UHS loses its Founder

Headquarters: No. 3 Ekeh Street (Opposite Catholic Church) Okpara Inland, Ethiope East LGA, Delta State, Nigeria P. O. Box 652 Effurun, Delta State Telephone Enquiries: 0706 064 7530; 0703 798 2410

Urhobo Historical Society loses its Founder,

Professor Peter Palmer Ekeh

1937 – 2020

It is with profound sadness that The Urhobo Historical Society formally announces the passing of Professor Peter Palmer Ekeh, its founding Chairman and President who died in the early hours of November 17, 2020 at Buffalo, New York, USA.

Professor Ekeh, an erudite scholar of international repute was born at Adarode, a satellite village of Okpara in-land in Delta State, Nigeria. He attended the Catholic Central School, Okpara In-land and Saint Peter Clavers’ College, Aghalokpe. He graduated BSc. (Economics) at the University of Ibadan in 1964, an M.A. from Stanford University, Palo Alto in 1967 and a Ph.D from the University of California, Berkeley in 1970. He served on the faculties of several universities including the University of California, Riverside, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria and the University of Ibadan. He was the Chairman of the Department of Political Science at the University of Ibadan from 1978 to 1983, and he was the Chairman of the Ibadan University Press from 1983 t0 1988. Earlier on, while he was a student at the University, he also served as a Secretary of the Urhobo Progress Union, Ibadan Branch.

In his later academic life, he left Nigeria for the United States where he joined the faculty of the State University of New York at Buffalo, New York. He also spent some time (1988-89) at the Woodrow Wilson Center, Washington, DC. He retired from Buffalo as the Professor and Head of the Department of the African American Studies from 1993 to 2001. It was while at Buffalo that he pulled together a group of Urhobo intellectuals in North America to found the Urhobo Historical Society in August of 1999, to document and promote Urhobo history and culture, and to defend the interests of the Urhobo Nation.

He is survived by his wife, Dr. Helen Ekeh, a daughter, four sons and two sisters, Cecilia and Philomena.

Engr. Onoawarie Andrew Edevbie

Secretary, Urhobo Historical Society

Proceed to Condolences/Tributes in honour of Professor Peter Ekeh

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