Jenda: A Journal of Culture and African Women Studies ISSN: 1530-5686 Obituary: Nina Emma Mba

One of the pioneers of women's history in Nigeria and a member of our advisory board, Nina Emma Mba has died. Her untimely death occurred on Monday, January 14, 2002, following a brief illness.

An Australian by birth, Nina Mba first came to Nigeria in December 1966 and married Benedict Mba the following month. She entered the Ph.D. program at the University of Ibadan. Her thesis on women's political participation in Nigeria from 1900 to 1965 was the first full-scale study of Nigerian women's history and became one of the benchmarks in the evolution of women's studies in the country. In 1982, the thesis was published by the Institute of International Studies at the University of California in Berkeley under the title Nigerian Women Mobilized: Women's Political Activity in Southern Nigerian, 1900-1965. She joined the Department of History at the University of Lagos where she actively encouraged the development of women's history and Nigerian biography. A few years ago she retired from the University of Lagos and established a small publishing company. In addition, she was associated with a Lagos research center that promoted biographical research of eminent figures in Nigerian public life.

Among her publications were Ayo Rosiji, A Man with Vision (1992); For Women and the Nation: Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti of Nigeria (1997), co-authored with Cheryl Johnson-Odim; and two co-edited works, Humanities and National Development in Nigeria (1991, co-edited with A. E. Enuvbetine) and Nigerian Women in Politics 1986-1993 (1996, co-edited with Clara Osinulu). In addition, she wrote for a wider audience, joining the staff of the popular Lagos newspaper, Vanguard, in January 2001. Her column, "Insider/Outsider" appeared regularly.

Nina Mba was active in both scholarly and cultural organizations in Nigeria. She was a staunch member of the Historical Society of Nigeria, serving a term on the executive council. In addition, she was a founding member of the Women's Research and Documentation Centre at the University of Ibadan and the Women's Studies Network in Nigeria, as well as a member of the advisory board of Jenda: A Journal of Culture and African Women Studies. For her contribution to her husband's community, she was inducted into the Otu Odu Society of Onitsha in Anambra State in April 2001.

She was 58 years old. She is survived by her husband and four children.

Copyright 2002 Africa Resource Center, Inc.

Citation Format

Obituary (2002). Nina Emma Mba. Jenda: A Journal of Culture and African Women Studies: 1, 2.