Chief Vivianus Uku was born in Oshogbo, Oyo State, Nigeria in 1929, the son of Chief A.U. Uku, the Olareaja of Okere of Okere Community, in Warri South Local Government Area, and First Commissioner for Trade and Industry in defunct Midwest State. His mother was Mabel T. Uku, a Papal Knight of the Catholic Church and daughter of a merchant and rubber plantation owner. Vivianus attended Ibadan Grammar School from 1944-49 and after completing his Cambridge School Certificate, worked initially as a Commercial Artist in Lagos, in the Public Relations Department (later the Ministry of Information), followed by serving as a Draughtsman for the Ministry of Works and Surveys. In August 1952 he moved to the UK to study architecture at the Municipal College, Southend-on-Sea, where he was a prize-winning student. He transferred to the University of Sheffield in 1955, for the final two years of his RIBA part 2 training, graduating in 1957. He then enrolled on the 6-month, post-graduate course held at the Architectural Association’s Department of Tropical Architecture, in London, successfully completing the course and receiving the Certificate in Tropical Architecture. Following a brief stint at Warwick County Council’s Architect’s Department, Uke returned to Nigeria in May 1959 and was employed in Ibadan by the Architect’s Department at the Ministry of Works and Transport- one of his projects being the Health Auxiliary Training School, Ibadan. In July 1963 he was promoted to Architect Grade and soon the following month transferred to Benin-City, at the Creation of Midwest Region (later Bendel State). As the most senior architect in the Ministry of Works and Transport for the new State, Vivianus was responsible for established the Building Division of the Ministry and in 1967, he was appointed to the position of Chief Architect. Amongst the many significant projects which were designed under his supervison, between 1963 and 1971, were the Secretarial Complex and the High Court Building in Benin. He retired voluntarily from public service in 1971, in order to open his own practice, ‘Vivian Uku and Associates ’which he was to run until his semi-retirement in 1996. This practice developed into one of the largest and most important firms in Benin City, responsible for over 90 projects, in Bendel State as well as in Enugu, Calabar, Port Harcourt, Abeokuta and Umunze. The work of the practice ranged from religious buildings, such as St. Albert’s Catholic Chapel, at the University of Benin, to commercial enterprises, such as the Kingsway Store, Akpakpava Street, Benin, the Headquarters of the New Nigerian Bank on Mission Road (and bank branch on Lagos Road), Benin City, to federal housing projects on Ikpoba Hill, Benin City. Educational buildings became something of a speciality and Vivian Uke and Associates were responsible for master planning and designing many such projects, including Ozoro Polytechnic, the College of Education, Warri and Teaching Training Colleges at Owa-Abavo and Obiaruku, Ika and Ndokwa. He was part of a group formed by the Nigerian Universities Commission (NUC), charged with developing guidelines for the master planning of existing and new universities across Nigeria. Vivian had been one of the founding members of the Nigerian Society of Architects in 1960 and was responsible for the design of their official logo. He served as President of the Nigerian Institute of Architects from 1975-77.

 Sources

• Architectural Association Student Register 1945-1972, AA Archives
• Architectural Association Council Minutes Books, 24th February, 1958, p237. AA Archives
• Arena: The Architectural Association Journal, Vol. 73, 1957, p204.
• The National Archives, London, UK; Board of Trade: Commercial and Statistical Department and Successors: Inwards Passenger Lists; Class: Bt26; Piece: 1289; Item: 60
• The National Archive, London. UK; BT27 Board of Trade: Commercial and Statistical Department and Successors: Outwards Passenger Lists; Reference Number: Series BT27-
• Uku, P.E.B. 25 Years of Partnership, Bendel Newspaper Corporation, 1986.
• Jackson, I., Harrison, E., Tenzon, M., Woudstra, R., Tunstall, C., Architecture, Empire, and Trade: The United Africa Company Bloomsbury, 2025, p383
• When Architects Gathered in Benin City, Vervepoints, 9th September 2016. https://vervepoints.blogspot.com/2016/09/when-archtects-gathered-in-benin-city.html  Accessed 25th March, 2025
• Personal correspondence, Dr Teri Okoro, November, 2025