Politics
By Ajiri-Oghene Oreh
NIGERIA House of Representatives member-elect, Pst. Jonathan Ukodhiko has expressed sadness over the death of the nation’s doyen of history, emeritus Professor Obaro Ikime.
The late Fellow and erstwhile President of the Historical Society of Nigeria (HSN), who reportedly died at the age of 87 on Tuesday at Ibadan hailed from Erowha in Isoko South Local Government Area of Delta State.
In a condolence message on Wednesday, Ukodhiko said, “the late HSN President, Professor Ikime, was one of the pioneers of post-colonial Nigerian historiography.”
Noting, “Prof. Obaro Ikime will be best remembered as the daring scholar who pioneered studies of inter-groups relations in Nigeria when he did his doctoral degree on Itsekiri-Urhobo relations in 1965.
“For us in Isoko, we will remember and celebrate him for being a great patriot-scholar whose pioneering effort with his 1972 book, The Isoko People: A Historical Survey not only put the history of our ethnic group and its people on record but stimulated an abiding interest in the study of Isoko history.
The former Delta Energy Commissioner, Engr. Ukodhiko stated, that, Professor Obaro Ikime was one of the most accomplished academics who put Nigeria in the front rank of international scholarship.
“He took academic giant strides by devoting his time and energy to the teaching and researching of Nigerian history at Nigeria’s oldest university, the University of Ibadan (UI), and he made African history a respectable discipline.
“Prof Ikime was among the eminent historians who created Nigeria’s only globally recognized academic brand famously called the Ibadan School of History which gave the great UI its fame.
“Ikime’s intellectual reputation was built mostly on his 8 published books, which included Groundwork of Nigerian History, Niger-Delta Rivalry, The Historian and the Nation, and his innumerable scholarly essays.
“The late intellectual giant from Erowha in Isoko was an icon, and his glorious academic achievements will serve as both an inspiration and a catalyst for those who desire knowledge and academic greatness.
“We celebrate Prof. Ikime’s selfless service to our country, Nigeria. For, he served as a member of the body that drafted the 1979 Constitution for Nigeria, and he was the founding President of the Nigerian Academy of Arts.
“It saddens me to say a farewell to a great historian, academic administrator, and a highly regarded clergy, Venerable Professor Obaro Ikime, former Dean of Arts, member, Governing Council of the University of Ibadan, and a retired priest of the Anglican Church.” Ukodhiko added
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Tags: Ajiri-Oghene Oreh Professor Obaro Ikime Pst. Jonathan Ukodhiko
