Okello Oculi

• Name — Okello Oculi • Born — 1942 • Birthplace — Dokolo, Protectorate of Uganda, British Empire • Died — 26 July 2025 • Place of death — Abuja, Nigeria • Education — Makerere University (BA); University of Essex (MA); University of Wisconsin (PhD) • Occupation — * Writer • poet • university professor • consultant • Years Active — 1967–2025 • Citizenship — Uganda and Nigeria

Oculi was born in 1942 in Dokolo District which is present day Lira District of Northern Uganda. Oculi was educated at Soroti College in present day Soroti district and St. Peter's College Tororo all in Eastern Uganda for his O-level journey. He then attended St. Mary's College Kisubi for his A-Level examinations (S5 -S6). He entered Makerere University Uganda's oldest university where he studied political science graduating in 1967 with a bachelor's degree. During his undergraduate studies at Makerere, he spent one year, from 1964 until 1965, as an exchange student at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, United States. In 1968, he obtained a Master's degree from the University of Essex, in the United Kingdom. In 1972, a Rockefeller foundation scholarship was given to him at the University of Wisconsin. Here he was offered a fellowship and later obtained a doctorate in political science. In 1977 after obtaining his PhD, he took a detour to Nigeria dreading the new Ugandan president called Amin. This is because while at Makerere university he was part of a student movement that supported the pre-current president(Milton Obote) at the time. Oculi died in Abuja on 26 July 2025, at the age of 83.

Oculi's writing is filled with authentic snatches of conversation, proverbs, and folk wisdom. His poetry, like that of Okot p'Bitek and Joseph Buruga, seeks to re-assert the cultural heritage of Africa with a critique of foreign influences in East Africa.

Okello Oculi is recorded as university teacher, writer, poet and political scientist.