Claude Ake
Encyclopedia
Professor Claude Ake was a Nigeria
n political scientist
. Ake gained a Ph.D.
from Columbia University
in 1966 and during his life he held various academic positions at institutions around the world, including Yale University
(United States), University of Nairobi
(Kenya), University of Dar es Salaam
(Tanzania) and University of Port Harcourt
(Nigeria). He was active in Nigerian politics and is well-known for his work in studies of development
and democracy
, his overriding concern being Africa
. He died in an airplane crash on a flight between Port Harcourt and Lagos
in Nigeria.
Claude Ake, a prominent Nigerian political scientist who was a visiting professor at Yale, died November 7 when the Boeing 727 on which he was a passenger crashed into a lagoon in a mangrove jungle 25 miles northeast of Lagos, Nigeria. He was 57, and his permanent home was in Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
Professor Ake was one of 142 people killed when the plane, operated by a local airline, Aviation Development Company, crashed, leaving no survivors.
He was teaching at Yale during the current semester and living in temporary quarters on the Yale campus.
Last year he resigned from a commission appointed by the oil company Royal Dutch/Shell to study the ecology of the oil-producing Niger Delta. He did so to protest the execution of a minority rights activist, Ken Saro-Wiwa.
Mr. Ake was a critic of Shell and the oil industry. He said last year, In Nigeria, companies like Shell are struggling between greed and fear
.
At his death, Mr. Ake was also the founder and director of the Center for Advanced Social Science, headquartered in Port Harcourt, which is the capital of Rivers State in southern Nigeria. Mr. Ake was born at Omoku, in that state. He had gone to Port Harcourt to hold a meeting at the center and was on his way back to the United States when he died.
The center is a think-tank for social and environmental research. It also played a practical role, functioning in the early 1990s as an honest broker concerning oil revenues and environmental issues between local officials and representatives of several minority groups in the oil-producing area in southeastern Nigeria.
Professor Ake was also a critic of corruption and authoritarian rule in Africa. He wrote in 1985, in an essay on the African state: Power is everything, and those who control the coercive resources use it freely to promote their interests.
George Bond, the director of the Institute of African Studies at Columbia University's School of International Public Affairs, said: He was one of the pre-eminent scholars on African politics and a scholar-activist concerned with the development of Africa. His concern was primarily with the average African and how to improve the nature of his conditions.
Mr. Ake founded the center in 1991, with the mission of fostering development from within of social sciences on the African continent. Other tasks set for it were to apply scientific knowledge to actual developmental problems in Africa and to enable Africa to become more of a producer of knowledge.
When the center was founded, its sole supporter was the Ford Foundation. It is now supported by the Ford Foundation and other donors in the United States and elsewhere. Mora McLean, a former Ford Foundation staff member who is now the president of the Manhattan-based African-American Institute, said that Mr. Ake was not just an intellectual, he was a visionary.
At Yale this semester, he taught two political science courses—one, called State in Africa, which was for undergraduates and graduate students, and another one for undergraduates, about aspects of development and the state in Africa.
The chairman of the Council on African Studies at Yale, David E. Apter, who is also the Henry J. Heinz II Professor of Comparative Political and Social Development at Yale, said of Mr. Ake: In the very short time he was here, he developed a following among the students, both graduate and undergraduate, which was truly extraordinary. There were graduate students who wept at his death. Everyone was really shocked. It was an amazing testimonial to the man.
Professor Apter said that Mr. Ake had crackling intelligence and an outspokenly severe view of African politics and nevertheless, underneath that, a quality of understanding which was remarkably subtle and complex. But he was able to communicate the complexity in a straightforward manner.
He added that Mr. Ake was not only, in my view, the top African political scientist, but an extraordinarily courageous person. The Nigerian Government was often at odds with him, and nevertheless they recognized his stature.
Mr. Ake specialized in political economy, political theory and development studies. He was professor of political economy and dean of the University of Port Harcourt's Faculty of Social Sciences for some years in the 1970s and 1980s after having taught at Columbia University, where he earned his doctorate in 1966. His earlier education was in Nigeria and London.
Before becoming a dean at Port Harcourt, he taught at universities in Canada, Kenya and Tanzania. Afterward, he held a variety of posts, at the African Journal of Political Economy, and on the Social Sciences Council of Nigeria end elsewhere.
His many writings included the book Democracy and Development in Africa (Brookings, 1996).
His survivors include his wife, Anita, and two young sons, all of Port Harcourt.
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
n political scientist
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
. Ake gained a Ph.D.
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
from Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
in 1966 and during his life he held various academic positions at institutions around the world, including Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
(United States), University of Nairobi
University of Nairobi
The University of Nairobi is the largest university in Kenya. Although its history as an educational institution goes back to 1956, it did not become an independent university until 1970 when the University of East Africa was split into three independent universities: Makerere University in...
(Kenya), University of Dar es Salaam
University of Dar es Salaam
The University of Dar es Salaam is a university in the Tanzanian city of Dar es Salaam. The university was born out of a decision taken in 1970 to split the then University of East Africa into three independent universities; Makerere University , University of Nairobi and University of Dar es...
(Tanzania) and University of Port Harcourt
University of Port Harcourt
The University of Port Harcourt is a university in the Nigerian city of Port Harcourt. It was established in 1975 as University College, Port Harcourt, and was given university status in 1977.-Faculties:...
(Nigeria). He was active in Nigerian politics and is well-known for his work in studies of development
International development
International development or global development is a concept that lacks a universally accepted definition, but it is most used in a holistic and multi-disciplinary context of human development — the development of greater quality of life for humans...
and democracy
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
, his overriding concern being Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
. He died in an airplane crash on a flight between Port Harcourt and Lagos
Lagos
Lagos is a port and the most populous conurbation in Nigeria. With a population of 7,937,932, it is currently the third most populous city in Africa after Cairo and Kinshasa, and currently estimated to be the second fastest growing city in Africa...
in Nigeria.
External links
Claude Ake, a prominent Nigerian political scientist who was a visiting professor at Yale, died November 7 when the Boeing 727 on which he was a passenger crashed into a lagoon in a mangrove jungle 25 miles northeast of Lagos, Nigeria. He was 57, and his permanent home was in Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
Professor Ake was one of 142 people killed when the plane, operated by a local airline, Aviation Development Company, crashed, leaving no survivors.
He was teaching at Yale during the current semester and living in temporary quarters on the Yale campus.
Last year he resigned from a commission appointed by the oil company Royal Dutch/Shell to study the ecology of the oil-producing Niger Delta. He did so to protest the execution of a minority rights activist, Ken Saro-Wiwa.
Mr. Ake was a critic of Shell and the oil industry. He said last year, In Nigeria, companies like Shell are struggling between greed and fear
Greed and fear
Greed and fear are supposed, together with herd instinct, to be the three main emotional motivators of stock markets and business behavior, and one of the cause of bull markets, bear markets and business cycles.- From a market saying to an academic research topic :...
.
At his death, Mr. Ake was also the founder and director of the Center for Advanced Social Science, headquartered in Port Harcourt, which is the capital of Rivers State in southern Nigeria. Mr. Ake was born at Omoku, in that state. He had gone to Port Harcourt to hold a meeting at the center and was on his way back to the United States when he died.
The center is a think-tank for social and environmental research. It also played a practical role, functioning in the early 1990s as an honest broker concerning oil revenues and environmental issues between local officials and representatives of several minority groups in the oil-producing area in southeastern Nigeria.
Professor Ake was also a critic of corruption and authoritarian rule in Africa. He wrote in 1985, in an essay on the African state: Power is everything, and those who control the coercive resources use it freely to promote their interests.
George Bond, the director of the Institute of African Studies at Columbia University's School of International Public Affairs, said: He was one of the pre-eminent scholars on African politics and a scholar-activist concerned with the development of Africa. His concern was primarily with the average African and how to improve the nature of his conditions.
Mr. Ake founded the center in 1991, with the mission of fostering development from within of social sciences on the African continent. Other tasks set for it were to apply scientific knowledge to actual developmental problems in Africa and to enable Africa to become more of a producer of knowledge.
When the center was founded, its sole supporter was the Ford Foundation. It is now supported by the Ford Foundation and other donors in the United States and elsewhere. Mora McLean, a former Ford Foundation staff member who is now the president of the Manhattan-based African-American Institute, said that Mr. Ake was not just an intellectual, he was a visionary.
At Yale this semester, he taught two political science courses—one, called State in Africa, which was for undergraduates and graduate students, and another one for undergraduates, about aspects of development and the state in Africa.
The chairman of the Council on African Studies at Yale, David E. Apter, who is also the Henry J. Heinz II Professor of Comparative Political and Social Development at Yale, said of Mr. Ake: In the very short time he was here, he developed a following among the students, both graduate and undergraduate, which was truly extraordinary. There were graduate students who wept at his death. Everyone was really shocked. It was an amazing testimonial to the man.
Professor Apter said that Mr. Ake had crackling intelligence and an outspokenly severe view of African politics and nevertheless, underneath that, a quality of understanding which was remarkably subtle and complex. But he was able to communicate the complexity in a straightforward manner.
He added that Mr. Ake was not only, in my view, the top African political scientist, but an extraordinarily courageous person. The Nigerian Government was often at odds with him, and nevertheless they recognized his stature.
Mr. Ake specialized in political economy, political theory and development studies. He was professor of political economy and dean of the University of Port Harcourt's Faculty of Social Sciences for some years in the 1970s and 1980s after having taught at Columbia University, where he earned his doctorate in 1966. His earlier education was in Nigeria and London.
Before becoming a dean at Port Harcourt, he taught at universities in Canada, Kenya and Tanzania. Afterward, he held a variety of posts, at the African Journal of Political Economy, and on the Social Sciences Council of Nigeria end elsewhere.
His many writings included the book Democracy and Development in Africa (Brookings, 1996).
His survivors include his wife, Anita, and two young sons, all of Port Harcourt.