Ekei Essien Oku (22 January 1924 – 16 October 2004) was a Nigerian librarian, historian, and writer. She was one of the first chartered librarians in

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

and the first woman to be a Chief Librarian in Nigeria. She has published her research into the history of

based on the account of missionaries who recorded dates on the formation of towns in the 17th century.

Life

Oku was born in

Calabar Calabar (also referred to as Callabar, Calabari, Calbari, Cali and Kalabar) is the capital city of Cross River State, Nigeria. It was originally named Akwa Akpa, in the Efik language, as the Efik people dominate this area. The city is adjac ...

in January 1924. She was educated in Nigeria, including

Queen's College, Lagos Queen's College, Lagos, is a government-owned girls' secondary (high) school with boarding facilities, situated in Yaba, Lagos, Nigeria. Often referred to as the "sister college" of King's College, Lagos, it was founded on October 10, 1927, when ...

. She first worked as a teacher before she went to work as a librarian and she was sent to London to study at the North Western Polytechnic (now part of the

University of North London The University of North London (UNL) was a university in London, England, formed from the Polytechnic of North London (PNL) in 1992 when that institution was granted university status. PNL, in turn, had been formed by the amalgamation of the No ...

). She returned to Nigeria where she became the first woman from Nigeria to become a chartered librarian in 1953. This was just two years after the first man, Kalu Chima Okorie, in 1951. She was the first woman chief librarian in

in 1964. and she held that position in

and in

Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...

. Oku researched and wrote, "The Kings and Chiefs of Old Calabar (1785–1925)". The book was published in 1989. She studied the records taken by missionaries including the time of the

slave revolt A slave rebellion is an armed uprising by slaves, as a way of fighting for their freedom. Rebellions of slaves have occurred in nearly all societies that practice slavery or have practiced slavery in the past. A desire for freedom and the dream o ...

and she believed that the slaves supported their masters. Although the

slaves Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

wanted freedom once their masters were killed, they were keen to find justice or revenge for their masters' killers. Oku was profiled in 2000 by the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

in a half-hour study of her life and work "African Perspective". She died on 16 October 2004, at the age of 80. Antera Duke
''The Diary Of Antera Duke, An Eighteenth-century African Slave Trader''
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oku, Ekei Essien 1924 births 2004 deaths Nigerian expatriates in the United Kingdom Nigerian librarians People from Calabar Nigerian women librarians