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 ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

and the first woman to be a Chief

Librarian A librarian is a person who works professionally in a library providing access to information, and sometimes social or technical programming, or instruction on information literacy to users. The role of the librarian has changed much over time, ...

in Nigeria. She has published her research into the history of

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

Life

Oku was born in Calabar in January 1924. She was educated in Nigeria, including

Queen's College, Lagos Queen's College, Lagos, is a government-owned girl's 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). 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

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

. and she held that position in Calabar and in

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...

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

slaves Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

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

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

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 Antera Duke (alive as late as 1788) was a leading African slave dealer and Efik chief from Old Calabar in the Bight of Biafra in eastern Nigeria (now in Cross River State) during the late eighteenth century. He gradually prospered and was member o ...

''The Diary Of Antera Duke, An Eighteenth-century African Slave Trader''

References

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