[citation needed] He grew up in Lagos, Nigeria, attending St. Gregory's College, Obalende (1965–69),[1] and returned to Britain for further education at the University College of Wales, Swansea (BA, 1972–75), and at the School of Oriental and African Studies, London University (1984–86), where he gained a Master of Arts degree in African studies.
[5] Maja-Pearce runs an editorial services agency called Yemaja,[6] as well as a small publishing company, The New Gong.
[9] Most notable, however, as an essayist, he has written several non-fiction books, including the 2005 Remembering Ken Saro-Wiwa and Other Essays, which in the opinion of critic Uzor Uzoatu "affords us the opportunity of dipping into the immense world of Maja-Pearce as he, in twenty-three heartfelt essays and reviews, illuminates the benighted mores of modern Nigeria, the identity question in South Africa ... and engages with seminal minds across the world.
"[10] Maja-Pearce was the editor of Christopher Okigbo's Collected Poems (1986), as well as of anthologies such as The Heinemann Book of African Poetry in English (1990) and Who's Afraid of Wole Soyinka?
[2] His memoirs include 1987's In My Father's Country: A Nigerian Journey and, most recently, The House My Father Built (2014), which the reviewer for the online magazine Bakwa described in the following terms: "a harrowing tale of Nigeria as it then was (1993–1999); a memoir of Adewale Maja-Pearce's quest to possess his birth right, his country and personal dignity.