Professor Abiodun Alao

Abiodun Alao is a Professor of African Studies at the African Leadership Centre.

He teaches on the African Leadership Centre MSc programmes and supervises postgraduate students. He is also the Chair of the Centre’s Examination Board and also the Acting Chair of the School of Global Affairs Exam Board.

Abiodun holds a BA in History and MA in International Relations from the Universities of Ibadan and Ife, respectively. He holds a Doctorate in War Studies from King’s, where he was a Ford Foundation Doctoral Scholar and also held the SSRC-MacArthur Post-Doctoral Fellowship.

Previously, he held teaching and research position at the Obafemi Awolowo University Ile Ife, Nigeria and was a Visiting Research Associate at the University of Zimbabwe. He also holds a Visiting Professorship position at the Nigerian Defence Academy.

Research

• Emerging powers and global leadership
• The politics of natural resources management
• Religious radicalisation and political violence
• Politics, security and international relations in Africa

Apart from extensive publications on African security issues, he has undertaken numerous assignments for international organisations, including the United Nations, African Union, European Union, World Bank and ECOWAS, and for individual countries.

In 2000, he was part of the team that undertook a comprehensive Threat Assessment for Rwanda after the genocide, and between 2001 and 2002 he was amongst the team of academic experts that advised the Office of the United Nations Secretary-General on the Civil War in Sierra Leone.

He co-authored the Concept Note for the Common Defence and Security Policy for the Africa Union in 2003 and also co-authored the first post-Civil War National Security Strategy Framework for Liberia.

He was also a member of the King’s team that worked on the 'Development of Donor Countries Effectiveness in Fragile States.'

Further details

See Abiodun's research profile