Mary Nzimiro

Mary Nwametu Nzimiro (née Onumonu; 16 October 1898 – 16 January 1993), MBE, MFR, was an Igbo Nigerian merchant, businesswoman, philanthropist, politician and women's activist. In 1948, she became the principal factor for the United Africa Company (UAC) in Eastern Nigeria, distributing imported goods through networks that extended to Ghana and Sierra Leone while also operating her own enterprises. By the early 1950s, she was regarded as one of the wealthiest businesspeople in West Africa.

Nzimiro also founded schools, financed scholarships and helped women establish businesses. She was active in the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC), becoming a member of its executive committee in 1957 and vice-president of its Eastern Women's Association in 1962. She was appointed an MBE in 1960 and an MFR in 1964 for public service.

Early life and family Nzimiro was born in Oguta, in present-day Imo State, the first of six children of David Onumonu Uzoaru and Ruth Nwanyiafor Onumonu (née Okwosha). Her father was an Igbo chief and colonial warrant chief. Both parents had traded produce with the Royal Niger Company, and her mother became a prominent palm-produce merchant in the old Owerri Province. Ruth maintained accounts in London for Mary and one of Mary's sisters during the 1930s and introduced her daughters to commerce.

In 1914, Nzimiro was the only girl attending Sacred Heart School in Oguta. She later attended St Joseph's Girls' Convent in Asaba, graduating in 1920. That year she married Richard Okwosha Nzimiro, a former classmate who worked for the UAC. Their daughter, Priscilla Nzimiro, was born in 1923 and later became the first Igbo woman to qualify as a medical doctor; she died in Glasgow in 1951.

Her enterprise, Priscilla and Brothers Company, used two barges to move goods and employed staff to manage sales and distribution. Her principal business was textiles, including imported fabrics, although she continued to trade in cosmetics. She later established Nzimiro Industries Limited, which employed about twenty people to manufacture men's undershirts. Her other investments included property, company shares and petrol stations in Port Harcourt and Lagos. UAC-sponsored travel to Britain and her wider commercial network helped her develop business contacts outside Nigeria.

Education and philanthropy Nzimiro used part of her wealth to support education and business training. She provided scholarships to students from Nigeria, Ghana and Sierra Leone, helped women apprentices establish their own enterprises, and supported relatives and associates through grants and loans.

In the 1940s, Nzimiro and her husband established William Wilberforce Academy, the first secondary school in Oguta. It was renamed Priscilla Memorial Grammar School in 1951 after their daughter. Following Richard's death in 1959, Nzimiro founded Nzimiro Memorial Girls' Secondary School in 1966 to expand secondary education for girls in Oguta. She was also a founding member of the Young Women's Christian Association in Port Harcourt.

Political and community activity Nzimiro joined the NCNC, led by Nnamdi Azikiwe, and contributed to the party's finances as well as its organization. She joined its executive committee in 1957 and became vice-president of the NCNC Eastern Women's Association in 1962. Her work in Nigeria's independence movement was acknowledged by prime minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa.

In the 1960 New Year Honours, Nzimiro was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire for public services in Nigeria's Eastern Region. Four years later, the Nigerian government appointed her a Member of the Order of the Federal Republic.

During the Nigerian Civil War from 1967 to 1970, she organized Igbo women and participated in food drives supporting Biafran soldiers. Most of her Port Harcourt property was classified as abandoned after the war, and only three of her seven houses were returned. She did not resettle in Port Harcourt, instead returning to Oguta.

Later life and death Back in Oguta, Nzimiro continued in business by distributing bottled drinks and participated in community affairs. She was a signatory to a petition to governor Sam Mbakwe opposing the proposed placement of Oguta II in Ohaoma Local Government Area. She also served on a fundraising committee for St Mary's Church and was given the church title “Mother of the Church”.

Nzimiro received the Ogbuefi, described by a biographical study as Oguta's highest female title, and was the second woman admitted to the traditionally male Ikwa-muo society. She was widely addressed by the greeting name Odoziaku. She died in Oguta on 16 January 1993, aged 94.