Boluwatife Ajibola

Research

Title of Research:

Protests and Polls: A Nigerian Paradigm of Social Movements and Elections Interrelations

Brief overview of research topic:

This study, with the conceptual anchor – Protests and Polls (PaP), explores the reciprocal relations between two forms of political mobilisation – social movements and elections. PaP’s attempt at interrogating the interpenetration of movement and election rhythms takes issue with existing approaches that draw boundaries between both realms of contention and those that systematise the influence of one upon the other. It essentialises key aspects of the interactional dynamics between movements and elections that have been overlooked by existing scholarship. Hence, its focus on elements that mediate the interrelations – in their symbolic, discursive, and emotional forms. It explores Nigeria’s 2020 #EndSARS movement, the pre-and post-election character of the Obidient movement, and the 2023 general elections cycle to theorise a much-needed African perspective on the relationship between movement and (electoral) politics. 

Qualifications

Qualifications:

• MSc International Development and Humanitarian Emergencies (2021)
  London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), UK                                             
• BSc Political Science – First Class honours (2018)
  Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Nigeria

Awards, funding and recognition

• 2024. White Rose ESRC Doctoral Training Partnership (WRDTP) - 3.75 Pathway Award.
• 2024. Funding to participate in the Journal of Development Studies workshop, in collaboration with the Governance and Local Development Institute, Workshop (JDS-GLD Workshop 2024), University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
• 2023. International travel grant to present a paper at the Governance and Local Development Institute (GLD)’s 7th Annual Conference, Sweden, May 2024
• 2022. Artinian Travel Grant towards attending the US Southern Political Science Association Conference in Jan 2023, Florida, USA.
• 2022. Taiwan Foundation for Democracy travel award to the “Parliaments in Crises – Crises in Parliaments” International Workshop, Taipei, Taiwan
• 2021. Award for Best Potential Research, given by the UK Political Studies Association Early Career Network (PSA-ECN) Conference.
• 2020. Firoz and Najma Lalji Foundation Full Master’s Scholarship for study towards a master’s degree at the LSE
• 2020. Commonwealth Shared Scholarship, for study towards a master’s degree at the SOAS University of London. (Un-utilised).
• 2020. Award for Significant International Contribution, UK Political Studies Association Early Career Network Conference.
• 2018. J. Olanipekun Akintunde prize for the Best Graduating Student, Department of Political Science, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife.
• 2018. Professor Leo Dare prize for the Best Student with the overall result, Department of Political Science, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife.

Publications

Publications

Journal Articles:

• 2024. From COVID-19 to fuel subsidy removal in Nigeria: Assessing the political opportunities for local grievance. Urban Governance, 4(4), 351-361. 

• 2023. What factors drive legislators’ response to crises? Evaluating actions and behaviour under a violent protest climate in Nigeria. Taiwan Journal of Democracy, 19(2), 101-124.

• 2023. Turning public engagement into standard practice: Institutionalisation in the work of the South African Parliament. The Journal of Legislative Studies, 29(3), 406-424.

• 2022. The legislature as target and mediator of ensuing outcomes during social emergencies: Revisiting Nigeria’s #EndSARS protest. The Theory and Practice of Legislation, 10(2), 117-146.

• 2020. Self-Medication in Pregnancy and Associated Psychopathological Symptoms of Antenatal Nigerian Women. Psychology, 11(12), 2039-2054.

• 2019. Extant Realities on Nigeria’s Quest for a Permanent Seat in the United Nations Security Council. Contemporary Journal of Politics and Administration, 1(1), 124-146.

Conference Proceeding

• 2021. The quest for development: When social media-brokered political power encounters political ‘flak jackets’. In proceedings of the International Federation of Information Processing (IFIP) 9.4 Conference.

Book Contribution

• 2023. Technologically mediated citizen-led welfarism in Nigeria. In S. P. Susannah (ed.), Researching Development NGOs: Global and Grassroots Perspectives (pp.150-152). Routledge, Taylor and Francis. 

Report

• 2021. Initiating the co-development of IFRC’s Digital ID strategy. IFRC Solferino Academy. 

Selected blog articles

• 2024. Nigeria’s #EndSARS and Kenya’s #RejectFinanceBill reveal striking patterns in protest across Africa. Africa at LSE Blog.
• 2023. How Stakeholders are Creatively Deploying Technologies for Nigeria’s 2023 Elections. Australian Outlook.
• 2021. Technology and social movements against other pandemics in Africa. LSE International Development Blog.
• 2021. Techmanitarianism, in the name of development: Adding to Taylor and Broeders’ datafication discourse. LSE International Development Blog.

Selected conference papers

• 2025. When social movement legacies become political capitals: Exploring an African dimension to social movements-elections interrelations. PSA 75th Annual International Conference, Birmingham, UK.
• 2024. The foreign factor mix? How experiences of UK elections shape immigrants’ political views. UK in a Changing Europe and PSA Early Career Network pre-EPOP workshop, Manchester, UK, September.
• 2024. From COVID-19 to fuel subsidy removal in Nigeria: Unveiling local governance (un)changes through collective action. Governance and Local Development Institute 7th Annual Conference, Sweden, May.
• 2024. From traditional to technologically-mediated state surveillance: Experiences and circumvention tactics of Nigerian activists. Susan Manning interdisciplinary & international workshops. University of Edinburgh & University of the Witwatersrand, March.
• 2023. In a quagmire of pandemics: Perceptions and engagement practices fomenting legislative targeting during social movements in Africa. Taiwan Foundation for Democracy and the Institute for Parliamentary Research “Parliaments in Crises – Crises in Parliaments” International Workshop, Taipei, Taiwan, February.
• 2023. The legislature within a web of pandemics: Evaluating roles, actions, and missteps under a protest climate. Southern Political Science Association (SPSA) Conference, Florida, USA, January.
• 2022. Political power versus the politics of regulation: Nigeria’s Twittersphere and tussles from the #EndSARS protests. Conference on the Regulation of old and new media forms in Africa. Birmingham City University Centre for Media and Cultural Research, May.
• 2021. Contemporary social movements and Violence: Situating digital technologies and discursive exchanges between. Political Studies Association Early Career Network (PSA-ECN) Conference, UK, July.
• 2021. Digital technologies, for or against local NGOs? Exploring shifting norms in mobilizing assistance during COVID-19 in Nigeria. UK Development Studies Association Annual Conference, June.
• 2021. Widening education access to disadvantaged populations through adaptive e-learning features: An exploration of COVID-19 opportunities. London School of Economics (LSE) Student Research Conference, June.
• 2021. The quest for development: When social media-brokered political power encounters political ‘flak jackets’. International Federation of Information Processing (IFIP) 9.4 Conference, May.
• 2020. Satirical contents, public opinion, and decision making during COVID-19: Critical insights on Nigeria. Political Studies Association Early Career Network (PSA-ECN) Conference, UK, July.