Season 5 Episode 1- The 2023 Nigerian Elections, a human rights lens
04/03/23 • 37 min
In conversation with Professor Christopher Isike, Janet Gbam and Foluso Adegalu
On February 25 2023, the Nigerian presidential elections were held. Nigerian voters came out in their numbers to cast their ballots to select the next president after outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari stepped down. This was against a political background of mounting unhappiness and widespread unrest, insecurity and economic hardship, such as the inability to access cash, high inflation, deadly attacks by gunmen against civilians. While the elections were initially marked by a high voter turnout and mainly peaceful voting, they were marred reports of vote buying, voter intimidation, attacks on polling units in certain areas, and unpunctual electoral officials along with accusations of outright fraud to compound issues with trust in the election. Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) also failed to upload polling unit results to the INEC result viewing portal as previously assured would happen on election day. It is light of these circumstances, along with statements critical of INEC from observers and civil society groups that have inspired this conversation. This episode analyses the developments of these elections from a human rights lens.
Professionally, Ms Janet Uosu Gbam is an international human rights lawyer and Doctoral Candidate from the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria. Over the last ten years, she has successfully worked with teams to promote and protect human rights by initiating, managing, and executing humanitarian, and human rights programs touching on racial, ethnic, gender, and socio-economic issues for notable human rights organisations. She also has experience working with international NGOs in West Africa, Southern Africa and the United States.
We spoke to Foluso Adegalu, a Doctoral Researcher and Programme Manager for the Litigation and Implementation Unit at the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria. His research interest in international human rights law focuses on improving the efficacy of international human rights standards and monitoring mechanisms. Foluso’s human rights practice includes the strategic use of the law particularly through judicial and quasi-judicial institutions to enforce human rights, prevent human rights violations, and seek redress for victims of human rights violations. He is a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria with over ten years of experience in legal practice.
Christopher Isike, PhD, is a Professor of African Politics and International Relations in the Department of Political Sciences, University of Pretoria and Director of the African Centre for the Study of the United States, University of Pretoria (ACSUS-UP), South Africa. He is also the current President of the African Association of Political Science (AAPS), and member of the Board of Directors of Global Development Network (GDN). Professor Isike conducts research from an Africanist lens, and teaches international relations theory, strategic and security studies, and security theory at the University of Pretoria. His research interests include African soft power politics, women, peace and conflict studies, women and political representation in Africa, rethinking state formation in Africa, politics in a digital era and African immigration to South Africa. A C2 rated researcher by the National Research Foundation, Professor Isike has over 70 publications in top national and international peer-reviewed journals including chapters in books published by reputable publishing houses globally. He is Editor-in-Chief of Africa’s foremost political science journal, Politikon: South African Journal of Political Studies (2020 to 2024), and has been Editor of Ubuntu: Journal of Conflict and Social Transformation since 2017. He also serves on the editorial board of several reputable international journals, such as International Political Science Abstracts, Canadian Journal of African Studies,
In conversation with Professor Christopher Isike, Janet Gbam and Foluso Adegalu
On February 25 2023, the Nigerian presidential elections were held. Nigerian voters came out in their numbers to cast their ballots to select the next president after outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari stepped down. This was against a political background of mounting unhappiness and widespread unrest, insecurity and economic hardship, such as the inability to access cash, high inflation, deadly attacks by gunmen against civilians. While the elections were initially marked by a high voter turnout and mainly peaceful voting, they were marred reports of vote buying, voter intimidation, attacks on polling units in certain areas, and unpunctual electoral officials along with accusations of outright fraud to compound issues with trust in the election. Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) also failed to upload polling unit results to the INEC result viewing portal as previously assured would happen on election day. It is light of these circumstances, along with statements critical of INEC from observers and civil society groups that have inspired this conversation. This episode analyses the developments of these elections from a human rights lens.
Professionally, Ms Janet Uosu Gbam is an international human rights lawyer and Doctoral Candidate from the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria. Over the last ten years, she has successfully worked with teams to promote and protect human rights by initiating, managing, and executing humanitarian, and human rights programs touching on racial, ethnic, gender, and socio-economic issues for notable human rights organisations. She also has experience working with international NGOs in West Africa, Southern Africa and the United States.
We spoke to Foluso Adegalu, a Doctoral Researcher and Programme Manager for the Litigation and Implementation Unit at the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria. His research interest in international human rights law focuses on improving the efficacy of international human rights standards and monitoring mechanisms. Foluso’s human rights practice includes the strategic use of the law particularly through judicial and quasi-judicial institutions to enforce human rights, prevent human rights violations, and seek redress for victims of human rights violations. He is a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria with over ten years of experience in legal practice.
Christopher Isike, PhD, is a Professor of African Politics and International Relations in the Department of Political Sciences, University of Pretoria and Director of the African Centre for the Study of the United States, University of Pretoria (ACSUS-UP), South Africa. He is also the current President of the African Association of Political Science (AAPS), and member of the Board of Directors of Global Development Network (GDN). Professor Isike conducts research from an Africanist lens, and teaches international relations theory, strategic and security studies, and security theory at the University of Pretoria. His research interests include African soft power politics, women, peace and conflict studies, women and political representation in Africa, rethinking state formation in Africa, politics in a digital era and African immigration to South Africa. A C2 rated researcher by the National Research Foundation, Professor Isike has over 70 publications in top national and international peer-reviewed journals including chapters in books published by reputable publishing houses globally. He is Editor-in-Chief of Africa’s foremost political science journal, Politikon: South African Journal of Political Studies (2020 to 2024), and has been Editor of Ubuntu: Journal of Conflict and Social Transformation since 2017. He also serves on the editorial board of several reputable international journals, such as International Political Science Abstracts, Canadian Journal of African Studies,
Previous Episode
S4 E5: #GreenJusticeAfrica: Impacts of Climate Change to African Indigenous Communities
In conversation with Dr Melakou, Xanne Bekaert, Jean-Mary Tjiohimba and Martin Simotwo
The Centre for Human Rights is embarking on a campaign #GreenJusticeAfrica, to address the impact of climate change on the protection and fulfilment of human rights in Africa. This episode focuses on the impact of climate change on Indigenous People and it was recorded in light of the Advanced Human Rights Course on Indigenous Peoples' Rights.
The episode takes a twist, unique from the other episodes, as it narrates the experiences of representatives from the Ogiek and Khoisan communities, Martin Simotwo and Jean Mary Tjiohimba respectively. Martin Simotwo is member of the Board of Directors of Chepkitale, a non-governmental organisation whose aim is to ensure the realisation of Chepkita people's rights. Jean Mary Tjiohimba is the founder and Managing Director of the San Vision Foundation, an organisation whose aim is to provide education for the Khoisan Indigenous community. Dr. Melakou Tegegn, Member of The Working Group on Indigenous Populations goes on to give a scholarly analysis of the impact of climate change on indigenous groups in Africa, while Xanne Bakaert, a passionate and entrepreneurial student of law, narrates the importance of respecting the environment through a human rights lens. She emphasises the importance of the human rights perspective as it is important in order to draw attention to the protection of the rights of the indigenous peoples, who are particularly vulnerable to environmental degradation because of their dependence on the environment.
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This conversation was recorded on 11 November 2022
Music: Inner Peace by Mike Chino https://soundcloud.com/mike-chinoCreative Commons — Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported — CC BY-SA 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b...Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/0nI6qJeqFcc. Light-Optimistic-Corporate https://stock.adobe.com/. adobe stockad_AdobeStock_564752180_preview.m4ahttps://stock.adobe.com/.
Next Episode
S4 E6:The Nigerian 2023 Elections, a human rights lens
In conversation with Professor Christopher Isike, Janet Gbam and Foluso Adegalu
On February 25 2023, the Nigerian presidential elections were held. Nigerian voters came out in their numbers to cast their ballots to select the next president after outgoing President Muhammadu Buhari stepped down. This was against a political background of mounting unhappiness and widespread unrest, insecurity and economic hardship, such as the inability to access cash, high inflation, deadly attacks by gunmen against civilians. While the elections were initially marked by a high voter turnout and mainly peaceful voting, they were marred reports of vote buying, voter intimidation, attacks on polling units in certain areas, and unpunctual electoral officials along with accusations of outright fraud to compound issues with trust in the election. Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) also failed to upload polling unit results to the INEC result viewing portal as previously assured would happen on election day. It is light of these circumstances, along with statements critical of INEC from observers and civil society groups that have inspired this conversation. This episode analyses the developments of these elections from a human rights lens.
Professionally, Ms Janet Uosu Gbam is an international human rights lawyer and Doctoral Candidate from the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria. Over the last ten years, she has successfully worked with teams to promote and protect human rights by initiating, managing, and executing humanitarian, and human rights programs touching on racial, ethnic, gender, and socio-economic issues for notable human rights organisations. She also has experience working with international NGOs in West Africa, Southern Africa and the United States.
We spoke to Foluso Adegalu, a Doctoral Researcher and Programme Manager for the Litigation and Implementation Unit at the Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria. His research interest in international human rights law focuses on improving the efficacy of international human rights standards and monitoring mechanisms. Foluso’s human rights practice includes the strategic use of the law particularly through judicial and quasi-judicial institutions to enforce human rights, prevent human rights violations, and seek redress for victims of human rights violations. He is a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria with over ten years of experience in legal practice.
Christopher Isike, PhD, is a Professor of African Politics and International Relations in the Department of Political Sciences, University of Pretoria and Director of the African Centre for the Study of the United States, University of Pretoria (ACSUS-UP), South Africa. He is also the current President of the African Association of Political Science (AAPS), and member of the Board of Directors of Global Development Network (GDN). Professor Isike conducts research from an Africanist lens, and teaches international relations theory, strategic and security studies, and security theory at the University of Pretoria. His research interests include African soft power politics, women, peace and conflict studies, women and political representation in Africa, rethinking state formation in Africa, politics in a digital era and African immigration to South Africa. A C2 rated researcher by the National Research Foundation, Professor Isike has over 70 publications in top national and international peer-reviewed journals including chapters in books published by reputable publishing houses globally. He is Editor-in-Chief of Africa’s foremost political science journal, Politikon: South African Journal of Political Studies (2020 to 2024), and has been Editor of Ubuntu: Journal of Conflict and Social Transformation since 2017. He also serves on the editorial board of several reputable international journals, such as International Political Science Abstracts, Canadian Journal of African Studies
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