One of Africa’s most prolific writers, Prof. Chukwuemeka Ike is dead, according to multiple media reports on Friday. The literary giant is said to have died on Thursday at the Nnamdi Azikwe Teaching Hospital in Nnewi, Anambra State, at age 88 after a brief illness.
Mr. Ike, until his death was the traditional ruler of Ndikelionwu in the Orumba South Local Government Area of Anambra State. His works include Toads for Supper (1965), The Naked Gods (1970), The Potter’s Wheel (1973), Sunset at Dawn (1976), Expo ’77 (1980), The Chicken Chasers (1980), The Bottled Leopard (1985), Our Children Are Coming Home (1990), and Conspiracy of Silence.
Ike attended Government College, Umuahia, the same school attended by the late Prof. Chinua Achebe and poet Christopher Okigbo. He went on to study English, history, and religion at the University of Ibadan. He was a former Registrar of the West African Examination Council and the boss of the Nigerian Book Trust Foundation at a time.
On Friday, several persons took to social media to pay their last respect to the late author. Former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar described him as a “prolific novelist.”
