Mary Nzimiro

Nzimiro was born in Oguta, in present-day Imo State, the first of six children of David Onumonu Uzoaru and Ruth Nwanyiafor Onumonu (née Okwosha). Her father was an Igbo chief and colonial warrant chief. Both parents had traded produce with the Royal Niger Company, and her mother became a prominent palm-produce merchant in the old Owerri Province. Ruth maintained accounts in London for Mary and one of Mary's sisters during the 1930s and introduced her daughters to commerce.^[3][6]

In 1914, Nzimiro was the only girl attending Sacred Heart School in Oguta. She later attended St Joseph's Girls' Convent in Asaba, graduating in 1920. That year she married Richard Okwosha Nzimiro, a former classmate who worked for the UAC. Their daughter, Priscilla Nzimiro, was born in 1923 and later became the first Igbo woman to qualify as a medical doctor; she died in Glasgow in 1951.^[3][6]

Nzimiro began trading in palm oil, salt and European merchandise in 1921. As her husband's UAC postings took the couple to Illah, Onitsha and Opobo, she built trading connections in each location. At Illah, she transported goods by canoe to markets that were not accessible by road. The couple settled in Port Harcourt in 1945, where she expanded from retailing into wholesaling and direct importation, adding textiles and cosmetics to her merchandise. Richard eventually left the UAC to join her business.^[3][6]

In 1948, Nzimiro became the UAC's principal factor in Eastern Nigeria. She handled consignments distributed in Nigeria and represented the company in Ghana and Sierra Leone. Retailers from expanding markets such as Aba and Onitsha purchased imported goods through her, and she operated shops in Port Harcourt, Onitsha and Aba. During a 1950 sales inquiry, she reported estimated monthly turnover of £6,000 to £8,000.^[2][6] Her commercial prominence also received international attention: the 4 May 1953 Africa issue of Life profiled her under the heading "Million-dollar operator".^[7]

Her enterprise, Priscilla and Brothers Company, used two barges to move goods and employed staff to manage sales and distribution. Her principal business was textiles, including imported fabrics, although she continued to trade in cosmetics. She later established Nzimiro Industries Limited, which employed about twenty people to manufacture men's undershirts. Her other investments included property, company shares and petrol stations in Port Harcourt and Lagos. UAC-sponsored travel to Britain and her wider commercial network helped her develop business contacts outside Nigeria.^[3][6]

Nzimiro used part of her wealth to support education and business training. She provided scholarships to students from Nigeria, Ghana and Sierra Leone, helped women apprentices establish their own enterprises, and supported relatives and associates through grants and loans.^[3][6]

In the 1940s, Nzimiro and her husband established William Wilberforce Academy, the first secondary school in Oguta. It was renamed Priscilla Memorial Grammar School in 1951 after their daughter. Following Richard's death in 1959, Nzimiro founded Nzimiro Memorial Girls' Secondary School in 1966 to expand secondary education for girls in Oguta. She was also a founding member of the Young Women's Christian Association in Port Harcourt.^[3][6]

Nzimiro joined the NCNC, led by Nnamdi Azikiwe, and contributed to the party's finances as well as its organization. She joined its executive committee in 1957 and became vice-president of the NCNC Eastern Women's Association in 1962. Her work in Nigeria's independence movement was acknowledged by prime minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa.^[1][3][6]

In the 1960 New Year Honours, Nzimiro was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire for public services in Nigeria's Eastern Region. Four years later, the Nigerian government appointed her a Member of the Order of the Federal Republic.^[4][5]

During the Nigerian Civil War from 1967 to 1970, she organized Igbo women and participated in food drives supporting Biafran soldiers. Most of her Port Harcourt property was classified as abandoned after the war, and only three of her seven houses were returned. She did not resettle in Port Harcourt, instead returning to Oguta.^[1][3]

Back in Oguta, Nzimiro continued in business by distributing bottled drinks and participated in community affairs. She was a signatory to a petition to governor Sam Mbakwe opposing the proposed placement of Oguta II in Ohaoma Local Government Area. She also served on a fundraising committee for St Mary's Church and was given the church title “Mother of the Church”.^[6]

Nzimiro received the Ogbuefi, described by a biographical study as Oguta's highest female title, and was the second woman admitted to the traditionally male Ikwa-muo society. She was widely addressed by the greeting name Odoziaku. She died in Oguta on 16 January 1993, aged 94.^[6]

• Priscilla Nzimiro
• Omu Okwei
• Margaret Ekpo