Urhobo
Historical Society
PROFESSOR OMAFUME F. ONOGE
Radical
Scholar and Social Activist
Family Background
Prof.
Omafume F. Onoge is a son of the Uvwie Kingdom of the Urhobo nation. He
was
born on Friday October 21, 1938 to the highly respected late Ohonvwore
of
Uvwie, Onoge Inuvwoho of the Onomiayefe lineage of Ugborikoko and Madam
Ighofose Okoro of Udumuorugbo, Ekpokpo (Effurun)
Educational Background
Prof.
Onoge, who has an established reputation as an erudite, radical and
social
activist scholar, had his Primary education at St. Andrew�s C.M.S.
School,
Warri, from where he proceeded to Urhobo College Effurun in 1952 for
his
secondary education. In 1957 he passed his West African School
Certificate Examination
at Grade One level.
After
a one-year stint in the United Africa Company (UAC) as a clerk, he was
admitted
into the school of Agriculture first at Akure and later at the Moore
Plantation, Ibadan, to undergo the three-year Agricultural
Superintendent
Course. In 1961 about midway through the agricultural training, Prof.
Omafume
Onoge competed for, and won one of the undergraduate scholarships
offered by a
consortium of American Universities under the scheme, African
Scholarship
Programme of American Universities (ASPAU).
He
recalls that this scholarship was the momentous breakthrough that he
needed in
order to actualize his father�s total passion for the education of all
his
children without gender discrimination. Although Pa Onoge himself did
not have
the opportunity to go to school, he vowed that all his children would
have
formal education. Thus, despite his lean financial resources he was
concerned
that Omafume, his senior child, must have a University education to
serve as an
effective role model for others.
Omafume
Onoge�s dedication and brilliance was readily recognized at Macalester
College,
St Paul, Minnesota, where he completed his undergraduate studies in two
years,
1961 � 1963. He earned his B.A. (Magna Cum Laude) in Sociology, with a
Minor in
Psychology. He was on the Dean�s Honour List throughout his
undergraduate
studies.
In
recognition of his intellectual strengths and moral integrity, his Alma
Mater
submitted his name to the Danforth Foundation to compete for one of the
prestigious Danforth Fellowships for the postgraduate training of
outstanding
graduate students who are likely to take up academic careers in
University
teaching. Omafume Onoge was the second student in the history of
Macalester
College to win the Fellowship.
In
1963, he was admitted into the famous Harvard University, Cambridge
Massachusetts,
where he utilized the Fellowship to undertake graduate training in
Social
Anthropology and subsequently obtained his M.A. Degree enroute to the
Ph.D
which he earned in 1970.
Teaching, Research and Administrative
Experience
Prof.
Onoge, whose first career love is teaching, is acknowledged as an
exciting,
stimulating and devoted lecturer by students who have taken his courses
at different
Universities in the U.S.A, East Africa and Nigeria over the past four
decades.
He has taught at Harvard University, Macalester College, University of
Massachusetts (Boston branch) all in the U.S.A. He also taught at the
University of Dar es Salam, Tanzania and in Nigeria at the University
of Ibadan
where he also served as Warden 1970 � 2 and Acting Hall Master of
Independence
Hall in 1974; College of Education, Abraka; and at the University of
Jos where
he was appointed Professor and Chair of Sociology Department in 1982.
In
addition to being Head of Department, Professor Onoge also held various
positions including:
Dean,
School of Postgraduate Studies
Chairman
of Board, University of Jos Consultancy Services
Director,
Centre for Development Studies
Elected
Senate Member of Council of the University, and
University
Orator
From
2000 � 2003, Professor Onoge was also Executive Director, Centre for
Advanced
Social Science (CASS), Port Harcourt, the research NGO founded by the
late
Prof. Claude Ake.
National, State and Community Service
Highlights
of such service by Prof. Onoge include the following:
Membership
of Bendel State Committee constituted by Governor Ambrose Alli to draft
the
State�s position on Derivation Principle in revenue allocation
Membership
of Federal Government Delegation to the Peoples Republic of China in
1976 in
respect of Youth Affairs
Chair
of MAMSER Resource Panel on Political Education
Leader of a three-man research study tour of
selected
African countries (TOGO, Ghana, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Zimbabwe) on
comparative
Social Mobilization Projects at the instance of the Directorate for
Social Mobilization,
Abuja, Nigeria.
Adviser
to the Federal Government Delegation to UNESCO, Paris, at the
conference on
Culture and Development
Member
of Delta State Delegation at the National Political Reforms Conference,
Abuja,
2005
Member of the Academic Planning Committee of
the new
Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun.
Deputy
Chair, Nigeria Labour Congress Commission at 30
Was
actively involved in the political struggle to create an autonomous
Uvwie Local
Government Council
Chair,
Uvwie General Improvement Union (UGIU) Panel on University Scholarships
Active
Member, UGIU Committee on Voter Registration exercise
Chair, National Census Enlightenment Support
Committee
of Urhobo Progress Union (UPU).
Professional and Community Honours include:
2003:
Distinguished and Committed Alumnus Award from Urhobo College Old
Students
Association (UCOSA)
Second
Vice President of the Social Science Academy of Nigeria
Leading
Member of South South Confab Rep. Award from the Ekpan Community
National
Convention Organizing Committee
Outstanding
Niger Deltan Award by the Niger Delta Democratic Forum
Award
of Excellence from the Uvwie General Improvement Union (UGIU)
Award
for Meritorious Contribution to Sociology from the Nigerian
Anthropological and
Sociological Association (NASA)
Guest Lecturer Plaques from Command and Staff
College,
National War College, Abuja, and Rotary International District 9140,
Warri.
Philosophy
Those
who had close contact with Prof. Omafume Onoge attest to his humility
and
fundamental hatred of all forms of oppression and injustice. His
consistent
commitment to the democratic empowerment of the masses and the quest
for a
humanist social order had sometimes placed him in difficulty with the
ruling
establishments of the Nigerian State. Prof. Onoge nonetheless states
that his
humanist vision is rooted firmly in the early moral education he
received from
his father; his intellectual encounter with the non-racial,
anti-imperialist
Pan-Africanism of Kwame Nkrumah; the great Civil Rights Movements led
by Reverend
Martin Luther King; as well as the radical optimism of the Marxist
outlook on
the transitions of socio - economic formations.
His
seminal publications which traverse socio-cultural theory, sociology of
Literature, medical anthropology, national liberation movements, gender
equality, youth rebellions, religions of the poor, and the dialectics
of post-colonial
democratization, are driven by his core pro-people values.
Prof.
Omafume F. Onoge is the first Uvwie Ph.D Lecturer and Professor, as
well as University
Orator. He retired from the University of Jos on October 20, 2003.
Since his
retirement, Prof. Onoge had predictably been serving his Uvwie and
Urhobo
communities in various capacities by deploying his intellect, exposure
and
networks.
Married Life
Prof.
Onoge was married to an ideal companion, late Barrister Mrs Patience
Ogheneochuko Onoge, nee Egbelughe, of Ekpan in Uvwie Kingdom. The
family is
blessed with three daughters and two sons as follows;
Ms
Forabo Bamidele Onoge - Attorney, New York, U.S.A.
Edirin
Keyamo Onoge - West Virginia, U.S.A.
Barr. Ms
Otome Ighofose Onoge - Legal Practitioner
Ms
Rukewan Onoge - Babcock University, Ilisan Remo, Ogun State.