His face graciously adorns the ten naira note but only few Nigerians know this. Let us take a look at the life of this great man and what could have warranted the honour given him on one of our nation’s currencies.

1. Alvan Azinna Ikoku is the man on the 10 naira note. He was born on 1st August, 1900 to a rich merchant family in the tiny town of Amanagwu, Arochukwu, Abia State, he remains one of Nigeria’s finest educationists. Dr Ikoku was also an activist, nationalist, politician and undoubtedly, a statesman.

2. Although he was an Igbo man from Arochukwu, his mother was an Efik woman from Calabar where he schooled at the Hope Waddell Training Institution.

3. His wife was also an Efik woman from Calabar and an exceptional organist too.

4. Alvan Ikoku and his son, Samuel Goomsu Ikoku (1922—1997), were political enemies. Samuel won an election against his father at the Eastern Regional Assembly elections in 1956.

5. As an educationist, he established Aggrey Memorial College, Arochukwu, Abia State in 1931. Ikoku named the college after a Ghanaian teacher and missionary, James E.K Aggrey.

6. At Aggrey, he introduced Carpentry as a subject, which he called ”the Education of the Hand.” Interestingly, students were able to make their own desks, chairs, and tables all by themselves.

7. In 1955, as National President of the Nigerian Union of Teachers, NUT, Ikoku was at the forefront of championing the causes of the teachers and also criticized the educational system at the time for failing to teach indigenous languages.

8. Ikoku was a recipient of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). His contemporaries accused him of too pro-British.

9. A practising Protestant, Alvan Azinna Ikoku died on the 18th November, 1971 at the Aba General Hospital, Aba, Abia State. He was 71.

10. Many monuments and places are named after him. Chief among them is the Alvan Ikoku Federal College of Education, Owerri, Imo State, which was the first school to establish a full-fledged Igbo Language Department in Nigeria in 1975.

See photos and more : http://enigeria.com.ng/alvan-a-ikoku-1900-1971-alvan-ikoku-10-interesting-facts-about-the-man-on-the-10-naira-note/

Lalasticlala
Ishilove

We need more of his
kind in this country...

May his wonderful soul continue to Rest in Peace

We lost many great men in this country.

If they wake up today, they would pour and rain curses on this generation.

That was when there were more sane men

Igbo Amaka!!!

Oga for ten naira try o. But that ein son no get joy sha

Wow. The Ikoku's are of a truth of tremendous value to this nation called Nigeria.

I found out that the Grandson of the said Alvan IKOKU by name Dr. Sam IKOKU Jr. One of Nigeria's famous Productivity consultant and a serial entrepreneur is again set to provide 250,000 -300,000 white collar Jobs through a platform he calls PAYSTAR. (www.paystarfinancial com)

AS Chairman and founder of PAYSTAR, He is poised to cause a Disruption in the Financial service marketing.

In his own words:
"The disruption that is enabling Fresh, Unemployed or Under-employed Graduates, and Recent Retirees access to the 3.5 Trillion Naira per annum Financial Services Business is now here!.

If you believe you could belong to this next wave click www.paystarfinancial.com/associate-register.

#PaystarFinancial #RunYourPrivateFinancialService #FinancialServiceDisruption