Lifestyle
Ekei Eyo as Malvolio in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, Queen’s College for Girls, Lagos Circa 1940s
Ekei Eyo as Malvolio in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, Queen’s College for Girls, Lagos
Circa 1940s
Editor’s Note: After diligently searching through archival records for over an hour, we experienced a Eureka moment when we successfully identified the young student in this photograph as Ekei Essien Oku (née Eyo).
Born on 22 January 1924 in Calabar, Ekei Essien Oku was a pioneering Nigerian librarian, historian, and writer. She was one of the first chartered librarians in Nigeria and notably the first woman to serve as a Chief Librarian in the country.
Her early education included Queen’s College, Lagos, where she appeared in several productions—including this staging of Twelfth Night. She began her career as a teacher before transitioning into librarianship. She later studied at the North Western Polytechnic in London (now part of the University of North London), returning home in 1953 as the first Nigerian woman chartered librarian.
In 1964, she became the first woman Chief Librarian in Nigeria, serving both in Calabar and in Lagos. A dedicated scholar, she published the landmark historical study The Kings and Chiefs of Old Calabar (1785–1925) in 1989, drawing from missionary records that shed light on the colonial era, slave revolts, and local governance.
Her life and work attracted international recognition, and in 2000 she was profiled by the BBC in a half-hour feature, African Perspective.
Ekei Essien Oku passed away on 16 October 2004, at the age of 80. Her legacy as a trailblazer in Nigerian history and librarianship endures. May her beautiful soul rest in peace.
Photo Credit: Duckworth, E. H., 1894–1972 (Photographer) / Herskovits Library of African Studies
Text © ASIRI Magazine
FOLLOW US ON:
