Chief Cyprian Odiatu Duaka Ekwensi MFR[1] (26 September 1921 – 4 November 2007) was a Nigerian author of novels, short stories, and children's books.

Cyprian Odiatu Duaka Ekwensi, an Igbo, was born in Minna, the capital city of Niger State, north-central Nigeria.

Ekwensi was employed as Head of Features at the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) and by the Ministry of Information during the First Republic;[4] he eventually became Director of the latter.

Ekwensi wrote hundreds of short stories, radio and television scripts, and several dozen novels, including children's books.

[6] His most successful novel was Jagua Nana (1961),[7] about a Pidgin-speaking Nigerian woman who leaves her husband to work as a prostitute in a city and falls in love with a teacher.