A renowned human rights and pro-democracy activist, Professor Sylvester Odion Akhaine, is slated to deliver the 103rd Inaugural Lecture of Lagos State University, Ojo.

Titled, “SHIFTING FOR GOOD: THE WEAPON OF EMPIRICISM IN THE DISORDER OF A THIRD WAVE OF DEMOCRACY IN AFRICA”, the lecture promises to explore trends in Comparative Politics across the African Continent and the world.

Scheduled to hold by 3pm on Tuesday, February 25th, 2025 at the Buba Marwa Auditorium LASU, Ojo Main Campus, Ojo Lagos, the event expected to be presided over by the institution’s Vice Chancellor, Prof Ibiyemi Olatunji-Bello, will draw prominent guests from the academia, civil society, media and the political class from different parts of the country.

Akhaine, a leading professor of Political Science with specialization on Comparative Politics, has over 100 published papers in renowned journals, monographs, books and other publications.

A former general secretary of Campaign for Democracy (CD), the arrowhead movement that galvanized civil action to end military rule in the 90s in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, he is also a former public relations officer of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), playing a front role in the anti-Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) campaign in the late 80s. He was also a member of the Marxist League, a radical group at the University of Lagos.

After his graduation with a Bachelor of Arts in History from the University of Lagos in the early 90s, Akhaine had wanted to immediately enlist for a master’s programme but he took a break to engage actively in the ensuing pro- democracy agitation arising from the Gen Ibrahim Babangida regime’s annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, largely perceived to have been won by frontline business mogul, Bashorun Moshood Abiola.

He later enlisted for a master’s programme in the Department of History and International Studies at the Lagos State University (LASU) with his thesis entitled “Human Rights Diplomacy and Authoritarian Regimes: A Case Study of Nigeria”. He also earned a PhD from the Department of Politics and International Relations at Royal Holloway, University of London in the UK. His PhD thesis, entitled, “Human Rights Diplomacy and the Democratic Project in West Africa” further evinces his authority on issues concerning human rights and pro-democracy struggles in Africa.

Akhaine, a former executive director of the Center for Constitutionalism and Governance (CENCOD), is a member of the editorial board of The Constitution, a journal of Constitutional Development and a much sort after resource by academics across the world, which has been published by CENCOD for many years.