Kenneth Onwuka Dike

Kenneth Onwuka Dike (17 December 1917 – 26 October 1983 ) was a Nigerian educationist, historian and the first Nigerian vice-chancellor of the University of Ibadan.

During the Nigerian Civil War, he moved to Harvard University. He was a founder of the Ibadan School that dominated the writing of the History of Nigeria until the 1970s.

Dike was a pioneer in the movement towards utilising oral traditions in a multi-disciplinary approach in African historiography. He is credited with "having played the leading role in creating a generation of African historians who could interpret their own history without being influenced by Eurocentric approaches." He has been called the "father of modern African historiography".

Career Dike was born in Awka, Eastern Nigeria. He had his secondary education at Dennis Memorial Grammar School in Onitsha. He attended Fourah Bay College, Sierra Leone and also Durham University for his BSc, the University of Aberdeen for his MA, In 1965 he was elected chairman of the Association of Commonwealth Universities.

At the University College of Ibadan, he became the first African professor of history and head of a history department. He founded the Nigerian National Archives, and helped in the founding of the Historical Society of Nigeria. His book Trade and Politics in the Niger Delta 1830-1885 dealt with 19th-century economics and politics in the Niger Delta. He focused on internal African factors, especially defensive measures undertaken by the delta societies against imperialist penetration. Dike helped create the Ibadan School of African history and promoted the use of oral evidence by African historians. Dike was also the first president of ASUTECH (Anambra State University of Technology, now Nnamdi Azikiwe University).

Publications His publications include the following: Report on the Preservation and Administration of Historical Records in Nigeria (1953), Trade and Politics in the Niger Delta 1830-1885 (1956), A Hundred Years of British Rule in Nigeria (1957), and The Origins of the Niger Missions (1958).

A biography entitled Life and Thoughts of Professor Kenneth O. Dike was authored by Alexander Animalu.

Personal life He and his wife, Ona, had five children.

Death Dike died on the 26th of October 1983, at a hospital in Nigeria.

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