The death of foremost Professor of Political Science and Urhobo cultural activist, Professor Peter Ekeh has been announced.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Prof Ekeh, founder of Urhobo Historical Society (UHS) died on Tuesday morning, according to family sources.
Ekeh, born August 8, 1937, hailed from Okpara Inland of Agbon Kingdom in the Ethiope East Local Government Area of Delta State.
Peter P. Ekeh came to the University of Buffalo’s African American Studies as Professor in 1989.
He was Chair of this department from 1993 to 2001.
Before coming to Buffalo, Dr. Ekeh taught at the University of California, Riverside (1970-73); Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, in northern Nigeria (1973-74); and at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria (1974-1989).
He was Chair 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 StanfordUniversity (1965-66) and University of California, Berkeley (1966-70).
Dr. Ekeh’s early research interest was in sociological theory, in which he published Social Exchange Theory: The Two Traditions (1974), and in psychoanalytic theory.
He has since developed special interests in African politics and history, in which he has some leading publications.
Dr. Ekeh’s article “Colonialism and the Two Publics in Africa: A Theoretical Statement” (1975) is one of the most cited publications in the field of African studies, inside and outside Africa.
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).
Dr. 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 edits. 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.
EDUCATION
Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, 1970
M.A.,StanfordUniversity, Palo Alto, 1967
B.Sc. (Econs.),University of London (at UniversityCollege, Ibadan) 1964.
GRADUATE COURSES
Ancient African Civilizations(At UB)
Africa and the Slave Trade(At UB)
Sociological Theory (UC.,Riverside)
Social Exchange Theory (UC, Riverside)
Psychoanalysis and the Social Sciences. (UC, Riverside)
Political Sociology (University of Ibadan)
Comparative Politics (University of Ibadan)
UNDERGRADUATE COURSES
A Survey of African Studies (At UB)
Current African Nations (At UB)
Colonialism in Africa (At UB)
Political Sociology of Africa (At UB)
Ancient African Civilizations. (At UB)
Political Socialization and Personality (UC, Riverside)
Social Psychology (UC, Riverside)
PoliticalSociology. (UC, Riverside)
Introduction to Politics (University of Ibadan)
Political Socialization (University of Ibadan)
Nigerian Politics. (University of Ibadan)
FIVE SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
Ekeh, Peter P. (1974) Social Exchange Theory: The Two Traditions. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.
Ekeh, Peter P. (1975) “Colonialism and the Two Publics in Africa: A Theoretical Statement.” Comparative Studies in Society and History, 17:91-112.
Ekeh, Peter P. (1976) “Benin and Thebes: Elementary Forms of Civilization.” Pp. 65-93 in Werner Muensterberger, Aaron H. Esman and L. Bryce Boyer, eds., The Psychoanalytic Study of Society. Vol. VII. New Haven and London: YaleUniv. Press.
Ekeh, Peter P. (1983) Colonialism and Social Structure. An Inaugural Lecture. Ibadan: Ibadan University Press.
Ekeh, Peter P. and Eghosa Osaghae, eds., (1989) Federal Character and Federalism in Nigeria. Ibadan: Heinemann Educational Books.
Ekeh, Peter P. (1990) “Social Anthropology and Two Contrasting Uses of Tribalism in Africa.” Comparative Studies in Society and History, 32(4): 660-700.