olaudah equiano probably was the first nigerian to know ow 2 use the english language in reading and writing,this is a man who was born in essaka,igbo village in 1745.He was sold as a slave in 1756 when he was 11 years living his beloved sister which he never saw again,gained freedom unlike others probably due to his brillance and went on to learn ow 2 read and write which made him nigeria's first world known noveslist,it would interest you to know that some of his works helped us know how pre-colonial nigeria was,his works also defended nigeria in the sense that the british said that nigeria was undeveloped prior to their take over,nigeria as a whole could not defend themselves because we could not be heard,equiano with his write use of the english language has stated earlier that pre-colonial nigerian organisations where developed.Why should olaudah equiano be forgotten especially by those in the literal field,someone who's picture hangs in a royal museum in england,if we remember shakesphare that much why not we remember our own pride who was a novelist,human right activist and a poet,he was involved in the struggle against slavery being a one time slave.please lets remember and honour our own hero - olaudah equiano(1745-1797) . as compiled by paul alfred