Obi Wali
| Obi Wali | |
|---|---|
| Born | Rumuigbo Town |
| Died | 1993 |
| Occupation | Nigerian politician and writer |
Obi Wali was a minority rights activist, politician, distinguished senator, literary scholar, and an orator from Nigeria. Among his achievements, he fought for the cause of the Ikwerre ethnic minorities and argued that African literature should be written in African languages.
Obi Wali was born in 1932 in Rumuigbo Town, headquarters of Apara Kingdom, in Obio Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State. He was educated at the West African People’s Institute, Calabar followed by St. Augustine’s Secondary School, Nkwerre. For his higher education he attended the University College Ibadan where he specialized in literature. He then continued his studies in the United States where he obtained a doctorate degree in literature.
Little additional information is available about his early life or personal/family life.
Wali was one of the founding fathers of Rivers State in Nigeria and served as the first Commissioner for Education as well as a member of the first executive council of the state. He was later elected as a member of the 1978 Constituent Assembly and also as a member of the Constitution Drafting Committee that drafted the 1979 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He was elected as a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in the Second Republic and in 1980 he was elected the Minority Leader of the House of Senate, Federal Republic of Nigeria.
As a politician, he is perhaps most remembered for championing the cause of the Ikwerre ethnic minorities in Nigeria. Senator Wali was one of the best known leaders from the Niger Delta region to consistently campaign against the marginalization of the Niger Delta people (particularly the Ikwerre ethnic nationality). He fought for the creation of Port Harcourt State out of the then Rivers State of Nigeria. Creating the Port Harcourt State for the Ikwerre people was an important achievement in his advocacy for the end of the marginalization and oppression of the Ikwerre, and the state-inspired exploitation of their resources. Wali campaigned for the correction of the imbalances in the socio-economic and political power of the Nigerian state throughout his political career. He also is remembered for his call for a critical examination of Nigeria's commitments to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
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