About Professor Bolaji Akinyemi
Bolaji Akinyemi is a Professor of Political Science. He obtained his doctorate degree from the prestigious Oxford University in 1969. He was an instructor in the Politics of the Developing Nations in the North Eastern University, Boston, Massachusetts; a Visiting Professor in African Studies at the DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana; a Visiting Professor of Political Science at the Kalamazoo College in Kalamazoo, Michigan. He has taught as Lecturer and Senior Lecturer in Political Science at the University of Ibadan and by 1975, had become the Director-General of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs- the nation’s foreign policy development and formulation centre...
As Director-General of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, he conceived of the idea of “Dialogue” to broaden the base of foreign policy consultation. He organised and presided over the following:- Nigerian – United States Dialogue (1978), Nigerian – Soviet Dialogue (1978), Nigerian – Chinese Dialogue (1979)...
NEWS, SEMINARS AND PUBLICATIONS
02 October 2024
“We’re looking At A Full-Fledged Regional War”; Bolaji Akinyemi Rules Out Possibility of Middle East Ceasefire
Publications
Celebrating the 200th Episode!
All Episodes
CEASE FIRE TERMS ENDORSED BY INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE: During my period as Foreign Minster, I was involved in negotiating the cease-fire in the Chad-Libyan, and in the Mali-Burkina Faso wars, the terms of the latter were later endorsed by the International Court of Justice.
CONCERT OF MEDIUM POWERS: I would rank this as my boldest move. I conceived the idea of bringing together medium powers for the purpose of using their collective bargaining power to mediate disputes within the international system. I initiated a series of diplomatic initiatives to implement the concept. The idea was accepted, and two diplomatic conferences at official level were held with the following countries in attendance: Canada, Mexico, Peru, Brazil, Venezuela, Argentina, India, Pakistan, Malaysia, Indonesia, Austria, Sweden, Yugoslavia, Hungary, Egypt, Algeria, Nigeria, Senegal, Australia, and Switzerland.
The participants at the conferences worked out the operational modality for implementing the concept. The next stage, if I had remained in office, was to have been at Foreign Ministerial/Summit level to sign the documents to bring the Concert into existence.
TECHNICAL AID CORPS SCHEME: This is a scheme that I introduced to restructure quite radically Nigerian foreign assistance programme. The emphasis was shifted away from monetary disbursement to skilled personnel placement in Africa, Caribbean, and Pacific nations.
THE DIRECTOR-GENERAL, NIGERIAN INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS (NIIA), LAGOS. (The Nigerian Government’s official Think Tank on foreign policy), 1975 – 1983.
I initiated a programme of Non-Governmental Dialogue between Nigeria and various countries such as the United States, China, Soviet Union, Germany, Brazil etc, where the foreign policy elites of each country met to discuss strategic issues of interest to the countries involved.
PROFESSOR OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, University of Lagos, 1983-1985.
VISITING OVERSEAS SCHOLAR, St. John’s College, Cambridge, 1984.
REGENT’S LECTURER, University of California, Los Angeles, California, February 1979.
VISITING PROFESSOR, DIPLOMACY TRAINING PROGRAMME, University of Nairobi, Kenya, 1977.
VISITING PROFESSOR, Graduate Institute of International Studies, Geneva, 1977.
LECTURER AND LATER SENIOR LECTURER IN POLITICAL SCIENCE, University of Ibadan, Nigeria, 1970-1975
VISITING PROFESSOR IN POLITICAL SCIENCE, Kalamazoo, Michigan, U.S.A. 1970.
VISITING PROFESSOR IN AFRICAN STUDIES, DePauw University, Indiana, U.S.A. 1969-1970.
INSTRUCTOR IN POLITICS OF DEVELOPING NATIONS, North-Eastern University, Boston, U.S.A., 1965-1966.
FELLOW, CENTRE FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES, University of Cambridge, England, 1988-1990.
LIFE MEMBER, CLARE HALL, University of Cambridge, England.