eCREATIVE
Kelechi Eke
Eke:
FILMMAKER ON A MISSION
by Robert Kaufman
A
fter high school in Nigeria,
Kelechi Eke received an
academic scholarship to
study physics and
mathematics at his father’s alma mater
in the United States. Growing up in
Texas, he thought one day he might
work at NASA. But when he took a
computer programming course, he was
fascinated by the calculations and data
tracking he could do through computer
technology. He switched his major to
computer science and planned to return
home to Nigeria when he finished
college.
Though his parents were proud of
his educational accomplishment and
wanted him to come home, political
unrest under a tough dictatorship in
Nigeria at the time caused them to
advise to their son to stay in the United
States.
Today with Masters degrees in
Information Technology and Business
Administration, Kelechi Eke works fulltime in computer programming.
“African people always want to get
more education, to learn more,” he
said. His PhD studies had to take a back
seat to his increasing family
responsibilities.
As he built his professional and
personal life in the United States, Eke
continued to stay abreast with political
and social issues in his native country. “I
started writing about various issues and
contributing to online discussion
forums,” he noted. But he wanted other