Although he was a sociological theorist of note, as evidenced by his well-received book Social Exchange Theory: The Two Traditions published by Harvard University Press in 1974, he became world-famous with the “Colonialism and the Two Publics in Africa”… That piece made him one of the most cited scholars in African politics and history.
Suppose you are a student of development studies and focused on Africa. In that case, chances are you have met Peter P. Ekeh through his books, journal articles, and public intellectual debates. Primarily, you would have read “Colonialism and the Two Publics in Africa: A Theoretical Statement”, which was published 45 years ago. That’s how I met Peter the first time, in one gripping page after another. I remember saying to myself, this is one brilliant Igbo man!
In 1994, I met Peter in person for the first time at a Workshop for Development Practitioners in Washington, DC. As we waited for the meeting to start, one conceited American Africanist was zealously telling a few others how African languages don’t have a word for window. To prove his point, he turned to me and said, ‘what is the word for a window in your language, Ebere?’ Name tag familiarity. I nearly told him that the Igbo word for ‘window’ was onye iberibe (idiot); instead, I blurted out the truth mpio. He looked confused and deflated. Cool.
As Peter and I were walking back to the hotel at the end of the day, I was excitedly berating the smug young scholar in fluent Igbo. I harped that he should not have generalised his experience with one African language in a continent of 3,000 different ethnic groups and over 2,000 languages in Igbo. Peter listened with attentive interest as I went on and on, trying to impress him. Then with a laugh, as if to save me from my vanity, he said, “Young man, I don’t understand Igbo; I am not Igbo.” Deflation. Confusion. Silence!
But his name was Ekeh, like my own Owerri brother, Leo Stan Ekeh! I had to come to America to learn that all brilliant Ekehs are not Igbo! That’s how my long friendship with this renowned sociologist started.
Although he was a sociological theorist of note, as evidenced by his well-received book Social Exchange Theory: The Two Traditions published by Harvard University Press in 1974, he became world-famous with the “Colonialism and the Two Publics in Africa…” journal article mentioned above. That piece made him one of the most cited scholars in African politics and history. It established Peter as a leading African political sociologist. And that was well deserved, because some elements of his theory are still useful in analysing Africa’s post-colonial condition.
Take his notion of two publics, the primordial (private) and the civic, with different moral imperatives in dialectical bond with each other. Unlike in the western world, where there is a universal ethical framework based on the Judeo-Christian tradition that, for the most part, guides the behaviour of citizens in both the private and civic publics, our citizens in post-colonial Africa live in two worlds.
Some claim nowadays that in the deep penetration of corruption in every nook and cranny of Nigerian society, Peter’s theory of the two publics can no longer hold. However, it is not a fair reading of his two publics theory. It is still true that because of colonial interference with their social formations, many African countries do not have a single public yet.
His theoretical statement claims that most Westernised post-colonial Africans have little moral inhibition when they operate in the civic public – reflecting the Na your papa job(?) mentality in our public service. That’s why in Nigeria, for example, some members of the ruling elite loot the public purse like there is no tomorrow. These elites in politics are guilty of the culture of exploitation introduced to the colonisers’ civic public. These include cheating, nepotism, and citizens’ abuse, making them internal colonisers in the post-colonial times. On the other hand, the primordial realm of ethnic loyalties operates on traditional moral imperatives. These are also binding on the exploitative elites when they work in the primordial public outside Abuja and other urban-based government power centres in Nigeria’s case; a veritable point of the overused cliché, “when in Rome, do as the Romans do.”
Some claim nowadays that in the deep penetration of corruption in every nook and cranny of Nigerian society, Peter’s theory of the two publics can no longer hold. However, it is not a fair reading of his two publics theory. It is still true that because of colonial interference with their social formations, many African countries do not have a single public yet.
But more than his profound contributions to Africa’s political sociology, Peter was, first and foremost, a passionate family man who gave up his position at the prestigious University of Ibadan for family reasons. As our friendship grew, I found that he gradually lost interest in researching and writing for academic credit. Our phone conversations and emails became increasingly all about Nigeria and what we could do to help out during the Abacha era.
As things continued to head south in Nigeria, Peter shifted his enormous intellectual energy into building the award-winning Urhobo Historical Society and collapsed ANSD’s website into it. He was very proud of his Urhobo culture and was not afraid to defend it robustly, as Professor Bala Usman (RIP) found out.
Enter the famed Wilberforce Conference on Nigerian Federalism that looked for options for resolving Nigeria’s Crises of Governance, which I convened in 1997. The founding of The Association of Nigerian Scholars for Dialogue (ANSD), of which Peter and I were respectively the founding president and vice president, followed. As things continued to head south in Nigeria, Peter shifted his enormous intellectual energy into building the award-winning Urhobo Historical Society and collapsed ANSD’s website into it. He was very proud of his Urhobo culture and was not afraid to defend it robustly, as Professor Bala Usman (RIP) found out. But back to the Wilberforce Conference on Nigerian Federalism.
That conference coincided with two others holding on the same 29th of May 1997: “The future of Reporting on Africa” by Voice of America (VOA), and the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) meeting in Harare, Zimbabwe. These three conferences were covered simultaneously by the Cable Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN), a private, non-profit American cable television network. From our Nigerian federalism conference in Wilberforce, VOA veteran, Nelson Brown (RIP), reported to the C-SPAN moderator, Charlayne Hunter-Gault, a prominent American civil rights activist and journalist. In contrast, Nigeria’s indomitable Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem (RIP) reported from the OAU meeting in Harare. It was a packed day indeed! When, in a light mood, Ms Hunter-Gault asked Mr. Brown whether the Nigerian scholars gathered in Wilberforce had resolved the Nigeria crises there, the audience collectively chuckled.
“Not quite yet,” replied Mr. Brown, before he professionally proceeded to report on the magnificent keynote address of Professor Peter Ekeh at the Wilberforce conference. You could hear a pin drop. Peter always had that effect. May he rest in perfect peace!
Ebere Onwudiwe is a distinguished fellow at the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), Abuja. Please send your comments to this number on WhatsApp: +234 (0)701 625 8025; messages only, no calls.
