Eni Njoku

Eni Njoku was born on 6 November 1917 in Ebem, Ohafia, Abia State. He is of Igbo origin.[2]

He was educated at Ebem Primary School and attended the Hope Waddell Training Institute, Calabar from 1933 to 1936. He attended the Yaba Higher College (now Yaba College of Technology) Lagos from 1937 to 1939 graduating with a tertiary education certificate.[3]

Njoku studied botany at the University of Manchester in England. He graduated with a first-class honors degree in 1947 and obtained his M.A. degree the following year. In 1954, he obtained his external doctorate degree from the University of London.

When he returned to Nigeria in 1948, Njoku took up a teaching appointment at the University College, Ibadan[4] (now University of Ibadan) as a lecturer in botany. He was one of only two Nigerians on the academic staff at the opening of the college in 1948.[5] He studied photoperiodicity in tropical crops and plants,[5] and published several research papers on these topics. He became a senior lecturer and then professor. He served as head of the Department of Botany and dean of the Faculty of Science. He was a member of the University Council from 1955 to 1962.[5] Entering politics, he was a member of the Nigerian House of Representatives in the federal government, serving as minister of Mines and Power from 1952 to 1953.[6] He was chairman of the Electricity Corporation of Nigeria (1960).[7]

In 1962, Njoku became the first vice-chancellor of the University of Lagos. Following a major crisis in 1965 over his re-appointment,[8] he resigned to become a visiting professor at Michigan State University.[2] In 1966, Njoku was appointed vice-chancellor of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka where he remained until the outbreak of the Nigerian civil war in 1967.[9][10]

During the civil war Njoku remained in Biafra as an advisor and administrator, advocating for peaceful resolution of the civil war conflict. He was a leader of Biafran delegations to the Ad Hoc Constitutional Conference in Lagos (1966) and OAU-sponsored peace talks in Niamey and Addis Ababa (1968).[11][12][13] After the war ended in 1970 he returned to teaching and research at the University of Nigeria,[11] which he continued until his death in 1974.

Eni Njoku was a pre-eminent Nigerian scholar, teacher, administrator, and scientist. He was a pioneer in advancing the development of higher education and universities in Nigeria.[14] Early in his career he was an outspoken advocate for improvement in the quality of Nigerian higher education.[15] Later, Ashby referred to him as “one of the most eminent of Nigerians” and noted his “enlightened leadership of the University of Lagos.”[15] In addition to his publications, Njoku received international recognition as a scientist-educator through his leadership in the activities of UNESCO furthering higher education and training in West Africa.

Njoku served on the boards of the Commonwealth Scientific Committee, the United Nations Advisory Committee on the Application of Science and Technology as well as the UNESCO Advisory Committee in Natural Sciences. He also served on the councils of the Universities of Zambia and Zaire (Democratic Republic of Congo). He received the honorary D.Sc. degree from the University of Nigeria in 1964, and in 1966 Michigan State University conferred on him an honorary doctor of laws degree. In 1973 the University of Lagos awarded its first vice-chancellor an honorary D.Sc. degree.

Njoku was married to Winifred O. Njoku (née Beardsall). He had four children - three daughters and a son. His son, Eni G. Njoku, is a scientist who worked in the United States of America at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.