Okello Oculi
Okello Oculi | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1 January 1942 |
| Died | 26 July 2025 (aged 83) Abuja, Nigeria |
| Nationality | Ugandan |
| Citizenship | Uganda and Nigeria |
| Education | Makerere University (BA); University of Essex (MA); University of Wisconsin (PhD) |
| Occupation(s) | Author, poet & educator |
| Years active | 1967 – 20?? |
| Known for | Poetry, academia |
Okello Oculi (1942 – 26 July 2025) was a Ugandan novelist, poet and chronicler of rural African village life. Until his death, he was a private political and social consultant based in Abuja, Nigeria. Before that, he served as Professor of Social & Economic Research at Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, Nigeria.
Background
[edit]Oculi was born in 1942, in Dokolo District, Northern Uganda, when the district was still part of Lira District.[2]
Oculi was educated at Soroti College, in Soroti, and St. Peter's College Tororo, both in Eastern Uganda. He then attended St. Mary's College Kisubi for his A-Level examinationa (S5 -S6). He entered Makerere University, Uganda's oldest university, where he studied political science, graduating in 1967, with a bachelor's degree. During his undergraduate studies at Makerere, he spent one year, from 1964 until 1965, as an exchange student at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, United States. In 1968, he obtained a Master's degree from the University of Essex, in the United Kingdom. He obtained a PhD from the University of Wisconsin in 1972.[3]
Oculi died in Abuja on 26 July 2025, at the age of 83.[4]
Professional work
[edit]Oculi's writing is filled with authentic snatches of conversation, proverbs, and folk wisdom. His poetry, like that of Okot p'Bitek and Joseph Buruga, seeks to re-assert the cultural heritage of Africa with a critique of foreign influences in East Africa.[citation needed]
Selected bibliography
[edit]- Kanti Riti (1974)
- Malak: An African Political Poem (1976)
- Kookolem (1978)
- Health Problems in Rural and Uurban Africa (1981)
- Nigerian Alternatives (1987)
- Political Economy of Malnutrition (1987)
- Song for the Sun in Us (Poets of Africa; 2000)
- Discourses on Africa Affairs: Directions and Destinies for the 20th Century (2000)
- Song for the Sun in Us – (2000)
- Discourses on African Affairs: Directions and Destinies For the 21st Century – (1999)
- Political Economy of Malnutrition – (1987)
- Kookolem – (1976)
- Malak: An African Political Poem – (1976)
- Imperialism, Settlers and Capitalism in Kenya – (1975)
- Kanta Riti – (1972)
- Orphan – (1968) (dramatized poetry)
- Prostitute – (1968)
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Biografski dodaci" [Biographic appendices]. Republika: Časopis za kulturu i društvena pitanja (Izbor iz novije afričke književnosti) (in Serbo-Croatian). XXXIV (12). Zagreb, SR Croatia: 1424–1427. December 1978.
- ^ "Okello Oculi Was Born In Dokolo District". Archived from the original on 20 September 2012. Retrieved 17 June 2011.
- ^ The Educational History of Okello Oculi[dead link]
- ^ Bangura, Yusuf (27 July 2025). "Okello Oculi (1942–2025): The scholar who lived and breathed Africa". Premium Times. Retrieved 28 July 2025.
