Shola (Olusola) Ogunnubi
Doctoral Candidate
He/Him | PhD, Political Science, Advanced Graduate Diploma, Higher Education (University of KwaZulu-Natal); MSc, Political Science (Ulbadan); Graduate Diploma, Government Relations (Seneca College); BScH, Political Science (Olabisi Onabanjo University)
Political Studies
91TV's University
Research Interests
Natural Resource Governance; (New) Technology and IR; Geopolitics of Critical Minerals and Extractivism; African Agency; Soft Power and Regional Hegemony; Critical IR
Biography
Olusola Ogunnubi is a Doctoral Candidate and Teaching Fellow at 91TV’s Department of Political Studies and a Researcher with the Centre for International and Defence Policy (CIDP). His research examines the intersection of geopolitics, energy transition, critical mineral supply chains and clean technology governance with a particular focus on Africa’s evolving role in the global energy order. Ogunnubi is a Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship Doctoral Award holder and the Flight 302 Legacy Award. Ogunnubi worked as a Lecturer at the School of Social Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal and a Research Fellow with Carleton University, Ottawa. He has also held research affiliations with the German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA) in Hamburg and the Center for Global Studies at the University of Victoria. Ogunnubi has co-edited and authored edited volumes, book chapters, several journal articles in mainstream publication outlets including his recently published co-authored Nigeria’s Border Diplomacy: Power and Hegemony in Africa (Routledge, 2026).
Awards
- Flight 302 Legacy Award (2026)
- ISA Travel Grant (2026)
- Timothy Frank Research Award (2025)
- SSHRC Michael Smith Supplementary Funding (2025)
- Peacock Research Grant (2025)
- Participedia Summer School Grant (2024)
- SSHRC Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship (2023-2026)
Selected Publications
Nigeria’s Border Diplomacy: Power and Hegemony in Africa. 2026. London: Routledge. [with Awosusi. O. E.]
ECOWAS Protocol on Free Movement and the AfCFTA in West Africa: Costs, Benefits and Challenges [with Okunade, S. K.]. Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan.
Big Brother Naija and Popular Culture in Nigeria: A Critique of the Country’s Cultural and Economic Diplomacy [with Isike, C., & Ukwueze, O]. Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan.
Re-centering Cultural Performance and Orange Economy in Post-colonial Africa: Policy, Soft Power, and Sustainability [with Afolabi, T & Ukwuma, S. T.]. Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan.
Religion and Global Politics: Soft Power in Nigeria and Beyond (eds). Idaho: Lexington Books [with Folarin, S.]
Power Politics in African States: Perspectives on South Africa and Nigeria (eds.). New York: Springer Publishers Books [with Oyewole, S.]
The de-radicalization, rehabilitation and reintegration project in Nigeria’s counter-terrorism strategy: Operation Safe Corridor in context, African Identities, DOI:10.1080/14725843.2022.2125365 [with Uchenna A. Aja, U. A.]
Citizen Diplomacy in Nigeria-South Africa Relation: Confronting the Paradox of Xenophobia 9(3): 133-151. [with Uchenna A. Aja, U. A.]
Soft power in therapeutic comedy: outlining Nigeria’s creative industry through digital comic skits, Creative Industries Journal, DOI: 16 (3): 361-382 [with Idowu, D. L.]
South Africa’s Soft Power and the Diplomacy of Nuclear Geopolitics, GeoJournal 87: 247-260. Nigeria’s ‘Border Diplomacy’: Rhetoric or Substance for Regional Hegemonic Leadership, Global Society 36(4): 562-577. [with Awosusi, O.]
A “Schengen” Agreement in Africa? African Agency and the ECOWAS Protocol on Free Movement, Journal of Borderlands Studies, 36:1, 119-137. [with Samuel Kehinde Okunad, S.K.]
Music and dance diplomacy in the COVID-19 era: Jerusalema and the promotion of South Africa’s soft power, The Round Table, 110:4, 461-476. [with Idowu, D. L.]
Russo-African Relations and electoral democracy: Assessing the implications of Russia's renewed interest for Africa, African Security Review, 30(3): 386-402. [with Akinola, A].
A socio-constructivist analysis of the bilingual language policy in South African higher education: Perspectives from the university of Kwazulu-natal, Cogent Education, 8(1): 1-16. [with Mthombeni Z.M]
Soft Power or Wasteful Entertainment? Interrogating the Prospect of ‘Big Brother Naija’, The Round Table. DOI:1080/00358533.2020.1717088 [with Akinola, A.].
Insurgency in the Border Communities of North-Eastern Nigeria: Security Responses and Sustainable Solutions. The Round Table. [with Okunade, S.K.].
Humanitarian crisis in north‐eastern Nigeria: Responses and sustainable solutions. Journal of Public Affairs. https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2541 [with Okunade, S.K.].
Pentecostalism, Electoral Prophetism and National Security Challenges in Nigeria, African Security, DOI: 10.1080/19392206.2020.1731111 [with Ikem, A.P., & Ogbonna, C.N].
An Appraisal of Bilingual Language Policy Implementation in South African Higher Education Institutions, South African Journal of African Languages, Vol. 40, No. 2. [with Mthombeni, Z.].
The Ideational Value of Soft Power and the Foreign Policy of African Regional Powers. Politikon: South African Journal of Political Studies. Vol. 46, No. 3, 289-310.
Soft Power and the Currency of Sports: (Re)imagining South Africa’s Rising Hegemony in Africa, Global Society, Vol. 33, No. 4, 520-540.
African Union Protocol on Free Movement: A Panacea to Ending Border Porosity, Journal of African Union Studies, Vol. 9, No. 1, 73-91 [with Okunade, S.].
A Veiled Hegemonic Interest and the Multiple Faces of South Africa’s Foreign Policy, Affrika: Journal of Politics, Economics and Society. Vol. 9, No. 1, 193-218.
A “Schengen” Agreement in Africa? African Agency and the ECOWAS Protocol on Free Movement, Journal of Borderlands Studies. 10.1080/08865655.2018.1530128 [with Okunade, S.].
Rethinking the Role of Nigeria’s Technical Aid Corps as Soft Power: Rough Diamond or Fools’ Gold, Ubuntu: Journal of Conflict Transformation, Vol. 7. No. 2, 119-139 [with Ogbonna, C.].
2018 Unlocking the ‘Black Box’ of Nigeria’s Hegemonic Foreign Policy, Journal of African Foreign Affairs, Vol. 5, No. 2, 43-65. 2018 Nigeria's Soft Power Sources: Between Potential and Illusion?, International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society, Vol. 31, No. 1, 49–67 [with Isike, C.].
Nigeria’s Soft Power and Economic Diplomacy in Africa. Journal of African Foreign Affairs, Vol 5, No. 2, pp. 189-206, [with Aluko, O.].
Analyzing South Africa’s soft power in Africa and the knowledge diplomacy of Higher Education, Journal of Higher Education in Africa, Vol 15, No. 2, 81-107. [with Shawa, L.]
South Africa and the question of hegemony in Africa, Journal of Developing Societies, Vol. 33, No. 4, 1-20 [with Akinola, A.] (2017).
Effective hegemonic influence in Africa: An analysis of Nigeria’s ‘hegemonic’ position in Sub- Saharan Africa, Journal of Asian and African Studies, Vol. 52, No. 7, 932–946. 2017 Framing South Africa’s Soft Power through Non-State Sources. Strategic Analysis, Vol. 41, No. 5, 478-495 [with Tella, O.].
South Africa’s foreign policy aspirations and the National Development Plan (NDP 2030): The role of soft power, Journal of Contemporary African Studies, Vol. 35, No. 3, 284-302 [with Isike, C.].
Soft Power: The Fourth ‘Tentacle’ of South Africa’s Foreign Policy, Insight on Africa, Vol. 9, No. 1, 1-17.
A failing regional power? Nigeria’s international status in the age of Boko Haram, Politikon, Vol. 44, No. 3, 446-465. [with Isike, C. & Onapajo, H.]
The Discordant Soft Power Tunes of South Africa’s Withdrawal from the ICC, Politikon, Vol. 44, No. 1, 1-7 [with Isike, C.].
South Africa’s Emerging Soft Power Influence in Africa and its impending limitations: Will the giant be able to weather the storm?, African Security, Vol. 9, No. 4, 299-319 [with Amao, O.].
Communicating South Africa’s soft power: Agents, instruments, and recipients. Communicatio: South African Journal for Communication Theory and Research, Vol. 42, No. 3, 293-312 [with Ettang, D.].
South Africa’s ‘Africa Renaissance’ Project: Between Rhetoric and Practice, Socioeconomica, Vol. 5, No. 10, 263-278 [Umezurike, S.].
Can Nigeria be Africa’s hegemon?, African Security Review, Vol. 25, No. 2, 110-128 [with Okeke-Uzodike, N.].
South Africa’s Soft Power: A comparative content analysis, Politeia. Vol. 34, No. 2, 40-58.
Recalibrating Africa’s geopolitical calculus: A critique of South Africa’s hegemonic status, Politikon: South African Journal of Political Studies, Vol. 42, No. 3, 1-20.
Regional hegemonic contention and the asymmetry of soft power: A comparative analysis of South Africa and Nigeria, Strategic Review for Southern Africa, Vol. 37, No. 1, 152-177 [with Isike, C.].
South Africa's foreign policy and the strategy of soft power, South African Journal of International Affairs, Vol. 22, No. 1, 23-41. [with Okeke-Uzodike, N.].
The Impact of the electoral system on the level of women’s legislative representation in post- apartheid South Africa, Africa Review, Vol. 7, No. 2, 134-148 [with Nkala, S.].
Hegemony or Survival: South Africa’s regional pursuit of soft power and the challenges of xenophobia, Africa Insight, Vol. 44, No. 3, 145-163 [with Tella, O.].
The Old Scramble for Africa and its Colonization. In African Politics: From the Age of Empire to Contemporary Times. Edited by S. Folarin & O. Tella. Kendall Hunt.
“Kidnapping for Ransom (K4R) and the Challenges of Nigeria’s International Image. In: Omotola, J.S., Oyewole, S. (eds) The Political Economy of Kidnapping and Insecurity in Nigeria: Advances in African Economic, Social and Political Development [with Idowu, D. L. ]. Springer, Cham.
“An Agential Constructivist Analysis of Meaningful Stakeholder Engagement in Africa’s Critical Minerals Sector: Insights from the Democratic Republic of Congo”. In Karin Buhmann, Alberto Fonseca, Nathan Andrews, and Giuseppe Amatulli, eds. The Routledge International Handbook on Meaningful Stakeholder Engagement [with Surulola Eke, J. Andrew Grant, Evelyn N. Mayanja]. London: Routledge, 225-243.
“Borderless Africa, Illegal Migration and Food Insecurity in West Africa”. In Okunade, S. K., & Ogunnubi, O. eds. ECOWAS Protocol on Free Movement and the AfCFTA in West Africa: Costs, Benefits and Challenges [with Idowu D. L]. Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan.
“A Borderless Region and the Pursuit of Continental Free Trade Agreement in West Africa”. In Okunade, S. K., & Ogunnubi, O. eds. ECOWAS Protocol on Free Movement and the AfCFTA in West Africa: Costs, Benefits and Challenges [with Okunade, S. K]. Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan.
“Big Brother Naija: A Catalyst for Nigeria’s Orange Economy”. In Isike, C., Ogunnubi, O., & Ukwueze, O. eds. Big Brother Naija and Popular Culture in Nigeria: A Critique of the Country’s Cultural and Economic Diplomacy [with Idowu, D. L.]. Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan.
“Humour and Laughter in Reality TV: Assessing the Mental Health Effects of the Big Brother Naija Show”. In Isike, C., Ogunnubi, O., & Ukwueze, O. eds. Big Brother Naija and Popular Culture in Nigeria: A Critique of the Country’s Cultural and Economic Diplomacy [with Idowu, D. L.]. Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan.
“Introduction”. In Isike, C., Ogunnubi, O., & Ukwueze, O. eds. Big Brother Naija and Popular Culture in Nigeria: A Critique of the Country’s Cultural and Economic Diplomacy [with Isike, C., Ogunnubi, O., & Ukwueze, O]. Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan.
“Afrophobia and Cultural Diplomacy in Nigeria-South Africa Relations: The Role of the Creative Industries”. In Afolabi, T., Ogunnubi, O., & Ukwuma, S. T. eds. Re-centering Cultural Performance and Orange Economy in Post-colonial Africa: Policy, Soft Power, and Sustainability. Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan. [with Aja, U. A., & Awosusi, O.].
“Nollywood, the Orange Economy and the Appropriation of Nigeria’s Soft Power”. In Afolabi, T., Ogunnubi, O., & Ukuma, S. T. eds. Re-centering Cultural Performance and Orange Economy in Post-colonial Africa: Policy, Soft Power, and Sustainability. Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan. [with Idowu, D. L].
“Music Diplomacy: The Soft Power of Nigerian Gospel Melody”. In Ogunnubi, O., & Folarin, S eds. Religion and Global Politics: Soft Power in Nigeria and Beyond (eds). Idaho: Lexington Books. [with Idowu, D.L]
“Nigeria’s Religious Soft Power: Turning the Tide of a Declining Image”. In Ogunnubi, O., & Folarin, S eds. Religion and Global Politics: Soft Power in Nigeria and Beyond (eds). Idaho: Lexington Books. [with Folarin, S., & Ogbonna, C.]
“Post-Colonial Relations in Africa and the Emergence of Religion as an Instrument for Inter-State Diplomacy”. In Ogunnubi, O., & Folarin, S eds. Religion and Global Politics: Soft Power in Nigeria and Beyond (eds). Idaho: Lexington Books. [with Malmbo, V.]
“Introduction: Religion and Global Politics: Soft Power in Nigeria and Beyond”. In Ogunnubi, O., & Folarin, S eds. Religion and Global Politics: Soft Power in Nigeria and Beyond (eds). Idaho: Lexington Books. [with Folarin, S.]
“’We Know Each Other’: Analyzing Interactions Between African International and Local Students in South African Universities”. In Isike, C., and E. M., Isike. eds. Conflict and Concord: The Ambivalence of African Migrant/Host Relations in South Africa. Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 219-241.
“Nigeria’s Creative Industry: From Soft Power Ideation to Instrument of Cultural Diplomacy”. In Eriomala, L., and Wapmuk, S. (eds), Culture and Nigeria’s Foreign Relations in a Globalising World. Nigerian Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO): Abuja. [with Ogbonna, C.].
“Causes, effects, and implications of political violence and disorder in West African states: Burkina Faso, Mali, and Nigeria”. In Amusan, L. and Badmus, I. A. (eds), Political Instability in Africa. Washington: Academic Press. [with Ettang, D.].
“Soft Power: Nigeria’s Emerging Strategy in Africa’s Geo-Politics”. In Ogunnubi, O. & Oyewole, S. (eds), Power Politics in African States: Perspectives on South Africa and Nigeria, pp. 203-228. Cambridge Scholars Publishers: Newcastle.
“Concluding Thought: An Afrocentric Perspective on Regionalism, Hegemony, and Geopolitics”. In Ogunnubi, O. & Oyewole, S. (eds), Power Politics in African States: Perspectives on South Africa and Nigeria, 254-262. Cambridge Scholars Publishers: Newcastle. [with Oyewole, S.].
“Introduction to Africanism, Power Politics and International Relations in Africa In Ogunnubi, O. & Oyewole, S. (eds), Power Politics in African States: Perspectives on South Africa and Nigeria, pp. 1-7. Cambridge Scholars Publishers: Newcastle. [with Oyewole, S.].
“Regional Supremacy or Coaltion? South Africa’s Political-economic Intergration in Southern Africa”. In Bheki Mngomezulu (ed), Foreign Policy Posture in Post-Apartheid South Africa: Consistencies and Ambiguities, pp. 155-178. Cambridge Scholars Publisher: Newcastle. [with Mlambo, D.N.].
“Making Sense of South Africa's Soft Power: Projections, Prospects, and Possibilities”. In Toyin Falola and Kenneth Kalu (eds.), Africa and Globalization: Challenges of Governance and Creativity, pp. 109-140. Palgrave Macmillan: New York. [with Ettang, D].
“Nigeria’s attitude towards South Africa’s perceived Xenophobia: Any Need for Shared Hegemonic Power?”, In Adeoye Akinola (ed.), The Political Economy of Xenophobia in Africa: Advances in African Economic, Social and Political Development, pp. 53-67, Switzerland: Springer Publishing. [with Amusan, L.].
“Interrogating the Role of Religious Leaders and Institutions in Conflict Management in Plateau State, Nigeria”, In Dele Babalola, and Hakeem Onapajo (eds.), A Country Under Siege of Conflict: Issues of Conflict and its Management in Democratic Nigeria, pp. 180-201. Cambridge Scholars Publishing: Newcastle. [with Ettang, D].
“Political corruption and development in Africa: A case examination of South Africa”, In Toyin Falola, and Jamaine Abidogun (ed.), Issues in African Political Economies, pp. 151- 172. Carolina Academic Press: North Carolina. [with Goto, K.].
Accountability in Global Governance: Pluralist Accountability in Global Governance: by Gisela Hirschmann, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2020, 288 pp., $100.00
South African Foreign Policy Review: Volume 2, Politikon, 46, 2, pp. 252-253, DOI: 10.1080/02589346.2019.1612634.
Virginia Comolli (2015). Boko Haram: Nigeria’s Islamist Insurgency. C. London: Hurst & Co. African Studies Review
Botha and Muller (2016). Institutional Research in South African Higher Education. Stellenbosch: Sun Media. Journal of Public Administration, Vol. 52, No. 1, pp. 305-307.