Elechukwu Njaka

Mazi Elechukwu Nnadibuagha Njaka (23 June 1921 – 14 January 1975) was a Nigerian political scientist, known for the book Igbo Political Culture.

Family background E.N. Njaka was born in Okwaejiaku, Umukegwu, Akokwa on 23 June 1921. His father, Mazi George Maduneme Njaka, was one of the earliest Christian converts of the Catholic Denomination in Orlu province. His mother, Mrs. Mary Nwaku Njaka (née Egbebu), also from Umukegwu, was one of the earliest seamstresses to come from Mbanasaa clan. Elechukwu was their second child.

Education Elechukwu started his education at St. Barnabas Catholic Primary School, Akokwa. On the advice of his missionary friend, Rev. Father Liddan, his father sent Elechukwu to Adazi in the present Anambra State to complete his primary education. In 1937, following the establishment of St. Michael's Catholic Parish, Urualla, he was sent there to teach. Thus he became the first primary school teacher in Mbanasaa clan. A year later (1938), he gained admission into the Christ the King College (CKC), Onitsha, for his secondary education.

After Elechukwu's wedding to Ulunwa R. Ọji, his first wife, he was sponsored by his father, in collaboration with his brother-in-law Dr. Nwafor Orizu (who later became Nigeria's second Senate President and later acting President of Nigeria), to continue his education in the United States of America. While in the US, congresswoman and philanthropist, Frances P. Bolton, became his mentor. He obtained a bachelor's degree in History and Political Science from Xavier University and a master's degree in the same topic from University of California, Los Angeles.

During his undergraduate years, Elechukwu wrote to W.E.B. Du Bois, challenging him on his use of the word "negro". Du Bois replied, "If black people were called epilogimistes instead of Negroes they would still be the same people with the same problems, with the same past and future." Njaka described the importance of negotiation in Igbo politics as follows: Deny an Igbo food but allow him to speak, and he will never forget the good you have done him. Through language, he believes, he can not only achieve an immediate result but also win the acquiescence of those whose lasting support is needed. In addition, it is talk and the response to it that measure political potency, not the amount of force that is exerted. Force portends weakness in politics as racism does in reason. Confirmed in this belief, the Igbo normally prefers negotiating to fighting. However, when fighting becomes unavoidable, he utilizes the symbols of his ancestors to strengthen his desire to live and survive.

Returning to the United States in 1967, Njaka raised money for a family member to come to school in the US and escape the Nigerian Civil War.

Academic career

1968-1971 Chairman of the Political Studies Department, Tuskegee Institute 1974 Published Igbo Political Culture 1971-1975 Head of the African American Studies Department, University of Maryland, Baltimore County