IPSA Vice President Prof. Christopher Isike's Keynote Speeches in Angola and Nigeria
Publication date: Tue, 12 Nov 2019
IPSA Vice President and Executive Committee Member Prof. Christopher Isike represented IPSA at the Angolan Political Science Association (AACP) and Nigerian Political Science Association (NPSA) events and delivered two keynote speeches.
Prof. Isike addressed the delegates at the "Teaching Practices and Models of Political Science Courses Across Southern Africa and Beyond” workshop organized by the Angolan Political Science Association (AACP) on 30 October 2019 and delivered a keynote titled “Political Science for whom? Reflections on Teaching and Learning Political Science in Nigerian and South African Universities”. His paper compared the course design and content of political science modules of six selected universities in Nigeria and South Africa and found over 60% of its content to be Western-oriented, not relevant to the countries’ political realities, digitalization is not sufficiently covered in the political science curricula, and none of the selected universities had dedicated professorships on politics and the internet. It suggested lessons for the AACP to transform its political science curricula, become more research-focused and use local languages for teaching.
Photo (from left to right): Dr. Euridis Monteiro (Cape Verde), Prof. Christopher Isike (South Africa, IPSA), Dr. Leah Barasa (Kenya) Dr. Paulo Faria (Angola, President of Angolan Political Science Association) and two officials of the AACP.
Nigerian Political Science Association Annual Conference (22-25 July 2019)
Prof. Isike also represented IPSA at the 32nd Annual National Conference of the Nigerian Political Science Association (NPSA) which took place from 22-25 July 2019 at the University of Calabar, Nigeria where he delivered a keynote speech.
The theme of the NPSA 2019 Conference was Governance, Security and Elections in Nigeria, and his keynote address was titled “State Formation, Citizenship Inequality and Nation-building in Nigeria”. His paper highlighted the manifestations of skewed state formation and the perverse state in Nigeria and gave some suggestions on a decolonial approach to rethinking the Nigerian state.
The NPSA also conferred awards to distinguished Nigerian political scientists such as Prof Bolaji Akinyemi (former Nigerian Minister of External Affairs), Prof Okwudiba Nnoli, Prof Adele Jinadu, Prof Kimse Okoko and Prof Aloysius-Michael Okolie (NPSA President) amongst others.
