Dr. Adeoye O. Akinola (Nigeria) is an Assistant Professor of UPEACE Africa Programme. He holds Bachelor and Masters’ Degree (Political Science) from the Obafemi AwolowoUniversity, Nigeria. He obtained a Doctoral Degree (Political Science) from the University ofKwaZulu-Natal (UKZN),Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. He taught in the Department of Political Science, Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria (2007-2012), School of Social Sciences, UKZN (2012-2015), as well as in the School of Management, IT and Governance, UKZN (2015). Heis presently a Post-Doctoral Fellow in the School of Management, IT and Governance, UKZN, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa. He won the prestigious 2013 UPEACE/IDRC Doctoral Research Grant, and grant to attend theAfrica Programme on Rethinking Development Economics- APORDE 2015. Akinola have attended conferences across the world and widely published. His research interests are International Relations, African Political Economy, Peace and Conflict Studies, Research Methodology,Governance, Democratic and Development Studies. Professor Henry Wissink (PhD) is educated and broadly skilled in the fields of public sector governance, public policy analysis, development studies, organisation- and leadership development. Prior to joining UKZN, his academic and professional career of 28 years, he was employed as an academic at the University of Stellenbosch, the PE Technikon, that later became the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in 2005. He primarily served in academic management capacities since 1991, firstly as a Head of Department of Public Administration and Law, and later Dean of the Faculty of Commerce and Governmental Studies. His own teaching background focused on training and educating public servants and prospective entrants to public service in South Africa, as well as broadly schooled professionals who could contribute to more effective governance and public policy-making at all levels of government. He has also made many international study visits to universities and institutions in many parts of the world, and lectured in public policy analysis and development management for Africa at two USA universities in North Carolina and Ohio State. During this time he played a significant role in promoting his institutions in the areas of education and training, and forming international partnerships with schools and institutes globally. He also spent four years working as a business consultant, and developed an online-learning platform to educate and train public servants in local government according to the demands of their job functions. During his career, he produced 90+ academic and scholarly outputs, which include 28 peer reviewed papers at national and international conferences, published 6 academic textbooks as author/co-author; published 39 articles and chapters in peer reviewed journals and textbooks as well as 19 popular and unpublished research publications. He has served as Dean and Head of the School of Management, IT and Governance, since his appointment in November 2011.
