Cyprian Ekwensi

Cyprian Odiatu Duaka Ekwensi was born on September 26, 1921, in Minna, Niger State, to Igbo parents. Educated at Government College, Ibadan, and the Chelsea School of Pharmacy in London, he possessed a unique dual career as a professional pharmacist and a master narrator of rapid African urbanization. His 1954 novel People of the City was the first book by a Nigerian writer to garner international acclaim in the United Kingdom.

With sensational energy, psychological acuity, and documentary realism, Ekwensi published hundreds of radio dramas, children's books, and novels, most famously Jagua Nana (1961), which immortalized the bustling nightlife, street hustlers, and complex social fabric of colonial and post-independence Lagos. He served as Director of Information for the Federal Ministry of Information and later for the Republic of Biafra during the civil war.