Research Groups
The IFK focuses on seven themes, each championed by a research group: Blockchain and the Cryptoverse (BC), Data Science across Disciplines (DSAD), Decentralised Artificial Intelligence and Control Systems (DAICS), the Future of Diplomacy (FoD), the Future of Health (FoH), Green Futures (GF) and Work of the Future (WoF).
The Future of Diplomacy
Dr Oluwaseun Tella
The Future of Diplomacy Research Group seeks to promote the understanding of diplomacy, negotiation and statecraft in contemporary international politics. The Group aims to support research in modern diplomatic practice by redefining diplomacy in contemporary and futuristic contexts in an increasingly complex and globalised world.

Events

The Resurgence of Military Coups in the Sahel and the Future of Democracy in Africa
The Future of Diplomacy 17h00 – 18h45 29 September 2023 Register here Looking at Africa’s post-independence historical landscape, there is no denying that its

Ideas and Solutions – In Search of the Elusive Zimbabwean Dream: An Autobiography of Thought Leadership, Vol. III
The Future of Diplomacy 18h30 – 20h30 8 June 2023 Register here On 8 June, 2023, the University of Johannesburg’s (UJ) Institute for the

Trends of Elections and Democratic Consolidation in Africa
The Future of Diplomacy 15h00 – 17h15 22 March 2023 Register here Share this post: Share on facebook Share on twitter Share on linkedin Share
Our People

Hakeem Onapajo
Research Associate
Dr Onapajo is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at Nile University of Nigeria. He researches in the areas of conflict, security and elections in Africa. Dr Onapajo has published extensively on areas of his research interest and one of the most cited political scientists in Nigeria – in Google Scholar’s ratings. He is a recipient of the African Humanities Program (AHP) postdoctoral fellowship awarded by the American Council of Learned Societies. He has consulted for state and non-state agencies on various developmental issues around peace-building, elections and democratization. Some of them include the Economic Community of the West African States (ECOWAS), German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), Presidential Amnesty Office, The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD), and the African Heritage Institution.
Hakeem Onapajo
Research Associate

Oladele Layiwola
Research Associate
Dele Layiwola is Professor of African Studies at the University of Ibadan where he was twice director of the university’s Institute of African Studies. He was editor of African Notes, the international journal of the Institute of African Studies. He obtained his PhD in Theatre Studies at the School of English, University of Leeds, and has published extensively in the fields of comparative literature, cultural studies, performance and theatre studies. His publications include four monographs, eight authored or edited books and sixty journal articles and book chapters. One of his recent articles is in the 2023 Routledge Focus anthology titled: “The Local and the Global: Sixty Years of African Studies in Africa.” He has published in other journals as: Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism (Kansas); New Hibernia Review (St. Thomas, Minnesota); Ufahamu (UCLA); Asian and African Studies (Slovak Academy); West African Journal of Archaeology; ODU: A Journal of West African Studies; African Theatre(UK); African Study Monographs (Kyoto, Japan); Critical Stages and H-Net.
Oladele Layiwola
Research Associate

Sunday Omotuyi
Research Associate
Dr Sunday Omotuyi is a Lecturer in Department of International Relations, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria, where he teaches courses on Nigerian Foreign Policy, security in Africa, Development Problems in the Third World and Foreign Policies of Great Powers. He had his Doctoral Degree in the Department of International Relations in 2018. He is a member of the Editorial Board of Ife Journal of International Affairs. He is a Visiting Scholar at the Accra Business School, Accra, Ghana. He is also a Catalyst Fellow, University of Edinburgh, Scotland. He has published in various national and international journals focusing on Nigerian Foreign Policy and Security in Africa. Some of these articles have appeared in African Security, African Identities, The African Review among others.
Sunday Omotuyi
Research Associate

Sharon Adetutu Omotoso
Research Associate
Dr Sharon Adetutu Omotoso, a feminist philosopher is Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan, where she serves as a member of the Institute’s Scientific Committee and Coordinator, Women’s Research and Documentation Centre (WORDOC). Sharon is an alumnus of the COADY Institute, St. Francis Xavier University Canada, a Chartered Mediator & Conciliator, Fellow of African Multiple Cluster, Universitat Bayreuth, Germany and Director, Center for Applied Ethics and Political Communication in Africa (CAEPOCOM AFRICA). Dr Omotoso has been published significantly in areas of Applied Ethics, Gender studies, Media & Political Communications and African Philosophy. She produces indigenous radio education programs on women in politics and development, and is currently working on the concept of Feminized Corruption.
Sharon Adetutu Omotoso
Research Associate

Kudus Oluwatoyin Adebayo
Research Associate
Dr Kudus Oluwatoyin Adebayo is an interdisciplinary scholar with research interests covering Africa-China migrations, settlement and belonging, migration health, urban transformations and knowledge production. He is a Research Fellow in the Diaspora and Transnational Studies programme, Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan, Nigeria, and was a Postdoctoral Fellow of the ARUA/Carnegie Early Career Fellowship in the Centre of Excellence (CoE) for Migration and Mobility, African Centre for Migration & Society, University of The Witwatersrand, South Africa. He holds a PhD in Sociology of Development from the Department of Sociology, University of Ibadan, Nigeria. He was a Fellow of the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS)/African Humanities Program (AHP) Dissertation Completion and Postdoctoral Fellowships, Fellow of the Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa (CARTA), Scholar of the Postgraduate School Scholarship of University of Ibadan (2014-2016), and Laureate of the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA). His has published in International Sociology, Migration Studies, Mobilities, Journal of International Migration and Integration, Field Methods, Global Public Health, Global Networks, Third World Quarterly, The Professional Geographer and others.
Kudus Oluwatoyin Adebayo
Research Associate

Jabulani Sibande
Research Assistant
Jabulani Sibande is a Research Assistant at the Institute for the Future of Knowledge. He holds a bachelors degree in Politics and International Relations from the University of the Witwatersrand and an honours degree in African Studies from the University of Johannesburg. His honours project was on the Democratic Development State Model in African States focusing on Rwanda and South Africa. Mr Sibande is interested in the African debate on political economy and development, as well as policy-making processes on the continent.
Jabulani Sibande
Research Assistant

Samuel Okunade
Research Associate
Dr Samuel Okunade is borders and migration specialist most especially in the areas of human trafficking and migrant smuggling in Africa. He is also interested in the nexus between social and ethnic cleavages in border communities, and economic integration and social cohesion in Africa. He has participated in the European Union-funded project on irregular migration in the Middle East, Asia and Africa. He has published several articles in reputable journals. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Education and master’s degree in Peace and Conflict Studies from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, and a PhD in Conflict Transformation from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
Samuel Okunade
Research Associate

Wilson Muna
Research Associate
Dr Wilson Muna is a Lecturer in Public Policy at Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya. He holds a master’s degree and doctorate in Policy and Development Studies from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. He specialises in public policy analysis, international relations, peace and security, and public management. In his wide range of publications, Dr Muna focuses on African development, especially in the areas of policy learning and integration.
Wilson Muna
Research Associate

Lukong Shulika
Post Doctoral Research Fellow
Lukong Stella Shulika is a political science and international affairs researcher with specialist expertise in peace and conflict studies. She has over ten years of relevant teaching, research, knowledge management, projects supervision, proofreading and editing experience in these fields. Stella holds a PhD and Master’s degrees in Conflict Resolution and Peace Studies from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, a postgraduate certificate in Sustainable Development and Human Rights Law from the University of Antwerp in Belgium, a B.A. Honours in International Relations from the University of Free State in South Africa, and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Buea in Cameroon. Her areas of analytical competence, publications, and research interests include women and peacebuilding, electoral politics and leadership in Africa, migration and human security, African conflicts and cooperation dynamics, gender and the politics of representation, post-conflict reconstruction and development. She has an interesting research record, having published and co-authored a number of book chapters and policy-relevant papers in peer-reviewed and accredited journals. Stella is committed to the ideals of non-violence and is an avid promoter of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security; Sustainable Development Goals: the Agenda 2030, and African Union’s Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want. She is interested in broadening her professional network and pursuing academic collaboration as well as policy-related development opportunities.
Lukong Shulika
Post Doctoral Research Fellow

Anthony Kaziboni
Head of Research
Dr Anthony Kaziboni is Head of Research at the Institute for the Future of Knowledge. He holds a doctorate in Sociology from the University of Johannesburg, South Africa. He researches hydropolitics, migration and social inequalities. He is the Regional Representative for South Africa for the International Sociological Association's (ISA) Clinical Sociology Research Group. In 2018 he received the prestigious Outstanding Early Career Award in Clinical Sociology by the ISA's Clinical Sociology Research Committee in Toronto, Canada. He has [co]authored publications in accredited journals and books as well as newspaper articles.
Anthony Kaziboni
Head of Research

Oluwaseun Tella
Head of the Future of Diplomacy
Dr Oluwaseun Tella is the Head of the Future of Diplomacy at the University of Johannesburg’s Institute for the Future of Knowledge in South Africa. He holds a doctorate in Political Science from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. He has authored a book entitled Africa’s Soft Power: Philosophies, Political Values, Foreign Policies and Cultural Exports (Routledge, 2021); edited three books entitled Nigeria-South Africa Relations and Regional Hegemonic Competence (Springer, 2019), From Ivory Towers to Ebony Towers: Transforming Humanities Curricula in South Africa, Africa and African-American Studies (Jacana, 2020), and A Sleeping Giant? Nigeria’s Domestic and International Politics in the Twenty-First Century (Springer, 2021); and published over 30 mostly single-authored book chapters and journal articles in Politikon, Social Dynamics, Journal of Asian and African Studies, Journal of Black Studies and elsewhere. His research interests include soft power, international relations, peace and conflict studies, African politics and knowledge production in Africa. Email: otella@uj.ac.za.
Oluwaseun Tella
Head of the Future of Diplomacy

Hakeem Onapajo
Research Associate
Dr Onapajo is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at Nile University of Nigeria. He researches in the areas of conflict, security and elections in Africa. Dr Onapajo has published extensively on areas of his research interest and one of the most cited political scientists in Nigeria – in Google Scholar’s ratings. He is a recipient of the African Humanities Program (AHP) postdoctoral fellowship awarded by the American Council of Learned Societies. He has consulted for state and non-state agencies on various developmental issues around peace-building, elections and democratization. Some of them include the Economic Community of the West African States (ECOWAS), German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), Presidential Amnesty Office, The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD), and the African Heritage Institution.
Hakeem Onapajo
Research Associate

Oladele Layiwola
Research Associate
Dele Layiwola is Professor of African Studies at the University of Ibadan where he was twice director of the university’s Institute of African Studies. He was editor of African Notes, the international journal of the Institute of African Studies. He obtained his PhD in Theatre Studies at the School of English, University of Leeds, and has published extensively in the fields of comparative literature, cultural studies, performance and theatre studies. His publications include four monographs, eight authored or edited books and sixty journal articles and book chapters. One of his recent articles is in the 2023 Routledge Focus anthology titled: “The Local and the Global: Sixty Years of African Studies in Africa.” He has published in other journals as: Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism (Kansas); New Hibernia Review (St. Thomas, Minnesota); Ufahamu (UCLA); Asian and African Studies (Slovak Academy); West African Journal of Archaeology; ODU: A Journal of West African Studies; African Theatre(UK); African Study Monographs (Kyoto, Japan); Critical Stages and H-Net.
Oladele Layiwola
Research Associate

Sunday Omotuyi
Research Associate
Dr Sunday Omotuyi is a Lecturer in Department of International Relations, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria, where he teaches courses on Nigerian Foreign Policy, security in Africa, Development Problems in the Third World and Foreign Policies of Great Powers. He had his Doctoral Degree in the Department of International Relations in 2018. He is a member of the Editorial Board of Ife Journal of International Affairs. He is a Visiting Scholar at the Accra Business School, Accra, Ghana. He is also a Catalyst Fellow, University of Edinburgh, Scotland. He has published in various national and international journals focusing on Nigerian Foreign Policy and Security in Africa. Some of these articles have appeared in African Security, African Identities, The African Review among others.
Sunday Omotuyi
Research Associate

Sharon Adetutu Omotoso
Research Associate
Dr Sharon Adetutu Omotoso, a feminist philosopher is Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan, where she serves as a member of the Institute’s Scientific Committee and Coordinator, Women’s Research and Documentation Centre (WORDOC). Sharon is an alumnus of the COADY Institute, St. Francis Xavier University Canada, a Chartered Mediator & Conciliator, Fellow of African Multiple Cluster, Universitat Bayreuth, Germany and Director, Center for Applied Ethics and Political Communication in Africa (CAEPOCOM AFRICA). Dr Omotoso has been published significantly in areas of Applied Ethics, Gender studies, Media & Political Communications and African Philosophy. She produces indigenous radio education programs on women in politics and development, and is currently working on the concept of Feminized Corruption.
Sharon Adetutu Omotoso
Research Associate

Kudus Oluwatoyin Adebayo
Research Associate
Dr Kudus Oluwatoyin Adebayo is an interdisciplinary scholar with research interests covering Africa-China migrations, settlement and belonging, migration health, urban transformations and knowledge production. He is a Research Fellow in the Diaspora and Transnational Studies programme, Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan, Nigeria, and was a Postdoctoral Fellow of the ARUA/Carnegie Early Career Fellowship in the Centre of Excellence (CoE) for Migration and Mobility, African Centre for Migration & Society, University of The Witwatersrand, South Africa. He holds a PhD in Sociology of Development from the Department of Sociology, University of Ibadan, Nigeria. He was a Fellow of the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS)/African Humanities Program (AHP) Dissertation Completion and Postdoctoral Fellowships, Fellow of the Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa (CARTA), Scholar of the Postgraduate School Scholarship of University of Ibadan (2014-2016), and Laureate of the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA). His has published in International Sociology, Migration Studies, Mobilities, Journal of International Migration and Integration, Field Methods, Global Public Health, Global Networks, Third World Quarterly, The Professional Geographer and others.
Kudus Oluwatoyin Adebayo
Research Associate

Jabulani Sibande
Research Assistant
Jabulani Sibande is a Research Assistant at the Institute for the Future of Knowledge. He holds a bachelors degree in Politics and International Relations from the University of the Witwatersrand and an honours degree in African Studies from the University of Johannesburg. His honours project was on the Democratic Development State Model in African States focusing on Rwanda and South Africa. Mr Sibande is interested in the African debate on political economy and development, as well as policy-making processes on the continent.
Jabulani Sibande
Research Assistant

Samuel Okunade
Research Associate
Dr Samuel Okunade is borders and migration specialist most especially in the areas of human trafficking and migrant smuggling in Africa. He is also interested in the nexus between social and ethnic cleavages in border communities, and economic integration and social cohesion in Africa. He has participated in the European Union-funded project on irregular migration in the Middle East, Asia and Africa. He has published several articles in reputable journals. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Education and master’s degree in Peace and Conflict Studies from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, and a PhD in Conflict Transformation from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
Samuel Okunade
Research Associate

Wilson Muna
Research Associate
Dr Wilson Muna is a Lecturer in Public Policy at Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya. He holds a master’s degree and doctorate in Policy and Development Studies from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. He specialises in public policy analysis, international relations, peace and security, and public management. In his wide range of publications, Dr Muna focuses on African development, especially in the areas of policy learning and integration.
Wilson Muna
Research Associate

Lukong Shulika
Post Doctoral Research Fellow
Lukong Stella Shulika is a political science and international affairs researcher with specialist expertise in peace and conflict studies. She has over ten years of relevant teaching, research, knowledge management, projects supervision, proofreading and editing experience in these fields. Stella holds a PhD and Master’s degrees in Conflict Resolution and Peace Studies from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, a postgraduate certificate in Sustainable Development and Human Rights Law from the University of Antwerp in Belgium, a B.A. Honours in International Relations from the University of Free State in South Africa, and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Buea in Cameroon. Her areas of analytical competence, publications, and research interests include women and peacebuilding, electoral politics and leadership in Africa, migration and human security, African conflicts and cooperation dynamics, gender and the politics of representation, post-conflict reconstruction and development. She has an interesting research record, having published and co-authored a number of book chapters and policy-relevant papers in peer-reviewed and accredited journals. Stella is committed to the ideals of non-violence and is an avid promoter of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security; Sustainable Development Goals: the Agenda 2030, and African Union’s Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want. She is interested in broadening her professional network and pursuing academic collaboration as well as policy-related development opportunities.
Lukong Shulika
Post Doctoral Research Fellow

Anthony Kaziboni
Head of Research
Dr Anthony Kaziboni is Head of Research at the Institute for the Future of Knowledge. He holds a doctorate in Sociology from the University of Johannesburg, South Africa. He researches hydropolitics, migration and social inequalities. He is the Regional Representative for South Africa for the International Sociological Association's (ISA) Clinical Sociology Research Group. In 2018 he received the prestigious Outstanding Early Career Award in Clinical Sociology by the ISA's Clinical Sociology Research Committee in Toronto, Canada. He has [co]authored publications in accredited journals and books as well as newspaper articles.
Anthony Kaziboni
Head of Research

Oluwaseun Tella
Head of the Future of Diplomacy
Dr Oluwaseun Tella is the Head of the Future of Diplomacy at the University of Johannesburg’s Institute for the Future of Knowledge in South Africa. He holds a doctorate in Political Science from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. He has authored a book entitled Africa’s Soft Power: Philosophies, Political Values, Foreign Policies and Cultural Exports (Routledge, 2021); edited three books entitled Nigeria-South Africa Relations and Regional Hegemonic Competence (Springer, 2019), From Ivory Towers to Ebony Towers: Transforming Humanities Curricula in South Africa, Africa and African-American Studies (Jacana, 2020), and A Sleeping Giant? Nigeria’s Domestic and International Politics in the Twenty-First Century (Springer, 2021); and published over 30 mostly single-authored book chapters and journal articles in Politikon, Social Dynamics, Journal of Asian and African Studies, Journal of Black Studies and elsewhere. His research interests include soft power, international relations, peace and conflict studies, African politics and knowledge production in Africa. Email: otella@uj.ac.za.
Oluwaseun Tella
Head of the Future of Diplomacy
Publications

Transnational Activities of Women-Focused Civil Society Actors in Southern Africa
This book focuses on southern Africa by engaging with ‘norms’ from various perspectives and how they have proliferated within a neo-liberalising context since the 1990s.

The Breakfast Club with Prof Arthur Mutambara
Professor Mutambara speaks on his new volume: Ideas and Solutions – In Search of the Elusive Zimbabwean Dream: An Autobiography of Thought Leadership Vol. III
The Diaspora’s Soft Power in an Age of Global Anti-Nigerian Sentiment
Commonwealth & Comparative Politics Volume 61, 2023 – Issue 2 Abstract The global anti-Nigerian sentiment that has engendered the state’s image crisis cannot be denied.

Ideas and Solutions – In Search of the Elusive Zimbabwean Dream: An Autobiography of Thought Leadership, Vol. III
Why West African states do not go to war with each other: ‘Pan-West Africanism’ and constructivist international relations
African Security Review ABSTRACT Realism and liberalism theories have had the most significant influence on the analyses for international relations. While the theories have proven
Cameroon’s Anglophone Crisis and the Question of the Right to Self-Determination
The Round Table The Commonwealth Journal of International Affairs Volume 111, 2022 – Issue 5 Abstract Is Southern Cameroons entitled to self-determination under international law?
COVID-19 and South Africa-China’s Asymmetric Relations
World Affairs Volume 185, 2022 – Issue 3 ABSTRACT While South Africa–China relations were only formalized in 1998, relations between these states date back to

Apartheid Racism and Post-apartheid Xenophobia: Bridging the Gap
Migration in Southern Africa Rugunanan, P and Xulu-Gama, N. (Eds) Cham: Springer Abstract Media images of Africa seems to suggest that the continent is characterised

First Comes Love, then Comes Marriage? Exploring the Narratives and Experiences of South African Partners of Nigerian Male Immigrants in South Africa’.
Conflict and Concord Isike, C and Isike, EM. (Eds) Singapore. Palgrave Macmillan Abstract Xenophobic policies and violence have marred South Africa’s experience with immigrants. While

International Collaboration from an African Perspective: Strengthening Partnerships for our Common Goals
Higher Education in the World Report 8 Special Issue: New Visions for Higher Education towards 2030 Global University Network for Innovation (GUNi) Abstract Immediately after
Nigeria’s Space Programme and Counter-Terrorism: Tracking Boko Haram with Nigerian Satellites
Peace Review A Journal of Social Justice Volume 34, 2022 – Issue 3 Abstract Nigeria’s counter-terrorism campaign against the dreaded Boko Haramsect has relied heavily
Nigeria’s Democracy Promotion in Africa: Hard, Soft or Smart Power Stratagem?
Journal of Asian and African Studies Volume 57, 2022 – Issue 6 Abstract Democracy promotion is undoubtedly one of Nigeria’s most important foreign policy objectives
South Africa’s Curriculum Transformation: Insights from Post-Independence Africa and the era of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States
Strategic Review for Southern Africa Volume 43, 2021 – Issue 2 Abstract The #MustFall campaigns, student-led protests that began at the University of Cape Town

Africa’s Soft Power: Philosophies, Political Values, Foreign Policies and Cultural Exports
This book investigates the ways in which soft power is used by African countries to help drive global influence. Selecting four of the countries most

A Sleeping Giant? Nigeria’s Domestic and International Politics in the Twenty-First Century
This edited volume explores Nigeria’s domestic and international politics and its implications for the country’s national development and international status. Coinciding with the twenty year
Soft Power Individuals in Nigeria and South Africa: An Appraisal of Olusegun Obasanjo’s and Thabo Mbeki’s Power of Attraction
The Round Table The Commonwealth Journal of International Affairs Volume 109, 2020 – Issue 5 ABSTRACT Despite the increasing influence of non-state actors in international