Prominent Nigerian scholar, Professor Peter Ekeh has died in the United States of America on Tuesday, November 17, 2020.
Ekeh who was born on August 8, 1937, hailed from Okpara Inland of Agbon Kingdom in the Ethope East Local Government Area of Delta State.
He came to the University of Buffalo’s African American Studies as Professor in 1989 and was Chairman of the department from 1993 to 2001. Before coming to Buffalo, he taught at the University of California, Riverside (1970-73); Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria (1973-74); and at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria (1974-1989). He was Head of the Department of Political Science at the University of Ibadan (1978-1983) and Chairman of the Ibadan University Press (1983-1988).
Peter Ekeh received his undergraduate education at the University of Ibadan (1961-64) and his graduate degrees in Sociology from Stanford University (1965-66) and University of California, Berkeley (1966-70).
His article, “Colonialism and the Two Publics in Africa: A Theoretical Statement” (1975), is one of the most cited publications in the field of Political Science and African studies. Peter Ekeh’s publications span several fields and have been particularly influential in African studies.
Peter Ekeh has held several fellowships in Europe, United States, and Japan. He was a Fellow of the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars, Washington, D.C. (1988-89). Ekeh has received various research and scholarship awards in Nigeria and the United States. He was a Rockefeller Foundation Scholar for his graduate studies. He has received and supervised research grants from Rockefeller Foundation, Ford Foundation, and United States Institute of Peace, Washington, D.C.
Peter Ekeh is the founder of Urhobo Historical Society whose influential web site URHOBO WAADO he edited. He was also founder of Nigerian Scholars for Dialogue. He is active in the campaign for the protection of the endangered environment of Nigeria’s Niger delta.
