James Nwoye Adichie

Chief James Nwoye Adichie (1 March 1932 – 10 June 2020) Soon after his birth, he relocated to Awkuzu and later to Nimo, where he attended Nimo Primary School for his early education.

In 1957, he enrolled in the University College, Ibadan, to study mathematics, graduating in 1960. He then joined the research department at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). In 1976, he became the inaugural professor of statistics at the University of Nigeria and later served as its Deputy Vice Chancellor from 1980 to 1984, retiring in 1997. According to reports from Pulse Nigeria, his daughter, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, explained in The New York Times that her presence was a factor in the abduction. He was released three days later after payment of a ransom.

Legacy Adichie was the "Odelora Abba", a Nigerian chieftaincy title. A member of the Nigerian National Advisory Council on Statistics, he was one of the figures who reorganised the Federal Office of Statistics that was later reformed to the National Bureau of Statistics.