Echeruo was primarily notable as a critic of western writers on Africa, as he viewed himself and his contemporaries as writers fighting for an African viewpoint instead of a western viewpoint on the continent. He is best known in poetry for his collection of poems, Mortality (1968); in cultural history for his pioneering study of Victorian Lagos and in lexicography for his Dictionary of the Igbo Language (Yale 1998). He is currently William Safire Professor of Modern Letters in the English Department of Syracuse University.
Echeruo was primarily recognized for critiquing Western perspectives on Africa through his writing. He is well-known for his poetry collection Mortality (1968), his study of Victorian Lagos, and his dictionary of the Igbo Language (Yale 1998). Currently, he holds the position of William Safire Professor of Modern Letters at Syracuse University.