Table 1: Summary Pledge/Redemption Table
| S/N | Item | Number Of People | Amount US$ | Amount Naira | Comment |
| 1 | Pledged | 83 | 8,960 | 1,344,000 | - |
| 2 | Redeemed | 4 | 675 | 101,250 | 7.53% of pledge amount |
Names of latest pledgers since last Update:
Onyeani, Chika; Ndukwe, Ernest; Okorufor, Augusta; Nwokeji, Emmanuel & Stella
Egbe, Tony; Ugochukwu, Basil; Enemchuku, Chinwe; Adekunle, Philips;
Oghereore, Otitigbe; Ikheloa, Ikhide
We continue to hope that others will be generous and continue to make their pledges.
To Pledgers
Please begin to redeem your pledges by sending a check or money-order made out to "The Zik Legacy Project", and mail to either one of the following two Co-conveners' addresses:
Ms. Azuoma Anugom, PO Box 881352, Los Angeles, CA 90009, USA
or
Prof.. Mobolaji E. Aluko, PO Box 343, Burtonsville, MD 20866, USA
Kindly email BOTH of us PRIVATELY ( adaejiagamba08@yahoo.com , AND alukome@gmail.com ) when you actually send your pledge forth. We will rely upon your integrity. Pledge receipts will be updated periodically. Your money will be in good hands.
We hope to have gotten N1 million redeemed by November 1, in time for November 16, which would have been Zik's 106th birthday. If preferably we can raise N1 million by October 1 (50th Independence Anniversary), then it could be a great opportunity to highlight our appreciation for Zik's role in Nigeria's Independence struggle - among other things. We might even get some matching funds from Nigeria. Our sights are now on $10,000 total pledges.
To those who have pledged, we urge you to sign up for a discussion group, if you wish, by clicking the following URL (or copying it onto your browser):
http://groups.google.com/group/zikproject/
where instructions for joining will be found. Let us know if you have any problems.
We thank you all in advance.
News Media Update
An editorial in The Sun recognizes our effort so far.
http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/opinion/editorial/2010/aug/29/editorial-29-08-2010-001.htm
The abandoned Zik mausoleum
By Sun News Publishing
Sunday, August 29, 2010
"The recent media report that some concerned Nigerians and Ghanaians in the United States (U.S.) are raising funds through the Internet for the completion of the abandoned mausoleum of the late foremost nationalist and elder statesman, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, in Onitsha, Anambra State, shows that the nation, which Zik and his fellow compatriots salvaged from colonial bondage, has easily forgotten the legend."
For more, see far below....
Azuoma Anugom Bolaji Aluko
Co-convener Co-convener
Table 2: Detailed Pledge/Redemption Table
S/N Donor Amount US$ Comment Status of Pledge Redeemed Amount 1 Aluko, Mobolaji 300 Rec'd $300 8/27/10 300 2 Ojo, Valentine 50 0 3 Ojedokun, Olu 50 Used to be BP25 0 4 Nwakanma, Obi 100 0 5 Madu, Abraham 50 0 6 Kolawole, Suji 200 Rec'd $200 8/27/10 200 7 Ogundimu, Folu 100 0 8 Edosomwan, Charles 100 0 9 Igietseme, Joe 200 0 10 Chief Gemologist 50 0 11 Ekechi, Felix 50 0 12 Aina, Tade 100 0 13 Udogu, Ike 100 0 14 Zakari, Aisha 100 0 15 Raji, Taju 75 Rec'd $75 8/27/10 75 16 Kuforiji, Kayode 50 0 17 Anonymous 67 N10,000 0 18 Mensah, Edward 50 0 19 Gyasi, Kwabby 50 0 20 Onyegbula, Festus 100 0 21 Mustafa, Salihu 100 N15-20,000 0 22 Garba, Lawal 100 0 23 Olajide, Saheed 50 0 24 Adeniyi, Michael 100 0 25 Kassim, Ola 125 0 26 Viscount Slim 103 0 27 Nwosu, Okenwa 250 0 28 Egbo, Benedicta 100 0 29 Osunsan, Rotimi 100 0 30 Williams, Dapo 160 BP100 0 31 Aghadiuno, Eric 150 0 32 Babajide, Ibukunolu 100 0 33 Dawodu, Segun Toyin 100 0 34 Akuechiama, Jude & Ebere 200 0 35 Anugom, Azuoma 100 0 36 Irozuru, Julius 50 0 37 Okafor, Victor O. 100 0 38 Frempong, Sandra 50 0 39 Oyedeji, Kale 50 0 40 Abegunrin, Layi 50 0 41 Enweze, Obi 100 0 42 Omoigui, Nowa 200 0 43 Adam, Baba 100 0 44 Adeboye, Adeniran 100 0 45 Adeyeye, Sola 100 0 46 Ibe, Kevin 50 0 47 Awofolaju, Akin 100 Rec'd $100 8/27/10 100 48 Adesanmi, Pius 100 0 49 Okala, Emeka, R. 100 0 50 Dada, Ganiyu 100 0 51 Odusanya, Adeola 100 0 52 Oviawe, Joan O. 50 0 53 Okojie, Paul 100 0 54 Aduba, Obi 200 0 55 Okeke, Okwy 200 0 56 Raheem, Ade 100 0 57 Akindana, "Matto" 100 0 58 Nwabuzor, Steve 100 0 59 Iberosi, Simon 100 0 60 Omeaku, Cyriacus 100 0 61 Aniedobe, Chris 100 0 62 Ezeoke, Marcel 100 0 63 Okoye, Gabe 100 0 64 Umeweni, Uchenna 100 0 65 Anetor, Lucky & family 100 0 66 Umunnakwe, Fred 100 0 67 Edem, Noyo 50 0 68 Isama, Ike 230 0 69 LaCrown Adeyemi 100 0 70 Anonymous (Pbid) 150 0 71 Anonymous (Soom) 200 0 72 Adeyemo, Florence 100 0 73 Okeke, Alex Ike 100 0 74 Onyeani, Chika 300 0 75 Ndukwe, Ernest 100 0 76 Okorufor, Augusta 100 0 77 Nwokeji, Emmanuel & Stella 100 0 78 Egbe, Tony 100 0 79 Ugochukwu, Basil 100 0 80 Enemchuku, Chinwe 50 0 81 Adekunle, Philips 100 0 82 Oghereore, Otitigbe 100 0 83 Ikheloa, Ikhide 100 0 Total 8960 675
1. November 16, 1904 - Zik is born in Zungeru
2. January 1, 1960 - Zik becomes President of the Senate of Nigeria (under British Colonial Rule)
3. October 1, 1960 - Nigeria becomes an independent country
4. November 16, 1960 - Zik becomes Governor General of Nigeria
5. October 1, 1963 - Zik becomes President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
6. November 16, 1963 or thereabout - Zik's life-size statue in Onitsha (near DMGS) unveiled by sculptor Prof. Ben Enwonwu in commemoration of then President Zik's 59th Birthday
8. November 7, 2005 - large portion of Inosi Onira Retreat (home of Zik) in Onitsha destroyed allegedly by MASSOB;
9. November 7, 2005 or thereabout - head of Zik's Statue removed by unknown (?) person(s).
10. January 1, 2007 - statue at Zik Retreat restored
11. August 2010 - Photographic status of statues and state of mausoleum are in.
Compiled by Bolaji Aluko
It is, indeed, shameful and embarrassing that 14 years after the demise of the nation's first president, first indigenous Governor-General and first President of the Senate, the final resting place which the Federal Government was building to immortalize him, is yet to be completed.
It will be recalled that the astute politician, who bestrode the Nigerian political landscape like a colossus, died in 1996, while construction work on his mausoleum was commenced in 1997 by the regime of late Gen. Sani Abacha.
Initially, the contract for the project was awarded to an indigenous contractor, Lemmy Akakem Nigeria Limited. But work on the site was later abandoned for lack of funds. But in 2007, the administration of the late president, Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, re-awarded the contract to a new contractor, Beton Bau Nigeria Limited, a civil engineering firm at the cost of N121 million.
Up till now, Zik's final resting place at his Inosi-Onira Residence, which ought to have been a tourist site and attraction, remains derelict, a sad reminder that the labour of our heroes past might, indeed, have been in vain. Zik's case is a classical illustration of how not to treat and immortalize a foremost nationalist and one of the founding fathers of the nation.
The treatment meted to the memory of Zik, has shown that subsequent Nigerian leaders do not appreciate the sacrifice and contribution of our past heroes. It shows that we, as a nation, have short memories, and that history and historical sites and monuments mean little or nothing to us. It is unfortunate that we tend to forget in a hurry the achievements of our past national icons. We seem not to remember them any more.
How can the Federal Government explain its seeming apathy and inability to complete the mausoleum of the late Pan-Africanist, and staunch believer in a united Nigeria and a highly detribalized Nigerian, who sacrificed his entire life for the nation?
Is the government tacitly saying that patriotism and dedicating one's life to a national cause is outmoded and does not pay any longer? Why is the government unduly silent about Zik's mausoleum? Surely, paucity of funds cannot be cited as one of the reasons for abandoning the project?
It is a pity that former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, who promised to complete the mausoleum if elected president in 1999 could not fulfill his promise in the eight years he ruled the country. No doubt, there are attempts in certain quarters to blot out the numerous contributions of Zik to Nigeria's political development by some revisionists and tribal irredentists. But the truth of the matter remains that Zik's contribution to political development in Nigeria and Africa is indelible and can never be erased.
Zik ranked among the world's greats. His peers include Mahatma Ghandi, Mao Tse Tung, Franklin Roosevelt, Lenin, Fidel Castro, Churchill and Will Brandt. Back home in Africa, his contemporaries include Kwame Nkrumah, Julius Nyerere, Jomo Kenyetta, Sekou Toure and Nelson Mandela.
We, therefore, call on the Federal Government to save itself this embarrassment by completing the mausoleum without further delay. America would not treat Lincoln or Jefferson like this. That the government should allow Nigerians and foreigners living in the U.S. to search for funds via the Internet for a project it begun years ago is unfortunate and demeaning. It does not require this group to remind us of our responsibility. It is incontestable that Zik had a place in Nigeria, Africa and World History.
Let the government act expeditiously and complete the work it started in 1997 so that the nation's foremost leader and one of the architects of Nigerian freedom and independence would rest in peace in a befitting mausoleum. That Zik has not been allowed to have a befitting place of rest many years after his death speaks volumes of the attitude of our political elite.
It is time our leaders lived up to the words of our national anthem-"the labour of our heroes past shall never be in vain." The best way to ensure that Zik's labour was not in vain is to complete his mausoleum and make it a tourist site. Let the contract be re-awarded to a competent firm that would do a befitting job. Let government use the project to demonstrate how Africans honour their dead legends.
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