Jaja Wachuku

Jaja Anucha Ndubuisi Wachuku (1 January 1918 – 7 November 1996) was a Pan-Africanist and a Nigerian statesman, lawyer, politician, diplomat and humanitarian.

He was the first Speaker of the Nigerian House of Representatives; as well as the first Nigerian Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations.

Also, Wachuku was the first Nigerian Minister for Foreign Affairs.

Notably, Wachuku was a Royal Prince of Ngwaland, "descendant of 20 generations of African chiefs in the Igbo country of Eastern Nigeria".

He left there in 1930, having come first in the whole of Ogoja Province in the First School Leaving Certificate Examination.

This first position got him an automatic scholarship for his secondary school education at Government College Umuahia, Abia State, from 1931 to 1936.

Wachuku was a House Prefect.

He played tennis and cricket, and was in the first eleven of the college's football team: Also, Wachuku acquired vocational skills in carpentry, farming and metal works at Government College Umuahia.

From 1936 to 1937, Wachuku was on scholarship to Yaba Higher College, Lagos.

He was withdrawn from Yaba by his father Josaiah Ndubuisi Wachuku and sent to Gold Coast People's College, Adidome.

From there, he went to New Africa University College, Anloga, in preparation for further studies abroad.

While at New Africa University College, he won a Foundation Scholarship and also won the First National Prize for the Gold Coast (now Ghana) in the World Essay Competition offered by the New History Society of New York (led by Mirza Ahmad Sohrab), on the subject: "How Can the People of the World Achieve Universal Disarmament?"

From New Africa University College, Wachuku left for the University of Dublin's Trinity College in Ireland.

Wachuku was the first African medallist, laureate in Oratory of Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.

He matriculated at Trinity College in 1939, and was, in 1941, elected Executive Member of the College Historical Society.

From 1939 to 1943, Wachuku was secretary of the Association of Students of African Descent (ASAD) in Ireland.

Wachuku represented University of Dublin during the 1943 Inter-University Debate held at University of Durham.

He was called to the Irish bar association – Kings Inn – in November 1944.

He was fully involved in Nigeria's constitutional conferences and struggle for independence from Great Britain.

1944 saw him elected president of the ASAD.

Wachuku practised law in Dublin for three years, before returning to Nigeria in 1947.

He graduated first-class BA legal science and was LL.B Prizeman in Roman Law, Constitutional Law and Criminal Law.

He was also a research fellow at the Department of International Law, Trinity College Dublin – with the topic: "The Juristic Status of Protectorates in International Law."

From 1947 to 1996, Wachuku served as barrister and solicitor of The Supreme Court of Nigeria.

He also practised at the West African Court of Appeal.

While in Dublin, Wachuku was an executive member of the Student Christian Movement (SCM).

He lectured on various subjects at the SCM Summer Schools in Great Britain and Ireland; and delivered the last seven lectures at Swanwick, Hampshire, on the subject: "Africa in the Post-War World."

In his 1962 diary, from Lagos: Nigeria, Nelson Mandela wrote: "Friday 18 May 1962: 1pm: We meet Mr Jaja Wachuku and his staff and have a profitable discussion. Saturday 19 May 1962: We have lunch with Jaja Wachuku."

Wachuku, who was "widely respected" as Foreign Affairs Minister of Nigeria intervened with the South African government and helped save Nelson Mandela and others from the death penalty at the 1963–64 Rivonia Trial.

On Thursday 30 September 2010, President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria conferred on Wachuku a posthumous special Golden Jubilee Independence Anniversary Award for his outstanding contributions towards the development of Nigeria.

Also, for the 1 January 2014 100-year anniversary of Nigeria, having been nominated for exceptional recognition by the Presidential Committee on the Centenary Celebrations, Wachuku was, on Friday 28 February 2014, honoured as a Hero of the Struggle for Nigeria's Independence from Great Britain and a Pioneer Political Leader by President Goodluck Jonathan.

His apical ancestor Mgbawa had moved from Umulolo, Eziama Ntigha, in Nigeria's present-day Abia State, in about the last quarter of the 17th century to settle in their present Nbawsi homeland.

His paternal grandfather Wachuku Ogbaraegbe, a distinguished statesman and Merchant Prince, was involved in the palm oil trade of that time with King Jaja of Opobo.

It was in memory of the friendship, partnership and association of the Wachuku family with King Jaja of Opobo that he was named Jaja.

His second name, Anucha, in full in the Igbo language, is Anucha mba agaa n'ama ha, meaning "after celebrating victory over a people, you parade through their town or village main square."

For his primary education, Wachuku attended Infant School at St. Georges NDP Umuomainta, Nbawsi, Abia State.

He was school band leader and prefect at Government School Afikpo, Ebonyi State.

On Friday 6 March 2020, Ireland's Trinity College Dublin honoured Wachuku with a prominent portrait placed within the university's Historical Society; where Wachuku graduated in 1944 with first class honours degree in Legal Sciences; and was a member of College Historical Society.

Jaja Anucha Wachuku's father, King Josaiah Ndubuisi Wachuku, was the Eze, Paramount Chief, Servant Leader and Head of all Ngwa of the then Aba Division of Eastern Nigeria.

Jaja's mother, Queen Rebecca Ngwanchiwa Wachuku (née Nwaogwugwu), was a pioneer women's rights advocate and humane royal land-owner.