Dr. Hakeem Onapajo

Designation:

Senior Lecturer

Department:

Political Science & International Relations

Office:

Block B, Room 315

Biography

Dr Onapajo holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. He was a Post-Doctoral Fellow in the Department of Politics and International Studies at the University of Zululand, South Africa. He has also lectured in the School of Social Sciences of the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. He researches in the areas of conflict, security and elections in Africa. One of Nigeria’s most cited political scientists (according to GoogleScholar’s citations and AD Scientific Index), Dr Onapajo’s publications in top-rated publication outlets are significant contributions in his discipline.

Dr Onapajo is an awardee of the African Humanities Program postdoctoral fellowship awarded by the American Council of Learned Societies. He has delivered talks on topics in his specialization at local and international forums including the Chatham House of the United Kingdom. He has consulted for state and non-state agencies on various developmental issues around peace-building, elections and democratization. Some of them include the Presidential Amnesty Office, The Electoral Institute of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD) and the African Heritage Institution.

Recent Publications (Articles, Books, Book Chapters/Sections, Proceedings, etc.)

Books
1. Babalola, D. and Onapajo, H. (eds.) (2018). A Country Under Siege: Issues of Conflict and its Management in Democratic Nigeria. New Castle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

2. David, O., Lucky E. A., and Onapajo, H. (2015). Boko Haram: The Socio-Economic Drivers.
Heidelberg, New York, Dordrecht, London: Springer.

 

Journal Articles

3. Onapajo, H. (2020). Children in Boko Haram Conflict: The Neglected Facet of a Decade of Terror in Nigeria, African Security, DOI: 10.1080/19392206.2020.1770919

4. Onapajo, H. (2020). The Tragedy of the Umpire: The Electoral Body and the 2019 General Elections in Nigeria. The Round Table, https://doi.org/10.1080/00358533.2020.1788765 3.

5. Onapajo, H. & Ozden, K. (2020). Non-military approach against terrorism in Nigeria: deradicalization strategies and challenges in countering Boko Haram. Security Journal, 1-17.

6. Uzodike, U. O., & Onapajo, H. (2019). Beyond the Card Reader: Anti-election Rigging Technology and National Security in Nigeria. Insight on Africa, 11(2), 145-161.

7. Babalola, D., & Onapajo, H. (2019). New Clamour for” Restructuring” in Nigeria: Elite Politics, Contradictions, and Good Governance. African Studies Quarterly, 18(4).

8. Ozden, K., & Onapajo, H. (2019). Fighting the scourge from abroad: anti-corruption war in Nigeria’s foreign policy under the Buhari Administration, 2015 to 2019. African Renaissance, 16(4), 157-175

9. Onapajo, H. (2017). Has Nigeria Defeated Boko Haram? An Appraisal of the Counter Terrorism Approach under the Buhari Administration. Strategic Analysis, 41(1), 61-73.

10. Isike, C. & Onapajo, H. (2017). The Decline of an African Dominant Party? The Case and Future of South Africa’s ANC. Politiea (Published by Department of University of South Africa, UNISA)

11. Onapajo, H. (2017). Politics and the Pulpit: Religion and Politics in Nigeria’s 2015 Presidential Election. Journal of African Elections, 15(2), 112-135 (Publisher: Electoral Institute of South Africa (EISA), Johannesburg – South Africa)

12. Onapajo, H. (2017). State Repression and Religious Conflict: The Perils of the State Clampdown on the Shia Minority in Nigeria. Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 1-14. (Publisher: Taylor & Francis United Kingdom for Institute of Muslim Minority Affairs (IMMA), United Kingdom).

13. Dan Suleiman, M., Onapajo, H., & Maiangwa, B. (2017). Perspectives on “New” Conflict in Africa. Peace Review: A Journal of Social Justice, 29(3), 269-274

14. Onapajo, H., & Moshood, A. W. B. (2016). The civilianisation of ex-combatants of the Niger Delta: Progress and challenges in reintegration. African Journal on Conflict Resolution, 16(1), 35- 59

15. Ogunnubi, O., Onapajo, H., & Isike, C. (2016). A Failing Regional Power? Nigeria’s International Status in the Age of Boko Haram. Politikon, 1-20.

16. Onapajo, H. (2015). Nigeria’s 2015 General Elections: The Salience of Electoral Reforms. The Round Table: Commonwealth Journal of International Affairs. DOI:10.1080/00358533.2015.1090795. (Publisher: Taylor & Francis United Kingdom). 15.

17. Onapajo, H. (2015). How Credible Were the Nigerian 2015 General Elections? An “Electoral Integrity” Framework of Analysis. African Renaissance, 12 (3 & 4) (2015), pp.11- 39. (Publisher: Adonis & Abbey, United Kingdom)

18. Uzodike, U.O. & Onapajo, H. (2015). The Rage of Insurgency: Why Boko Haram may Remain Untamed. African Renaissance, 12(2), pp.49-70. (Publisher: Adonis & Abbey, United Kingdom)

19. Onapajo, H. & Usman, A.A. (2015). Fuelling the Flames: Boko Haram and Deteriorating Christian-Muslim Relations in Nigeria. Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 35 (1), pp.106-122 (Publisher: Taylor & Francis United Kingdom for Institute of Muslim Minority Affairs (IMMA), United Kingdom).

20. Onapajo, H. (2014). The Incumbent, Votes and Violence in Nigeria: The Dominance of Incumbents in the Use of Violence to Rig Elections. Africa Spectrum, 49(2), pp.27-51 (Publisher: German Institute of Global and Area Studies (GIGA), Hamburg – Germany).

21. Onapajo, H. & Uzodike, U.O. (2014). Rigging through the Courts: The Judiciary and Electoral Fraud in Nigeria. Journal of African Elections, 13(2), pp.137-168 (Publisher: Electoral Institute of South Africa (EISA), Johannesburg – South Africa).

22. Onapajo, H, Francis, S., & Uzodike, U.O (2014). “Oil Corrupts Elections”: The Political Economy of Vote Buying in Nigeria. African Studies Quarterly, 15 (2). (Publisher: Center for African Studies, University of Florida).

23. Uzodike U.O. & Onapajo, H. (2013). Women and Development in Africa: Competing Approaches and Contested Achievements. Alternation, 20 (2), pp.27-51. (Publisher: College of Humanities, University of KwaZulu-Natal South Africa).

24. Onapajo, H. & Uzodike, U.O. (2012). Boko Haram Terrorism in Nigeria: Man, the State and the International System. African Security Review, 21(3), pp.24-39. (Publisher: Taylor & Francis United Kingdom for the Institute for Security Studies, South Africa)

25. Onapajo, H., Uzodike, U.O. & Whetho, A. (2012). Boko Haram Terrorism in Nigeria: The International Dimension. South African Journal of International Affairs, 19 (3), pp. 337-357. (Publisher: Taylor & Francis United Kingdom for South African Institute of International Affairs).

26. Onapajo, H. (2012). Politics for God: Religion, Politics, and Conflict in Democratic Nigeria. Journal of Pan African Studies, 9 (9), pp.42-66. (Publisher: California Institute of Pan African Studies, Los Angeles, California).

27. Onapajo, H. (2012). Islamic Revivalism and Social Change in Muslim Societies: A Rethink of Marxist Historical Materialism. World Journal for Islamic History and Civilization, 2 (4), pp. 196205.

28. Maiangwa, B., Uzodike, U.O., Whetho, A. & Onapajo, H. (2012). “Baptism of Fire”: Boko Haram and the Reign of Terror in Nigeria. Africa Today 59 (2), pp.41-57. (Publisher: Indiana University Press, Bloomington United States of America).

29. Onapajo, H. (2009). National or Universal Interest: Advancing the Islamization Discourse on the Interest of the State. Al-Risala, 9 (9), pp.17-29.

Book Chapters
30. Onapajo, H. (with Babalola, D.) (2021). Restructuring, Political Gimmicks and Elite Manipulation in Nigeria. In O.Tella (ed.). A Sleeping Giant? Nigeria’s Domestic and International Politics in the Twenty-First Century. Springer.

31. Onapajo, H. (with Babalola, D.) (2021). A Stagnant or Retrogressive Democracy? Elections and Democracy in Nigeria, 1999–2019. In O.Tella (ed.). A Sleeping Giant? Nigeria’s Domestic and International Politics in the Twenty-First Century. Springer.

32. Suleiman, M. D., Onapajo, H., & Mustapha, A. B. (2021). External Influence, Failed States, Ungoverned Spaces and Small Arms Proliferation in Africa. The Palgrave Handbook of Small Arms and Conflicts in Africa. Palgrave Macmillan

33. Onapajo, H. (2013). Why Nigeria is not Winning the Anti-Boko Haram War. In I. Mantzikos (Ed.) Boko Haram: The Anatomy of a Crisis. Bristol: E-International Relations.

34. Onapajo, H. (2018). Problematising Conflict: The concept, theoretical perspectives and trends in Nigeria. In Babalola, D. and Onapajo, H. (eds.). A Country Under Siege: Issues of Conflict and its Management in Democratic Nigeria. New Castle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

35. Onapajo, H. & Isike, C.A. (2018). The political economy of ethno-religious conflict in Nigeria: A case study of Jos, Plateau State. In Babalola, D. and Onapajo, H. (eds.). A Country Under Siege: Issues of Conflict and its Management in Democratic Nigeria. New Castle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

Courses/Modules Taught

Undergraduate

  • POS 104: Introduction to African Politics
  • POS 405: Civil-Military Relations
  • POS 311: Theories of International Relations
  • SOC 305: Political Sociology
  • POS 310: Research Methods

Postgraduate

  • IRD 702: African Politics
  • IRD 822: International Economic Relations
  • IRD 901: African International Organizations
  • IRD 826: Seminars