Samuel Okoye

Samuel Ejikeme Okoye (26 July 1939 – 18 November 2009) was a Nigerian astrophysicist from Amawbia in Anambra State, Nigeria.

Okoye was the first black African to obtain a doctorate degree in Radio Astronomy.

Samuel Okoye was born in Amawbia, in south eastern Nigeria, son of Simeon and Agnes Okoye.

He was the fifth of nine children.

Chinyere (1942-2007) was a native of Arondizuogu in Imo State, South East (Nigeria).

They had four children.

Maureen- lawyer, Obinna- IT consultant, Ndidi- physician and Amaechi- political scientist.

Okoye obtained a Bachelor of Science degree (B.Sc), First Class Honors in Physics from University of Ibadan, established in 1948 as a college of the University of London and a doctorate degree (PhD) in Radio Astronomy from Churchill College, University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, making him the first black African to obtain a doctorate in Radio Astronomy.

Okoye was a fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Science as well as the Royal Astronomical Society of the United Kingdom.

He was a member of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs, the New York Academy of Sciences, International Network of Engineers and Scientists for Global Responsibility and the International Astronomical Union.

Simeon died late in 1949 when Sam was ten years.

Okoye started teaching Physics at the University of Ibadan in 1965 and later transferred to the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) just before the outbreak of the Nigerian civil war, where he founded the University’s Space Research Center in 1972.

Okoye married Chinyere Ucheime Obioha in 1969.

There, he was elevated to a professorship in physics in 1976.

Between 1978 and 1989, Professor Okoye was appointed the Director, Division of General Studies, Head Department of Physics and Astronomy; Associate Dean and later Dean of the Faculty of Physical Sciences.

He was acting Vice Chancellor of the University of Nigeria from June to September 1978.

Okoye was elected Dean School of Post Graduate Studies.

On the international stage, Okoye attended several Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs between 1979–91, serving as a member of Pugwash Council from 1988–93.

Sam was a part-time consultant to the United Nations on the development of Space Science end Technology in developing countries (1979–1986).

He also published a monograph, Viable and Affordable Policy Objectives for a Nigerian Space Programme in the 1980s and co-edited two books: Basic Science Development in Nigeria: Problems and Prospects, and the World at the Cross-roads: Towards a Sustainable, Equitable and Liveable World.

Okoye served Nigeria in a number of capacities including:

Okoye was a visiting scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy in Bonn, Germany between August and October 1986.

University of Nigeria, Nsukka from 1987 to 1989.

From 1990-93, Okoye was also appointed Commonwealth Academic Staff Fellow at the University of Cambridge and a visiting professor/senior research fellow at the Institute of Astronomy, and fellow commoner at Churchill College at the University of Cambridge.

In December 1993, Sam was seconded from the University of Nigeria to the Federal Government as director (overseas liaison), initially at the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) Lagos, and subsequently the Nigerian Ministry of Science & Technology Abuja, where he also served as the pioneer science attaché and head of the Science and Technology Unit at the Nigerian High Commission, London.

Okoye published numerous scientific papers on Ionosphere Physics, Solar Physics and the Theory of Extragalactic Radio Sources and Cosmology.

On 18 August 1993 (with effect from 14th September 1993), Okoye was appointed Nigeria's pioneer Science Attaché to the Kingdom to cover all the countries of the European Economic Community.

He was seconded (while in London) to the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) under late Professor Gordian Ezekwe, and subsequently transferred to the office of the Hon. Minister of Science and Technology with effect from 1 January 1994.

Okoye died in London on 18 November 2009.

Citations

8. Biography of The Foremost Nigerian Radio Astronomer, Prof Sam E. Okoye FAS, FRAS, FNIP (Authors: Alexander O.E. Animalu and Pius N. Okeke) - Published by Centre for Basic Space Science 2009.

9. Nigeria's first radio astronomer: Astronomy & Geophysics, Volume 61, Issue 5, 1 October 2020, Pages 5.28–5.30