Ziri was born during the Nigerian-Biafran war to parents of Igbo origin in today’s south-eastern Nigeria. His parents named him Chikeziri (which literally translates to “God created well”), a prophetic and unique name coined by his father who rejected the more common version “Chikezie” (which more or less was a prayer for God to make good the life of the bearer of the name), because, as he put it, “God has already created him very well.”