writings were influential in both countries....

 
3 August 1832 7 February 1912 An Americo-Liberian
Americo-Liberian
Americo-Liberians are a Liberian ethnicity of African American descent. The sister ethnic group of Americo Liberians are the Sierra Leone Creole people who are of African American, West Indian, and liberated African descent...

 educator, writer, diplomat, and politician in Liberia
Liberia
Liberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Sierra Leone on the west, Guinea on the north and Côte d'Ivoire on the east. Liberia's coastline is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the more sparsely populated inland consists of forests that open...

 and Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...

.
Kema Chikwe
Kema Chikwe
Kemafo Nonyerem "Kema" Chikwe, Ph. D. is a former Nigerian Federal Minister of Aviation. She currently holds the position of Nigerian Ambassador to Ireland....

 
Alex Ifeanyichukwu Ekwueme
Alex Ifeanyichukwu Ekwueme
Dr. Alex Ifeanyichukwu Ekwueme From Oko, Anambra State, Nigeria was the first Vice-President of Nigeria, serving 1979 – 1983...

 
Martin Elechi
Martin Elechi
Martin Elechi is the Governor of Ebonyi State in southeast Nigeria. He ran in the April general elections on the People's Democratic Party ticket and assumed the position on May 29, 2007, succeeding Sam Egwu....

 
Evan Enwerem
Evan Enwerem
Evan Enwerem was a Nigerian politician who served as President of the Nigerian Senate in 1999.He was a member of the People's Democratic Party.-Early life:...

 
October 29, 1935 August 2, 2007
Virginia Etiaba
Virginia Etiaba
Dame Virginia Ngozi Etiaba was the Governor of Anambra State, a state in south-central Nigeria, from November 2006 to February 2007. She is the first female governor in Nigeria's history. Her instatement came as the previous governor, Peter Obi, was impeached by the state legislature for alleged...

 
Herbert Eze
Herbert Eze
Lt. Colonel Herbert Obi-Eze was appointed Military Administrator of Anambra State in Nigeria in August 1990 during the military regime of General Ibrahim Babangida...

 
Akanu Ibiam 
Agwu Inobia
Agwu Inobia
Agwu Inobia or Eze Agwu was one of the founding fathers of the city of Arochukwu, the third largest city in Abia State in southeastern Nigeria. He was the descendant of Nna Uru and king of the Eze Agwu clan centered in their capital the Amanagwu city-state...

 
Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu
Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu
Chief Dr. Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu is a Nigerian politician, statesman and renowned businessman. He was born September 4, 1942 in Atta, Ikeduru Local Government Area of Imo State of Nigeria. He studied Civil Engineering at the University of Nigeria and thereafter set up the Hardel and Enic...

 
September 4, 1942
Igwegbe Odum 
Orji Uzor Kalu
Orji Uzor Kalu
Orji Uzor Kalu was the governor of Abia State, Nigeria from 29 May 1999 to 29 May 2007. Prior to his election as governor he was Chairman of the Borno Water Board and of the Cooperative and Commerce Bank Limited...

 
K. O. Mbadiwe
K. O. Mbadiwe
Kingsley Ozuomba Mbadiwe was a Nigerian nationalist, politician, statesman and former government minister. He was born in the Orlu division of present day Imo State and attended the Hope Waddell Training Institute, Calabar for primary education...

 
Ojo Maduekwe
Ojo Maduekwe
Chief Ojo Maduekwe was appointed Foreign Minister of Nigeria on July 26, 2007 by President Umaru Yar'Adua.He left office in March 2010 when Acting President Goodluck Jonathan dissolved his cabinet....

 
Chinwoke Mbadinuju
Chinwoke Mbadinuju
Chinwoke Mbadinuju was Governor of Anambra State in Nigeria from 29 May 1999 to 29 May 2003, elected on the People's Democratic Party platform....

 
Sam Mbakwe
Sam Mbakwe
Samuel "Sam" Onunaka Mbakwe was an Igbo politician and governor of Imo State, southern Nigeria from October 1, 1979 until December 31, 1983....

 
Chris Ngige
Chris Ngige
Dr. Chris Nwabueze Ngige was governor of Anambra State in Nigeria from 29 May 2003 to 17 March 2006. He is a member of the Action Congresss .He was elected Senator for Anambra Central in April 2011.-Background:...

 
Nkechi Justina Nwaogu
Nkechi Justina Nwaogu
thumb|right|200px|[[Abia State]] in [[Nigeria]]Nkechi Justina Nwaogu is a Nigerian senator who represents the People's Democratic Party in Abia State. She became a senator in 2003.-Background:Nkechi Justina Nwaogu was born in 1956...

 
1956 Senator who represents the People's Democratic Party in Abia State.
Chimaroke Nnamani
Chimaroke Nnamani
Chimaroke Nnamani is a Nigerian politician from Enugu State. He was Governor of Enugu State from 1999 to 2007 and is currently a People's Democratic Party Senator for Enugu East.-Education:...

 
Ike Nwachukwu
Ike Nwachukwu
Ike Omar Sanda Nwachukwu is a retired Army officer and Nigerian politician who, among other positions, has served as Foreign Minister of Nigeria twice and as a Senator in the National Assembly delegation from Abia State....

 
Frank Nweke
Frank Nweke
Frank Nweke Jr. is a Nigerian politician who was Minister of Youth, Minister of Information and then Minister of Information and Communications during the second term of President Olusegun Obasanjo .-Background:...

 
Chinyere Ike Nwosu
Chinyere Ike Nwosu
Brigadier General Chinyere Ike Nwosu was a Nigerian Military Administrator of Abia State and then of Oyo State during the military regime of General Sani Abacha....

 
Zacheus Chukwukaelo Obi
Zacheus Chukwukaelo Obi
Zacheus Chukwukaelo Obi, Eze-onunekwulu-Igbo, was an Igbo leader who was born in Nnewi; he was educated at the C.M.S. school, Nnewi. He started work as a pupil teacher but later entered the commercial sector, joining the United African Company...

 
Peter Obi
Peter Obi
Peter Obi was governor of Anambra State in Nigeria from 17 March 2006 to 2 November 2006, when he was impeached and from 9 February 2007 to 29 May 2007 after his impeachment was overturned...

 
George Obiozor
George Obiozor
George Obiozor was a Nigerian professor and diplomat. He was the current Nigerian Ambassador to the United States.He studied at the Institute of African Studies, and Albert Schweitzer College....

 
Peter Odili
Peter Odili
Peter Otunuya Odili was the thirteenth Governor of Rivers State in Nigeria from 29 May 1999 to 29 May 2007. He is a member of the ruling People's Democratic Party .-Background:...

 
Frank Ogbuewu
Frank Ogbuewu
Ambassador Frank Nchita Ogbuewu is a Nigerian political figure and a former Minister of Culture and Tourism for the country. His appointment as minister was confirmed in July 2003 by the Obasanjo administration. Frank Ogbuewu is on record as being the longest serving minister of the culture and...

 
Vincent Eze Ogbulafor
Vincent Eze Ogbulafor
Vincent Eze Ogbulafor is the former Chairman of the ruling People's Democratic Party of Nigeria. Prior to this post, he was National Secretary of the party. He resigned his appointment as the chair after he was charged for an alleged financial recklessness while serving as a minister...

 
Joy Ogwu
Joy Ogwu
Joy Uche Angela Ogwu is a former Foreign Minister of Nigeria and has been the Permanent Representative of Nigeria to the United Nations in New York since 2008. She was the second woman to hold the post in the history of Nigeria. Prior to her ministerial career, Dr...

 
Chuba Okadigbo
Chuba Okadigbo
Dr. Chuba Wilberforce Okadigbo , was President of the Nigeria Senate. He was sometimes referred to as Oyi of Oyi in reference to his local government council area ; he also held numerous political positions in the Nigeria government...

 
Edward Ikem Okeke 
Maurice Iwu
Maurice Iwu
Maurice Mmaduakolam Iwu is a Nigerian Professor of Pharmacognosy who was appointed Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission in June 2005, and was removed from office in April 2010.-Background:...

 
P. N. Okeke-Ojiudu
P. N. Okeke-Ojiudu
Patrick Nwokoye Okeke-Ojiudu , also referred to as P.N. or P.N. Okeke, was a Nigerian politician, businessman, teacher, philanthropist and the patriarch of the Okeke-Ojiudu Family...

 
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was appointed in July 2011 as Nigeria's “de facto prime minister” and the new Minister of Finance for the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Prior to this appointment, she was the Managing Director of World Bank and has also held the position of a Finance Minister and Foreign...

 
June 13, 1954 The former Finance Minister
Finance Minister of Nigeria
The Minister of Finance of Nigeria is a senior cabinet official in the Nigerian Federal Executive Council. The Finance Minister's directs the Nigerian Ministry of Finance and ensures that it operates in a transparent, accountable and efficient manner to bolster the country's economic development...

 and Foreign Minister
Foreign Minister of Nigeria
The Nigerian foreign ministry is a statutory body created to handle the external push of Nigeria's domestic vision and ideals; it is headed by the Foreign Minister of Nigeria. As of late its mission has geared towards increasing awareness about Nigeria's economic potential...

 of Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...

, notable for being the first woman to hold either of those positions.
Richard Okonye
Richard Okonye
Chief Richard Uzochukwa Okonye , the Esomeze I of Uteh Okpu, Delta State, Nigeria, was the Chief Security Officer to the late statesman and presidential aspirant of the Unity Party of Nigeria, Chief Obafemi Awolowo . After his exit from the political scene, he founded a security company called...

 
1943 1999
Michael Okpara
Michael Okpara
Michael Iheonukara Okpara, was a political leader and Premier of Eastern Nigeria during the First Republic, from 1959 to 1966. Dr. Okpara was, at 39, the nation's youngest Premier...

 
Jaycee Okwunwanne  October 8, 1985
Ogbonnaya Onu
Ogbonnaya Onu
Ogbonnaya or Ogbonaya Onu was the first Executive Governor of Abia State, Nigeria from February 1992 to December 1993. He is National Chairman of the All Nigeria Peoples Party .-References:...

 
Nwafor Orizu
Nwafor Orizu
Prince Abyssinia Akweke Nwafor Orizu . was a Nigerian of Igbo origin and Nigeria's second Senate President from November 16, 1960 to January 15, 1966, during the Nigerian First Republic...

 
Theodore Orji
Theodore Orji
Theodore Ahamefule Orji was elected Governor of Abia State, Nigeria on May 29, 2007. Prior to his election, Orji, a career civil servant, served as the Chief of Staff to former Abia Governor, Orji Uzor Kalu.In 26 April 2011 he was reelected as Governor....

 
Edward James Roye
Edward James Roye
Edward James Roye served as the fifth President of Liberia from 1870 to his overthrow and subsequent violent death in 1871. He had previously served as the 4th Chief Justice of Liberia from 1865 until 1868...

 
February 3, 1815 February 11, 1872 Fifth President of Liberia from 1870 to his overthrow and subsequent death in 1871.
Andy Uba 
Achike Udenwa
Achike Udenwa
Achike Udenwa born 1948 was the governor of Imo State in Nigeria. He became governor after winning the election in 1999. Udenwa won re-election in 2003, and his term ended on 29 May 2007....

 
Onyema Ugochukwu
Onyema Ugochukwu
Onyema Ugochukwu is a Nigerian economist, journalist, and politician. Ugochukwu served as the senior Special Adviser on Communication to Nigerian President, Olusegun Obasanjo and the first Executive Chairman of the Niger Delta Development Commission .On February 25, 2008, an Abia State elections...

 
Sylvester Ugoh
Sylvester Ugoh
Sylvester Ugoh was the Vice Presidential candidate of the National Republican Convention in 1993, the NRC's Presidential candidate being Bashir Tofa.-References:...

 
Charles Ugwuh
Charles Ugwuh
Charles Chukwuemeka Ugwuh is an engineer and industrialist who headed the Nigerian ministry of commerce and industry from July 2007 to October 2008...

 
Emmanuel Ukaegbu
Emmanuel Ukaegbu
Wing Commander Emmanuel Ukaegbu is a former officer in the Nigerian Air Force who was military Administrator of Anambra State in Nigeria from 6 August 1998 to 29 May 1999.-Birth and education:...

 
Jaja Wachuku
Jaja Wachuku
Jaja Anucha Wachuku , a Royal Prince of Ngwaland, "descendant of 20 generations of African chiefs in the Ibo country of Eastern Nigeria" - was a Pan-Africanist; and a globally distinguished Nigerian statesman, lawyer, politician, diplomat and humanitarian...

 
1918 1996
Chukwuemeka Ngozichineke Wogu
Chukwuemeka Ngozichineke Wogu
Nwadiala Chukwuemeka Ngozichineke Wogu was appointed Nigerian Federal Minister of Labour & Productivity on 6 April 2010, when Acting President Goodluck Jonathan announced his new cabinet....

 

Warriors

Name Born Death Notability Reference
Okoro Idozuka
Okoro Idozuka
Okoro Idozuka, born Mazi Okoli Idozuka, was a 19th century leader and warrior in the Arondizuogu area of what is now Nigeria. He was a senior advisor to the founder of Ndiakunwanta Uno Arondizuogu village and also a leader in his own right, expanding Arondizuogu's boundaries...

 

Science

Name Born Death Notability Reference
Philip Emeagwali
Philip Emeagwali
Philip Emeagwali is a Nigerian -born engineer and computer scientist/geologist who was one of two winners of the 1989 Gordon Bell Prize, a prize from the IEEE, for his use of a Connection Machine supercomputer to help analyze petroleum fields....

 
1954 Computer scientist
Computer scientist
A computer scientist is a scientist who has acquired knowledge of computer science, the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and their application in computer systems....

/geologist
Geologist
A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid and liquid matter that constitutes the Earth as well as the processes and history that has shaped it. Geologists usually engage in studying geology. Geologists, studying more of an applied science than a theoretical one, must approach Geology using...

, one of two winners of the 1989 Gordon Bell Prize
Gordon Bell Prize
The Gordon Bell Prizes are a set of awards awarded by the Association for Computing Machinery in conjunction with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers each year at the Supercomputing Conference to recognize outstanding achievement in high-performance computing applications...

, a prize from the IEEE, for his use of the Connection Machine
Connection Machine
The Connection Machine was a series of supercomputers that grew out of Danny Hillis' research in the early 1980s at MIT on alternatives to the traditional von Neumann architecture of computation...

 supercomputer
Supercomputer
A supercomputer is a computer at the frontline of current processing capacity, particularly speed of calculation.Supercomputers are used for highly calculation-intensive tasks such as problems including quantum physics, weather forecasting, climate research, molecular modeling A supercomputer is a...

 
Bartholomew Nnaji
Bartholomew Nnaji
Bartholomew Nnaji is an Igbo Nigerian scientist, innovator and one of the inventors of the E-Design concept. He was born in Enugu State, and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in physics at St John's University, and then proceeded to the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University for...

 
John Ogbu
John Ogbu
John Uzo Ogbu was a Nigerian-American anthropologist and professor known for his theories on observed phenomena involving race and intelligence, especially how race and ethnic differences played out in educational and economic achievement. He suggested that being a "caste-like minority" affects...

 
May 9, 1939 20 August 2003
Chike Obi
Chike Obi
Chike Obi was a Nigerian politician, mathematician and professor.The African Mathematics Union suggests that he was the first sub-Saharan African to hold a doctorate in mathematics....

 
April 7, 1921 March 13, 2008 Mathematician
F. Nnabuenyi Ugonna
F. Nnabuenyi Ugonna
Frederick Nnabuenyi Ugonna, often abbreviated to F. Nnabuenyi Ugonna was a Nigerian ethnologist, linguist, and writer. He is best known for his work on the Igbo language and other African languages as well as African literature.Ugonna was the first who initiated the thesis of J. E...

 
October 12, 1936 June 5, 1990

American football players

Name Born Death Notability Reference
Victor Abiamiri
Victor Abiamiri
Victor Ikechukwu Abiamiri is an American football defensive end for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Eagles in the second round of the 2007 NFL Draft...

 
January 14, 1986 A defensive end
Defensive end
Defensive end is the name of a defensive position in the sport of American and Canadian football.This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations have substantially changed how the position is played over the years...

 for the Philadelphia Eagles
Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...

 of the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

.
Obed Ariri
Obed Ariri
Obed Chukwuma Ariri is a Nigerian former placekicker of American football in the National Football League for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Washington Redskins. He also played in the United States Football League for the Washington Federals and in the Arena Football League for the Miami Hooters...

 
April 4, 1956 An American football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 placekicker in the National Football League.
Nnamdi Asomugha
Nnamdi Asomugha
Nnamdi Asomugha is an American cornerback for the Philadelphia Eagles of the National Football League . He was drafted in the first round of the 2003 NFL Draft by the Oakland Raiders and played college football for the Golden Bears at the University of California, Berkeley...

 
July 6, 1981 An American football cornerback
Cornerback
A cornerback is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in American and Canadian football. Cornerbacks cover receivers, to defend against pass offenses and make tackles. Other members of the defensive backfield include the safeties and occasionally linebackers. The cornerback position...

 for the Oakland Raiders
Oakland Raiders
The Oakland Raiders are a professional American football team based in Oakland, California. They currently play in the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

 of the National Football League.
Patrick Chukwurah
Patrick Chukwurah
Patrick C. Chukwurah is a Nigerian defensive end of American football who is currently a free agent. He was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the fifth round of the 2001 NFL Draft...

 
March 1, 1979
Adimchinobi Echemandu  November 21, 1980 An American football running back
Running back
A running back is a gridiron football position, who is typically lined up in the offensive backfield. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback for a rushing play, to catch passes from out of the backfield, and to block.There are usually one or two running...

 who is a free agent
Free agent
In professional sports, a free agent is a player whose contract with a team has expired and who is thus eligible to sign with another club or franchise....

. He was originally drafted by the Cleveland Browns
Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns are a professional football team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are currently members of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

 in the seventh round of the 2004 NFL Draft.
Isaiah Ekejiuba
Isaiah Ekejiuba
Isaiah Afamefuna Ekejiuba [Eck-ah-ju-buh] is a Nigerian-American linebacker of American football for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League. He was originally signed by the Arizona Cardinals as an undrafted free agent in 2005...

 
October 5, 1981
Buchie Ibeh
Buchie Ibeh
Breznev Maduaubuchie Ibeh is a former American football wide receiver and defensive back who played for the Chicago Rush of the Arena Football League. He then played for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers in the 2007 season, and traveled with them to the 2007 af2 Arena Cup in Bossier City, Louisiana...

 
August 4, 1983
Chidi Iwuoma
Chidi Iwuoma
Chidi Iwuoma is an American football cornerback who is currently a free agent. He was signed by the Detroit Lions as an undrafted free agent in 2001. He played college football at California....

 
February 19, 1978
N. D. Kalu
N. D. Kalu
Ndukwe Dike "N. D." Kalu is an American football defensive end who is currently a free agent. He was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the fifth round of the 1997 NFL Draft...

 
August 3, 1975
Chinedum Ndukwe
Chinedum Ndukwe
Chinedum "Nedu" Ndukwe is an American football safety who is currently a free agent. He was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the seventh round of the 2007 NFL Draft...

 
March 4, 1985
Ike Ndukwe
Ike Ndukwe
Ikechukwu Nelson "Ike" Ndukwe is an American football offensive tackle for the San Diego Chargers of the National Football League. He was signed by the New Orleans Saints as an undrafted free agent in 2005...

 
July 17, 1982
Chike Okeafor
Chike Okeafor
Chikezie Russell Okeafor is a professional American football player. During his National Football League career from 1999 to 2009, he played defensive end and linebacker for the San Francisco 49ers, the Seattle Seahawks, and the Arizona Cardinals....

 
March 27, 1976
Chukky Okobi
Chukky Okobi
Chukwunweze Sonume "Chukky" Okobi is a former American football center and commercial actor. He was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the fifth round of the 2001 NFL Draft. He played college football at Purdue....

 
November 18, 1978
Amobi Okoye
Amobi Okoye
-Houston Texans:Okoye signed a five-year deal with the Texans on July 26, which allowed him to begin training camp with his teammates the next day. With his first start, Okoye became the youngest player to appear in an NFL game since 1967....

 
June 10, 1987
Christian Okoye
Christian Okoye
Christian Emeka Okoye , is a Nigerian-American former American football running back for the Kansas City Chiefs from 1987 to 1992. Nicknamed "The Nigerian Nightmare," Okoye was known for his powerful running style and ability to break tackles. Okoye's six seasons in the NFL saw a league rushing...

 
August 16, 1961
Kenechi Udeze
Kenechi Udeze
Kenechi Nduka Udeze [] is an assistant coach of University of Washington Huskies football team and a former American football defensive end of the National Football League....

 
March 5, 1983
Tony Ugoh
Tony Ugoh
Anthony Ike "Tony" Ugoh, Jr. is an American football offensive tackle who is currently a free agent. He was drafted by the Indianapolis Colts in the second round of the 2007 NFL Draft. He played college football at Arkansas....

 
November 17, 1983
Osi Umenyiora
Osi Umenyiora
-2003:Umenyiora was drafted in the 2nd round of the 2003 NFL Draft by the New York Giants out of Troy State University, now Troy University. He was number 72. As a rookie in 2003, he played in 13 games with one start.-2005:...

 
November 16, 1981
Iheanyi Uwaezuoke
Iheanyi Uwaezuoke
Iheanyi Uwaezuoke is a former American football wide receiver for the San Francisco 49ers, the Miami Dolphins, the Detroit Lions, and the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League...

 
July 24, 1973

Canadian football players

Name Born Death Notability Reference
Uzooma Okeke
Uzooma Okeke
Uzooma Okeke was a Canadian Football League tackle for the Montreal Alouettes. He won a Grey Cup with Montreal in 2002...

 
September 3, 1970 was a Canadian Football League
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....

 tackle
Tackle (American football)
Tackle is a playing position in American and Canadian football. Historically, in the one-platoon system a tackle played on both offense and defense. In the modern system of specialized units, offensive tackle and defensive tackle are separate positions....

 for the Montreal Alouettes
Montreal Alouettes
The Montreal Alouettes are a Canadian Football League team based in Montreal, Quebec.The current franchise named the Alouettes moved to Montreal from Baltimore, Maryland, in 1996 where they had been known as the Baltimore Stallions...

.

Athletes

Name Born Death Notability Reference
Onochie Achike
Onochie Achike
Onochie Achike is an English athlete of Nigerian origin. He was born in Islington, London.A former rugby player, Achike eventually specialized in triple jump and won the gold medal at the 1998 Commonwealth Games...

 
on January 31, 1975
Kriss Akabusi
Kriss Akabusi
Kriss Kezie Uche Chukwu Duru Akabusi MBE is a former sprint and hurdling athlete from the United Kingdom. During his career, he won the gold medal in the 400 metres hurdles at the 1990 European Championships, a gold in the 4 x 400 metres relay at the 1991 World Championships, and a silver medal in...

 
28 November 1958
Chinaza Amadi
Chinaza Amadi
Chinazom Doris Amadi is a Nigerian long jumper.She won the bronze medal at the 2006 African Championships. At the 2007 All-Africa Games she finished fourth, missing the bronze medal by a two centimetre margin. At the 2008 African Championships she won the silver medal.Her personal best jump is...

 
12 September 1987
Clement Chukwu
Clement Chukwu
Clement Chukwu is a former Nigerian athlete who specialised in the 200 and 400 metres.Chukwu attended Eastern Michigan University....

 
July 7, 1973
Vivian Chukwuemeka
Vivian Chukwuemeka
Vivian Chukwuemeka is a Nigerian shot putter and two-time Olympian. She won the gold medal in the shot put at the 2002 Commonwealth Games and has won three consecutive titles at the All-Africa Games from 1999 to 2007. She was the African Champion in the event in 2002, 2006 and 2008...

 
May 4, 1975
Innocent Egbunike
Innocent Egbunike
Innocent Egbunike is a former sprinter from Nigeria who won an Olympic bronze medal in 4 x 400 metres relay in Los Angeles 1984...

 
November 30, 1961
Uchenna Emedolu
Uchenna Emedolu
Uchenna Emedolu is a Nigerian athlete specializing in short-distance sprints, particularly the 100 metres and the 200 metres. In 100 metres his personal best time is 9.97 seconds, achieved at the 2003 All-Africa Games where he finished second...

 
September 17, 1976
Obinna Eregbu
Obinna Eregbu
Obinna Eregbu is a retired Nigerian athlete who competed in the long jump. His name, Obinna, means "Father´s heart". He is best known for his gold medal at the 1994 Commonwealth Games....

 
9 November 1969
Joy Eze
Joy Eze
Joy Eze is a Nigerian sprinter who specializes in the 400 metres. Her personal best time is 51.20 seconds, set during the 2007 All-Africa Games....

 
23 April 1988
Davidson Ezinwa
Davidson Ezinwa
Davidson Ezinwa is a former sprinter from Nigeria.He won a silver medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics as well as a silver medal at the 1997 World Championships, both in 4 x 100 metres relay...

 
November 22, 1971
Osmond Ezinwa
Osmond Ezinwa
Osmond Ezinwa is a former sprinter from Nigeria. Together with Olapade Adeniken, Francis Obikwelu and Davidson Ezinwa he won a silver medal in 4 x 100 metres relay at the 1997 World Championships in Athletics....

 
November 22, 1971
Chidi Imoh
Chidi Imoh
Chidi Imoh is a former sprinter from Nigeria who won an Olympic silver medal in the 4 x 100 metres relay at the 1992 Summer Olympics...

 
August 27, 1963
Obinna Metu
Obinna Metu
Joseph Obinna Metu is a Nigerian sprinter who specializes in the 100 metres. His personal best time is 10.16 seconds, achieved in July 2008 in Leverkusen....

 
12 July 1988
Ngozi Monu
Ngozi Monu
Ngozi Rosalin Monu is a Nigerian swimmer. Monu is the most prolific female swimmer from Nigeria. She focuses on the 50m & 100m freestyle event. She competed in the 2000 Summer Olympics and 2008 Summer Olympics...

 
January 7, 1981
Ogonna Nnamani
Ogonna Nnamani
Ogonna Nneka Nnamani is an American indoor volleyball player, currently playing professionally for VK Prostějov in Prostějov, Czech Republic....

 
July 29, 1983
Francis Obikwelu
Francis Obikwelu
Francis Obiorah Obikwelu, born 22 November 1978 in Nigeria and a Portuguese citizen since 2001, is a sprint athlete specializing in 100 metres and 200 metres. He holds the record for the fastest time in the 100 m set by a European competitor with a time of 9.86 seconds...

 
November 22, 1978
Chinonye Ohadugha
Chinonye Ohadugha
Chinonyelum Ohadugha is a Nigerian triple jumper.In 2006 she finished fourth at the Commonwealth Games. In 2007 she won the silver medal at the All-Africa Games with a jump of 14.21 metres, a new Nigerian record. She did not reach the final round at the 2007 World Championships, but won the bronze...

 
24 March 1986
Christine Ohuruogu
Christine Ohuruogu
Christine Ijeoma Ohuruogu MBE is an English athlete, who specialises in the 400 metres; the event for which she is the current Olympic and former World and Commonwealth Champion...

 
May 17, 1984 MBE
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...

 an English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 sprinter
Sprint (race)
Sprints are short running events in athletics and track and field. Races over short distances are among the oldest running competitions. The first 13 editions of the Ancient Olympic Games featured only one event—the stadion race, which was a race from one end of the stadium to the other...

 who specialises in the 400 metres
400 metres
The 400 metres, or 400 metre dash, is a common sprinting event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 . On a standard outdoor running track, it is exactly one lap around the track. Runners start in staggered positions and...

 - the event for which she is the current Commonwealth
Commonwealth Games
The Commonwealth Games is an international, multi-sport event involving athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930 and takes place every four years....

, World
IAAF World Championships in Athletics
The World Championships in Athletics is an event organized by the International Association of Athletics Federations . Originally, it was organised every four years, but this changed in 1991, and it has since been organised biennially.-History:...

 and Olympic
Summer Olympic Games
The Summer Olympic Games or the Games of the Olympiad are an international multi-sport event, occurring every four years, organized by the International Olympic Committee. Medals are awarded in each event, with gold medals for first place, silver for second and bronze for third, a tradition that...

 Champion.
Emmanuel Okoli
Emmanuel Okoli
Emmanuel Okoli is a retired Nigerian sprinter who specialized in the 400 metres. Okoli finished fifth in 4 x 400 metres relay at the 1992 Summer Olympics with teammates Hassan Bosso, Sunday Bada and Udeme Ekpeyong.-References:...

 
13 November 1973
Marilyn Okoro
Marilyn Okoro
Marilyn Chinwenwa Okoro is a British athlete of Igbo Nigerian ancestry. She received a bronze medal for the 800 metres at both the 2007 and 2008 IAAF World Athletics Final. She was on the bronze winning 4 × 400 m relay at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics...

 
23 September 1984
Christy Opara-Thompson  December 24, 1971
Charity Opara
Charity Opara
Charity Opara is a former Nigerian athlete who mainly competed in the 400 metres. She was in particular a successful relay runner, winning the silver medal at the 1996 Olympics....

 
May 20, 1972
Emeka Udechuku
Emeka Udechuku
Chukwuemeka Udechuku OA is an English discus thrower. "Emeka" is a nickname for the Igbo name "Chukwuemeka" ....

 
10 July 1979
Chima Ugwu
Chima Ugwu
Chima Ugwu is a Nigerian shot putter. He also competes occasionally in discus throw.He competed at the 1996 and 2000 Summer Olympics, and the World Championships in 1993, 1997 and 2003 without reaching the finals....

 
19 July 1973

Basketball players

Name Born Death Notability Reference
John Amaechi
John Amaechi
John Uzoma Ekwugha Amaechi OBE is a retired American-born British basketball player who currently works as a psychologist, educator and political activist in Europe and the United States....

 
November 26, 1970 A retired American-born English NBA
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...

 basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

 player who currently works as a broadcaster
Broadcasting
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and video content to a dispersed audience via any audio visual medium. Receiving parties may include the general public or a relatively large subset of thereof...

 and political activist in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

.
Aloysius Anagonye
Aloysius Anagonye
Aloysius Anagonye is a Nigerian American professional basketball player with the KK Union Olimpija of the Adriatic Basketball League. A graduate of Michigan State University in 2003, Anagonye has also played for the Basket Livorno and theSutor Basket Montegranaro in Italy...

 
February 10, 1981
Kelenna Azubuike
Kelenna Azubuike
Kelenna David Azubuike is a professional basketball player. Born in London, England and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Azubuike became a standout player during his play at Victory Christian High School, and was eventually recruited to play for the Wildcats of the University of Kentucky...

 
December 16, 1983
Ike Diogu
Ike Diogu
Ikechukwu Somtochukwu Diogu, referred to as Ike Diogu , is an Nigerian American professional basketball player who is currently playing for the Los Angeles Clippers.-Family and early life:...

 
September 11, 1983
Obinna Ekezie
Obinna Ekezie
Obinna Ralph Ekezie is a Nigerian professional basketball player, formerly in the NBA. His name, Obinna, means "Father´s heart".-Career:...

 
August 22, 1975
Benjamin Eze
Benjamin Eze
Benjamin Ndubuisi Eze is a Nigerian professional basketball player. He is currently playing for the Italian professional team Olimpia Milano. He is a 2.08 m tall center.-Professional career:...

 
8 February 1981
Ekene Ibekwe
Ekene Ibekwe
Ekene Brian Ibekwe is a basketball Power forward from the United States of Nigerian ancestry. Ibekwe, who also played for the Carson High School's Boys Basketball team, graduated from the University of Maryland at College Park and was a member of the Nigeria national basketball team at the 2006...

 
19 July 1985
Ike Nwankwo
Ike Nwankwo
Ikenna Nwankwo is a Nigerian-American professional basketball player.-Collegiate career:...

 
27 December 1973
Julius Nwosu
Julius Nwosu
Obinna Julius Nwosu, otherwise referred to as just Julius Nwosu , is a Nigerian professional basketball player. He played briefly for the American National Basketball Association's San Antonio Spurs during the 1994–95 NBA season...

 
May 1, 1971
Chamberlain Oguchi
Chamberlain Oguchi
Chamberlain Oguchi is a Nigerian American basketball player. He is a 6'6", 200 pound guard-forward who most recently played as an import for the Meralco Bolts of the PBA. Oguchi played for the University of Oregon for three years before transferring to Illinois State University in 2007...

 
April 28, 1986
Emeka Okafor
Emeka Okafor
Chukwuemeka Ndubuisi Okafor, abbreviated as Emeka Okafor , is an American basketball power forward and center for the New Orleans Hornets of the National Basketball Association. Prior to the NBA, Okafor attended Houston's Bellaire High School, and the University of Connecticut.-Early life:Okafor...

 
September 28, 1982
Daniel Okonkwo
Daniel Okonkwo
Robert Daniel Chibuzo Okonkwo played professional basketball player in England with the Plymouth Raiders. He represented also the Nigerian national team in the 1998 FIBA World Championship...

 
1975
Locker Okorie
Locker Okorie
Locker Okorie is a pro basketball player from Sheffield, UK who currently plays for the Sheffield Sharks in the British Basketball league. He is an experienced player in the BBL.- References :...

 
Ime Udoka
Ime Udoka
Ime Sunday Udoka is a Nigerian-American professional basketball player who last played for the San Antonio Spurs of the NBA. He plays internationally with the Nigeria national basketball team....

 
August 9, 1977
Mfon Udoka
Mfon Udoka
Mfon Sunday Udoka is a Nigerian American professional basketball player and the new Assistant Coach of the Nigeria women's national basketball team the Lady Tigers. Udoka graduated from Benson Polytechnic High School in Portland before attending DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois from 1994-98...

 
16 June 1976

Boxers

Name Born Death Notability Reference
Friday Ahunanya
Friday Ahunanya
Friday Chinedu Ahunanya, born Friday November 19, 1971 in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, is a professional boxer. He is a journeyman heavyweight best known to beat several undefeated prospects and for his appearances on ESPN fight cards....

 
November 19, 1971
Innocent Anyanwu
Innocent Anyanwu
Innocent Anyanwu is a Dutch professional boxer from Amsterdam, Netherlands. He currently holds the Dutch and BeNeLux Super Featherweight titles.-Biography:...

 
25 September 1982
Ijeoma Egbunine
Ijeoma Egbunine
Ijeoma "The Praise" Egbunine is a female boxer and is currently the WBE Light Heavyweight World Champion and WIBF Light Heavyweight World Champion. She trains under Henry Okafor of Team Praise in Marietta, GA, USA....

 
December 30, 1980
Ike Ibeabuchi
Ike Ibeabuchi
Ikemefula "Ike" Charles Ibeabuchi is a former professional heavyweight boxer who defeated highly ranked contender David Tua and future heavyweight titlist Chris Byrd...

 
February 2, 1973
Emmanuel Nwodo
Emmanuel Nwodo
Emmanuel John Chukuwuemeka Nwodo, known more commonly as Emmanuel Nwodo is a Nigerian professional boxer who fights in the cruiserweight division.-Professional career:...

 
19 February 1974
Ngoli Onyeka Okafor
Ngoli Onyeka Okafor
Ngoli “Ngo” Onyeka Okafor is a Nigerian American male model, actor and Two-time Golden Gloves boxer and actor. He is of Igbo decent, with both of his parents being Igbo. Ngo has been called one of the quickest studies the boxing world has ever seen...

 
December 30, 1979 an American model, boxer and actor.
Dick Tiger
Dick Tiger
Dick Tiger CBE was a boxer from Ubahu village, Amaigbo, Nigeria, who emigrated to Liverpool and later to the United States of America. Tiger was a member of the Igbo ethnic group...

 
Richard Ihetu August 14, 1929 December 14, 1971 a boxer
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...

 from Amaigbo, Orlu
Orlu
Orlu is the third largest city in Southeast Nigeria's Imo State with an estimated population of 220,000. It has a long history and has played a critical role as the headquarters for humanitarian relief agencies during the Nigerian civil war....

, Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...

, was a migrant fighter to Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

 (and later to America
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

).

Footballers

Name Born Death Notability Reference
Samuel Okwaraji
Samuel Okwaraji
Samuel Sochukwuma Okwaraji was a professional footballer who played internationally for Nigeria. He was also a qualified lawyer who had a masters in international law from the University of Rome...

 
May 19, 1964 August 12, 1989
Victor Agali
Victor Agali
Victor Okechukwu Agali is a Nigerian footballer who last played for Jiangsu Sainty.-Career:At the age of 17, Agali was the top goalscorer in the Nigerian second division, and was picked up by French club Olympique Marseille. Finding it hard to establish a first team place, he played for Toulon,...

 
December 29, 1978
Festus Agu
Festus Agu
Festus Agu is a retired Nigerian footballer who played as a striker.-Beginnings:Agu was born in Enugu, and began his football career in his home country playing for several local clubs, notably ACB Lagos, Bendel United and Enugu Rangers...

 
March 13, 1975
Chioma Ajunwa
Chioma Ajunwa
Chioma Ajunwa , is a former athlete from Nigeria, who previously played football for the Nigerian women's team. She is the first Nigerian to win an Olympic gold medal as well as the first African woman to win an Olympic gold medal in a field event...

,
December 25, 1970
Lawrence Akandu  December 10, 1974
Chukwuma Akabueze
Chukwuma Akabueze
Chukwuma Akabueze , nicknamed "Bentley", is a Nigerian professional footballer who currently plays for SK Brann.-Club career:...

 
6 May 1989
Michael Chidi Alozi
Michael Chidi Alozi
Michael Chidi Alozie is a professional Nigerian footballer, who currently plays for PFK Sevastopol.-Career:...

 
Emmanuel Amuneke  25 December 1970
Kevin Amuneke
Kevin Amuneke
Kevin Onyekachi Amuneke is a Nigerian footballer who plays for Östers IF in Sweden, as a forward.He spent his professional career playing in several countries in Europe, namely in Portugal.-Club career:...

 
10 May 1986
Blessing Chinedu
Blessing Chinedu
Blessing Anyanwu Chinedu is a retired Nigerian football defender.-Career:In his early career he played in Nigeria with Enyimba International F.C. and Iwuanyanwu Nationale . In 2000 he moved to Macedonia where he signed for the traditionally strongest club FK Vardar...

 
November 22, 1976
Shola Ameobi
Shola Ameobi
Foluwashola "Shola" Ameobi is an Nigerian footballer who plays for Premier League club Newcastle United as a forward. Born in Nigeria but raised in Newcastle, he played for England at under-21 level. He is the older brother of fellow footballers Tomi and Sammy...

,
October 12, 1981
Tomi Ameobi
Tomi Ameobi
Oluwatomiwo "Tomi" Ameobi is an English footballer of Nigerian descent who plays as a forward for BÍ/Bolungarvík.-Leeds United:...

,
August 16, 1988
Kevin Amuneke
Kevin Amuneke
Kevin Onyekachi Amuneke is a Nigerian footballer who plays for Östers IF in Sweden, as a forward.He spent his professional career playing in several countries in Europe, namely in Portugal.-Club career:...

 
10 May 1986
Victor Anichebe
Victor Anichebe
Victor Chinedu Anichebe is a Nigerian footballer who plays for Everton. He has been described as a fast and powerful player, in the mould of a "traditional" centre forward, although has played on the right of midfield.-Early life:Anichebe was born in Nigeria but moved to Liverpool aged one, his...

,
April 23, 1988
Peter Anosike
Peter Anosike
Peter Ikechukwu Anosike is a football striker from Nigeria.-Football career:Anosike played club football for various clubs in Nigeria, Belgium, Australia and in Singapore....

 
December 24, 1976
Nduka Anyanwu
Nduka Anyanwu
Nduka Anyanwu was a Nigerian footballer.Anyanwu, who played in defence or midfield, was based in Germany for almost all of his career, having joined Eintracht Frankfurt as a 17 year old along with a number of his compatriots. He died on the pitch in September 2010 while playing for SV...

 
April 15, 1980
Nnaemeka Anyanwu
Nnaemeka Anyanwu
Ernest Nnaemeka Anyanwu is a Nigerian footballer who plays as a defender for Enyimba International.-Career:Anyanwu came on 6 February 2007 from University of Lagos to Enugu Rangers. He joined League rival Enyimba F.C...

 
August 21, 1988
Onyekachi Apam
Onyekachi Apam
Onyekachi Apam, is a Nigerian football defender who played for and was captain of French club side OGC Nice. He transferred to French club side Stade Rennes in summer 2010.-Personal life:...

 
30 December 1986
Chibuzor Chilaka
Chibuzor Chilaka
Chibuzor "Chib" Chilaka is a Nigerian footballer who plays for Braintree Town.-Career:Chilaka began his football career at Rushden & Diamonds in 2002, spending two years at the club's academy. In 2004, Chilaka joined Notts County after Notts County youth team coach Neville Hamilton had previously...

 
October 21, 1986
Chukwudi Chijindu
Chukwudi Chijindu
Chukwudi Chijindu is an American soccer player who currently plays for Los Angeles Blues of the USL Professional Division, on loan from Chivas USA.-Youth:...

 
February 20, 1986
Blessing Chinedu
Blessing Chinedu
Blessing Anyanwu Chinedu is a retired Nigerian football defender.-Career:In his early career he played in Nigeria with Enyimba International F.C. and Iwuanyanwu Nationale . In 2000 he moved to Macedonia where he signed for the traditionally strongest club FK Vardar...

 
November 22, 1976
Christian Chukwu
Christian Chukwu
Christian Chukwu Okoro is a Nigerian football former player and current coach. A defender in his playing days, he captained the Nigeria national team to its first win in the African Nations Cup.-Playing career:...

 
Eric Obinna Chukwunyelu
Eric Obinna Chukwunyelu
Eric Obinna Chukwunyelu is an French-Nigerian footballer, who currently plays for St. George's F.C..- Club career :...

 
10 June 1981
Ugo Ehiogu
Ugo Ehiogu
Ugochuku "Ugo" Ehiogu is an English former footballer who played as a centre back, most recently for Sheffield United...

 
November 3, 1972
Eric Ejiofor
Eric Ejiofor
Eric Okechukwu Ejiofor is a Nigerian footballer.-Career:Ejiofor currently plays for Enosis Neon Paralimni FC in the Cypriot First Division.-External links:*...

 
December 17, 1979
Chijioke Ejiogu
Chijioke Ejiogu
Chijioke Ejiogu is a Nigerian football goalkeeper, he plays for Enyimba.-Career:He began his career at Arugo F.C. and later played for Dolphins F.C. & Julius Berger FC. He was held in high regard by Dolphins F.C., with some considering him a hero...

 
November 22, 1984
Caleb Ekwenugo
Caleb Ekwenugo
Caleb Tochukwu Maranatha Ekwegwo is a Nigerian footballer who plays for Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona in the Israeli Premier League, as a striker. He previously played for FK Banga Gargždai in A Lyga.-References:...

 
August 1, 1988
Ifeanyi Emeghara
Ifeanyi Emeghara
Ifeanyi Innocent Emeghara is a Nigerian football player. "Ifeanyi" is a nickname for the Igbo name "Ifeanyichukwu" ....

 
March 24, 1984
Hugo Enyinnaya
Hugo Enyinnaya
Ugochukwu Michael "Hugo" Enyinnaya is a Nigerian footballer who currently plays with Meda.-Career:Enyinnaya started his career with Eagle Cement, where he marked his debut at the age of 16. He was then loaned out to FC Ebedei, being successively signed in the summer of 1998 by Belgian Second...

 
May 8, 1981
Dino Eze
Dino Eze
Dino Eze is a Nigerian football player. The young midfielder can be seen on both sides of the pitch and is known for his good technique.-External links:* *...

 
June 1, 1984
Victor Ezeji
Victor Ezeji
Victor Ezeji in Rivers State) is a Nigerian football striker currently playing for Sharks F.C.-External links:*...

 
June 9, 1981
Emeka Ifejiagwa
Emeka Ifejiagwa
Emeka Ifejiagwa is a retired Nigerian footballer.-Career:Ifejiagwa played for Udoji United, Iwuanyanwo Nationale and Bendel Insurance in Nigeria, for Charlton Athletic and Brighton & Hove Albion in England, for CA Osasuna in Spain, and for VfL Wolfsburg and Waldhof Mannheim in Germany.After...

 
30 October 1977
Amaechi Igwe
Amaechi Igwe
Amaechi Igwe is an American soccer player who is currently playing for SV Babelsberg 03.-College:Igwe played college soccer at Santa Clara University, where he played forward and scored five goals and had three assists to finish third on the team in scoring. Both his sister, Chioma, and his older...

 
May 20, 1988
Ugo Ihemelu
Ugo Ihemelu
Ugochukwu "Ugo" Ihemelu is a Nigerian-born American soccer player who currently plays for FC Dallas in Major League Soccer.-College:...

 
April 3, 1983
Ikechukwu Kalu
Ikechukwu Kalu
Ikechukwu Kalu is a Nigerian football striker who plays for Chiasso. His name, Ikechukwu, means "Power of God".-Football career:...

 
18 April 1984
Maxwell Kalu
Maxwell Kalu
Maxwell Kalu is a Nigerian footballer who plays for Tur Turek.-References:*...

 
23 March 1976
Christopher Kanu
Christopher Kanu
- Career :His current career goal tally stands at 10 goals in 317 league games for 8 different clubs. An 11th strike, which was not scored in a league game, proved to be a match winner for his old club Sparta Rotterdam in an early UEFA Cup knockout round against Hamburger SV in 2002...

 
December 4, 1979
Nwankwo Kanu
Nwankwo Kanu
Nwankwo Kanu, OON , or simply Kanu, is a Nigerian footballer who plays for Portsmouth. He was also a member of the Nigerian national team for 16 years from 1994 until 2010...

 
1 August 1976 Nwankwo Kanu (born 1 August 1976 in Owerri
Owerri
Owerri is the capital of Imo State in Nigeria, set in the heart of the Igboland. Owerri consists of three Local Govern Areas including Owerri Municipal, Owerri North and Owerri West, it has an estimated population of about 400,000 as of 2006...

, Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...

), usually known simply as Kanu and nicknamed Papilo, is a professional footballer
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

 who plays as a striker for the Nigerian national team
Nigeria national football team
The Nigeria national football team, nicknamed the Super Eagles or Green Eagles, is the national team of Nigeria and is controlled by the Nigeria Football Federation . The team has ranked as high as 5th in the FIFA World Rankings, in April 1994...

 and for English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 club Portsmouth
Portsmouth F.C.
Portsmouth Football Club is an English football club based in the city of Portsmouth. The club is nicknamed Pompey. Portsmouth's home matches have been played at Fratton Park since the club's formation in 1898. The team currently play in the Football League Championship after being relegated from...

.
Henry Nwosu Kanu
Henry Nwosu Kanu
Henry Isaac , formerly known as Henry Nwosu, is a Nigerian footballer who last played for BFC Siófok.-Career:...

 
14 February 1980
Ndubuisi Eze
Ndubuisi Eze
Ndubuisi Godwin Ezeh is a Nigerian football striker currently playing for Ismaily in the Egyptian Premier League.-Career:Ezeh played an important role in Al-Hilal's successful run in the CAF Champions League 2007...

 
May 10, 1984
Usim Nduka
Usim Nduka
Usima Nduka is a naturalized Azerbaijani football defender, who plays for the Olimpik Baku in the Azerbaijani Premier League.- International career :...

 
September 23, 1985
Chukwuemeka Nwadike
Chukwuemeka Nwadike
Chukwuemeka "Emeka" Nwadike is an English footballer of Nigerian descent who plays for Eastwood Town....

 
9 August 1978
Obinna Nwaneri
Obinna Nwaneri
Obinna Nwaneri is a football defender from Nigeria. His name, Obinna, means "Father´s heart" in Igbo. He is described as mobile central defender with pace, control and timing. A natural leader, which had earned him the captain armband in Enyimba and FC Sion respectively...

 
March 19, 1982
Onyekachi Nwoha
Onyekachi Nwoha
Onyekachi Paul Nwoha is a Nigerian footballer, who plays for Fujairah Sports Cultural Club.- Club career:Onyekachi Nwoha began his career with FC Spiders, before he transferred to Enyimba International F.C. in 2001. He played for the Aba based team for one year before moving to League rival Enugu...

 
February 28, 1983
Chucks Nwoko
Chucks Nwoko
Afraik Kaejtan "Chucks" Nwoko is a Maltese former footballer who played at both professional and international levels as a midfielder. Nwoko is currently the under-19 coach for Maltese First Division side Balzan Youths.-Playing career:...

 
November 21, 197
Udo Nwoko
Udo Nwoko
Udochukwu Nwoko is a Maltese-Nigerian football midfielder. He plays for Telephonat Bani Sweif in the Egyptian Premier League.- Club career :...

 
15 October 1984
Henry Nwosu
Henry Nwosu
Henry Onyemanze Nwosu is a former Nigerian footballer turned manager.-Career:Nwosu spent his career at home with New Nigeria Bank of Benin City and African Continental Bank of Lagos...

 
14 June 1963
Mikel John Obi
Mikel John Obi
John Michael Nchekwube Obinna , commonly known as Mikel John Obi, John Obi Mikel or John Mikel Obi, is a Nigerian footballer, who plays as a midfielder for English club Chelsea and the Nigeria national team.-Club career:...

 
April 22, 1987
Victor Nsofor Obinna
Victor Nsofor Obinna
Victor Nsofor Obinna is a Nigerian footballer who plays as a winger for FC Lokomotiv Moscow.-Biography:Obinna in Igbo, literally means "Father´s heart". He played for Chievo in Italy's Serie B, having played regularly in Serie A with the club until their relegation in 2007...

 
March 25, 1987
Chinedu Obasi  June 1, 1986
Ibezito Ogbonna
Ibezito Ogbonna
Ibe Zito Ogbonna is a Nigerian football player who currently plays for Kazasthan team FC Atyrau.-Playing career:...

 
March 27, 1983
Bertrand Okafor
Bertrand Okafor
Berthrand Okafor is a Finish-Nigerian footballer. He currently plays for Aseman Pallo, on loan from Atlantis FC.-Career:...

 
4 January 1990
Uche Okafor
Uche Okafor
Uchenna Kizito Okafor, often shortened to Uche Okafor was a football defender who played 34 international matches for Nigeria.- Club career :Okafor's club career took him to many countries before he settled in the USA...

 
August 8, 1967 January 6, 2011
Uche Okafor  10 February 1991
Uche Okechukwu  September 27, 1967
Jay-Jay Okocha
Jay-Jay Okocha
Augustine Azuka "Jay-Jay" Okocha is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He is known for his stepovers, skill, technique, and being 'so good that they named him twice'...

,
14 August 1973
Chima Okorie
Chima Okorie
Chima Ephraim Okorie is a Nigerian former professional football striker who was renowned for his goalscoring prowess in the Indian leagues....

 
8 October 1968
Joseph Okoro
Joseph Okoro
Joseph E. Okoro is a Nigerian footballer. He currently plays for Warri Wolves F.C..-External links:*...

 
15 July 1989
Stanley Okoro
Stanley Okoro
Stanley Okoro is a Nigerian football Midfielder currently playing for KS Skenderbeu Korce in the Albanian Superliga, after a former experience with his homeland club Heartland F.C., and with Almería B .-Career:...

 
8 December 1992
Sunday Patrick Okoro
Sunday Patrick Okoro
Sunday Patrick Okoro is a Nigerian football player currently playing in Serbian club FK Radnički Pirot.-External sources:* in Transfermarkt.* in Worldfootball....

 
27 April 1986
Digger Okonkwo
Digger Okonkwo
Digger Ifeanyi Okonkwo is a former Maltese footballer of Igbo Nigerian origin who last played for Senglea Athletic.-Career:Digger has previously played for many different Maltese clubs such as Għajnsielem, Pietà Hotspurs, Mosta F.C...

 
30 August 1977
Onyekachi Okonkwo
Onyekachi Okonkwo
Onyekachi Donatus Okonkwo or Simply Tico is a Nigerian football midfielder. His name, Onyekachi, means "Who is greater than his godly guarding?".-Club career:...

 
13 May 1982
Isaac Okoronkwo
Isaac Okoronkwo
Isaac Okoronkwo is a professional football player who currently plays as a defender for FC Rostov in Russia.Okoronkwo started his career at FC Lagos before moving to the Nigerian topclub Julius Berger FC...

 
May 1, 1978
Kelechi Okoye
Kelechi Okoye
Kelechi Okoye-Ahaneku is an Nigerian football player, who is currently playing for Shillong Lajong FC in the I-League in India.-International career:...

 
1984
Tochukwu Oluehi
Tochukwu Oluehi
Tochukwu Oluehi is a Nigerian female goalkeeper with Bayelsa Queens and the Nigeria women's national football team.-References:...

 
3 June 1988
Nedum Onuoha
Nedum Onuoha
Chinedum "Nedum" Onuoha is an English-Nigerian footballer. He currently plays for Manchester City. He is a defender, typically a centre back, but he can also play at right back or left back.-Biography:...

 
12 November 1986
Iffy Onuora
Iffy Onuora
Ifem "Iffy" Onuora is a coach a former professional footballer born in Scotland of Nigerian descent.He was recently the head coach of the Ethiopia national team...

 
28 July 1967
Chima Onyeike
Chima Onyeike
Chima Onyeike is a Dutch football player of Nigerian origin. He has played professionally for Haarlem, Dordrecht, Excelsior, VVV-Venlo, TOP Oss and Cambuur, and currently plays amateur football with Quick Boys. He has one daughter named Mali Sade.-External links: *...

 
Daniel Onyekachi
Daniel Onyekachi
Daniel Onyekachi is a Nigerian footballer who currently plays for Elana Toruń in the Polish Second League.-References:*...

 
23 August 1985
Oguchi Onyewu
Oguchi Onyewu
Oguchialu Chijoke Onyewu also known as "Oguchi" Onyewu is an American soccer player who plays as a defender for Sporting Clube de Portugal, in Primeira Liga, and the United States national team. Onyewu also holds a Belgian passport....

 
May 13, 1982
Kelechi Osunwa
Kelechi Osunwa
Colins Kelechi Osunwa is a Nigerian football striker. He currently plays for Al-Merreikh.-Career:Osunwa has been active in the fields of football professionally since 2001...

 
October 15, 1984
Ikechukwu Uche
Ikechukwu Uche
Ikechukwu Uche is a Nigerian footballer who plays for Granada CF on loan from Villarreal CF, as a striker.He spent most of his professional career in Spain, having arrived in the country before the age of 20.-Early years:...

 
Oguchi Uche
Oguchi Uche
Oguchi Uche is a Nigerian football player, who currently plays for C.S. Maritimo in Portugal.-Career:Uche played formerly for Lobi Stars F.C., in November 2007 he was on trial by 1. FC Köln. He moved in January 2008 from his club Lobi Stars to league rival Enyimba International F.C. and signed on...

 
1987
John Ugochukwu
John Ugochukwu
John Ugochukwu Ogu is a Nigerian football midfielder playing for Spanish side UD Almería B.-Career:Ugu began his career with Akwa Starlet and in 2005 he joined Fly Sport Academic...

 
April 20, 1988
Magalan Ugochukwu
Magalan Ugochukwu
Magalan Ugochukwu Awala is a Nigerian football player, who currently plays for Hapoel Herzliya.-Career:...

 
June 20, 1990
Ugo Ukah
Ugo Ukah
Ugo Ukah is an Italian-Nigerian footballer who is currently under contract at Widzew Łódź.- Career :Ukah arrived at Queens Park Rangers F.C. in the summer of 2005. In May 2006, QPR announced that Ukah had joined the Italian club Nuorese Calcio on a three year contract...

 
18 January 1984
Sunday Oliseh 
Eke Uzoma
Eke Uzoma
Eke Uzoma is a Nigerian footballer who plays for TSV 1860 München in Germany.-Career:His first real impact in the German football world came when he scored a goal against 1. FC Köln on 26 September 2007, in only his fourth match...

 
July 19, 1989

Martial arts

Name Born Death Notability Reference
Chika Chukwumerije
Chika Chukwumerije
Chika Chukwumerije is a male taekwondo practitioner from Nigeria. The son of Nigerian politician Uche Chukwumerije, Chika first drew attention in 2003 during the qualifiers for the 2003 All-Africa Games, where he eventually won a bronze medal in the Heavyweight Male category...

 
December 30, 1983
Anthony Njokuani
Anthony Njokuani
Anthony Obinnia Njokuani is a Nigerian mixed martial artist who currently fights as a lightweight for the Ultimate Fighting Championship.-Early life:...

 
March 1, 1980
Jacob Martins Obiorah
Jacob Martins Obiorah
Jacob Martins Obiorah is a Nigerian competitive martial artist. After joining a local shotokan karate club in Lagos 20 years ago, his interest in martial arts developed and he was keen to learn different styles of the martial arts. He went on to study kungfu and African Goju...

 
Chukwuemeka Onyemachi
Chukwuemeka Onyemachi
Chukwuemeka Onyemachi is a Nigerian judoka.-Achievements:-References:* on JudoInside.com...

 
28 July 1974

Fitness Experts

Obi Obadike  http://www.obiobadike.com/

Religion

Name Born Death Notability Reference
Francis Arinze  1 November 1932 A Cardinal
Cardinal (Catholicism)
A cardinal is a senior ecclesiastical official, usually an ordained bishop, and ecclesiastical prince of the Catholic Church. They are collectively known as the College of Cardinals, which as a body elects a new pope. The duties of the cardinals include attending the meetings of the College and...

 of the Roman Catholic Church
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...

.
William Napolean Barleycorn
William Barleycorn
William Napolean Barleycorn , born in Santa Isabel, Fernando Po, Spanish Guinea and a Fernandino of Igbo descent, was Primitive Methodist missionary who went to Fernando Po in Africa, about 1880. From there, he traveled to Edinburgh University...

 
1884 1925 a Spanish Guinea
Spanish Guinea
Spanish Guinea was an African colony of Spain that became the independent nation of Equatorial Guinea.-History:The Portuguese explorer, Fernão do Pó, seeking a route to India, is credited with having discovered the island of Bioko in 1472. He called it Formosa , but it quickly took on the name of...

n Primitive Methodist missionary
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...

 and author of the first Bube language primer. He was a member of a prominent Fernandino
Fernandino
Named in reverence of the Portuguese explorer Fernão do Pó who is given credit for discovering their indigenous and adopted homelands, Fernandinos are creole, multi-ethnic or multi-race populations of Equatorial Guinea and former Spanish Guinea. Each population hails from a distinct ethnic, social,...

 family.
William Drew Robeson I
William Drew Robeson I
William Drew Robeson I was the father of Paul Robeson and the minister of Witherspoon Church in Princeton, New Jersey from 1880 to 1901. Associated with the Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church, this facility was built for its black members.Robeson escaped from slavery in North Carolina at the...

 
July 27, 1844 May 17, 1918 The father of Paul Robeson
Paul Robeson
Paul Leroy Robeson was an American concert singer , recording artist, actor, athlete, scholar who was an advocate for the Civil Rights Movement in the first half of the twentieth century...

 and the minister of Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church in Princeton
Princeton, New Jersey
Princeton is a community located in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It is best known as the location of Princeton University, which has been sited in the community since 1756...

, New Jersey from 1880 to 1901.
Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi
Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi
Blessed Cyprian Michael Iwene Tansi was an Igbo Nigerian ordained a Roman Catholic priest of the Archdiocese of Onitsha, Nigeria on December 19, 1937...

September 1903 January 24, 1964

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