CLAUDE E. AKE, the making of an organic intellectual

210pp., paperback, Reprint, Grahamstown, (2018) 2019

Nigerian political philosopher Claude E. Ake (1939-1996) held various academic positions at institutions around the world, including Columbia University and Yale University (USA), University of Nairobi (Kenya), University of Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) and University of Port Harcourt (Nigeria). Critical of corruption and authoritarian rule in Africa and of Shell and the oil industry, in 1991 he founded and became the director of the Center for Advanced Social Science, headquartered in Port Harcourt. Ake was one of 144 people killed when a DC Airlines flight between Port Harcourt and Lagos crashed. His death was widely believed to have been orchestrated by the military junta of Gen. Sani Abacha.

Jeremiah O. Arowosegbe is a senior lecturer in Political Science at the University of Ibadan in Nigeria.