IFRA & IAS Seminar - Critical Decolonialities - Sanya Osha
On 27 February, IFRA-Nigeria and IAS were proud to welcome Professor Sanya Osha (African Studies Centre Leiden & ZMO Berlin) and Dr Philip Ademola Olayoku (University of Ibadan) as his discussant for an exploration of the philosophy of decolonialism on the theme "Decolonial approaches in Africana espistemologies of the global South". Prof. Osha presented a historical overview of decolonialism in philosophy, emphasizing its African roots alongside its Latin American development. His discussion centered on three influential African philosophers—Kwasi Wiredu, Paulin Hountondji, and Olabiyi Babalola Yai.
He first talked of Wiredu, who is often regarded as the greatest African philosopher of his generation, and his theory of ‘conceptual decolonization', inspiring comparisons of Western and indigenous philosophies through epistemological and linguistic analysis. His contemporary, Hountondji, was a critic of the relativism of ‘ethnophilosophy' and sought to reconcile universalism with local knowledge through the concept of 'endogenous knowledge.' Finally, Prof. Osha discussed the work of a man he worked with extensively on the UNESCO's epistemological forum project, Olabiyi Babalola Yai. In his final words, he also touched on Afro-Brazilian intellectual traditions shaped by the transatlantic slave trade.
The event concluded with a discussion between Dr Philip Ademola Olayoku and Professor Osha on language, modernity, and power dynamics in decolonialism, followed by a Q&A session on the future of decolonial thought. Click below to read a detailed summary of this seminar!
On 22 February 2025, IFRA-Nigeria, in coordination with New Culture Studio in Ibadan, organized a showing of the stage play Òṣùpá Alẹ́, written and directed by Emmanuel Orisunmibare, and produced by Fasiat Busari. The play was entirely in Yoruba and offered a beautiful celebration of Nigerian heritage and culture! It was also a moment of festivity, as there was game and music before and after the event.
On 25 February, IFRA-Nigeria and the National Museum of Unity in Ibadan organized "A Dialogue on Traditional Dance & Music", featuring Dr. Olaolu Emmanuel Adekola, Research Fellow in African Music and Postgraduate Coordinator at the Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan, and Oluyomi Duro Ladipo (Àrólé Àṣà), dancer, singer and stage performer. The event was a memorable one, attracting over 150 participants, among which many pupils from local schools, students from the Music Department of the Polytechnic Ibadan, Lead City University, the Director of the Institute of African Studies in the University of Ibadan Professor Sola Olorunyomi, Miss Ibadan, Commissioner of Culture for Oyo State Dr Wasiu Olatunbosun, local traditional authorities, State officials and several members of the Museum Staff.
On 20 February, IFRA-Nigeria held a Methodological Seminar with Charles Vashala, researcher at the Center for the Study and Promotion of Cultural Sustainability of the University of Maiduguri and Cotutal doctoral candidate in Maiduguri and at the University of Hildesheim (Germany). He is also the recipient of an IFRA research grant. He presented the innovative methods he used for his research on the "Exploration of Traditional Healing and Mental Health in Maiduguri".
The Embassy of France in Nigeria is implementing the French Government Scholarship Programme, "France Excellence" among which are the "Séjours Scientifiques de Haut Niveau (SSHN, High-Level Scientific Stays)". Addressed to academic and research staff wishing to spend some time in a higher education or research institution in France, the SSHN also aim to be a tool to increase the cooperation with French institutions.
IFRA-Nigeria is launching its annual call for research projects. The institute will be funding several research projects, individual or collective, focusing on social science in West Africa. This call is open to master's, doctoral and post-doctoral students, as well as researchers. Learn how to apply below!
On 6 February, IFRA took part in the screening of The Poets, a documentary by director Chivas DeVinck, featuring Nigerian poet Niyi Osundare and Sierra Leonean poet Syl Cheney-Coker as they reflect on their lives, experiences, and poetry. The event, organized by the 
On 30 January, IFRA-Nigeria and the Institute of African Studies (IAS), hosted the first session of their seminar series on “Critical decolonialities”. The event featured Dr Charmaine Pereira, an esteemed feminist scholar based in Abuja, and Dr Oluwatoyin C. Olajide of Obafemi Awolowo University as her discussant. In her presentation, Dr Pereira focused on the general history and issues of decolonial feminism. She described the movement's role in Nigeria, through key figures like Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti and Bolanle Awe. Presenting a thorough review of the topics of feminist knowledge production in Nigeria - Boko Haram, conceptions of gender in pre-colonial societies, contesting State brutality and much more - she raised very interesting and relevant questions regarding modern challenges in Nigeria and the future of decolonial feminism. She concluded by detailing the key institutional spaces where changes can either be made or hindered.
The “French Institute for Research in Africa” (IFRA-Nigeria) based at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, is funding up to two PhD students at the University of Ibadan as part of a project in digital humanities with a focus on heritage studies at the Lagos National Museum Archives. A co-supervision of University of Ibadan and IFRA Nigeria will be offered.
On 24 January, Dr Barbara Morovich, IFRA-Nigeria director, and Marie Lureau, research project manager, visited the 
IFRA-Nigeria, IFRA-Nairobi, and IFAS Research were pleased to welcome on 23 January three esteemed collaborators - Dr Jackson Kago, Dr Adedeji Adebayo and Rosebelle Otieno - for a special webinar on the two latest issues of Sources, the free-access, double peer reviewed journal publishing African-based research by African researchers.
IFRA-Nigeria had the pleasure to welcome Adedeji Adebayo on 22 January, for our first Methodological Seminar of 2025. IFRA-Nigeria director, Dr Barbara Morovich, introduced Dr Adebayo, a trusted junior research associate of IFRA-Nigeria's Elections Observatory. Dr Adebayo obtained his PhD from the Peace and Conflict Department of the University of Ibadan.
IFRA-Nigeria invites application for a full-time post-doctoral position starting on March 1, 2025. The role will be fixed until August 31, 2025.
L’institut français de recherche en Afrique (IFRA) à Ibadan, Nigéria cherche sa/son directeur.trice, poste à pourvoir à partir de septembre 2025.
On 21 November 2024, Dr. Côme Salvaire, a researcher at Sciences Po Bordeaux & Research Institute for Sustainable Development, presented a methodological seminar titled: “What is a Case Study Good for?”, illustrating the logic of case study research with the results of an ethnographic study conducted from 2015 to 2024 around a garbage dump in Mushin, Lagos.
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