The Institute of African and Diaspora Studies (IADS) has announced Henrietta Omo Eshalomi, of the University of Ibadan as the winner of the 2022 Rahamon Bello Best Ph.D. Thesis Award in African Studies.
The Director of the Institute, Prof. Muyiwa Falaiye, made the announcement on Wednesday, November 30, 2022 at the IADS Gallery, J. P. Clark Building, Faculty of Arts.
Henrietta Omo Eshalomi, the first female overall winner of the Award since its institutionalisation in 2020, emerged winner for her Ph.D. thesis, entitled: “Delta State Diaspora and the Ramifications of Ethnic Ambivalence for Homeland Development”.
John Uwa of the University of Lagos, emerged first runner-up for his thesis titled “Transformation and Transmedialities of Nigerian Popular Drama: The Agency of Nigerian Stand-up Comedy,” and Kehinde Adepegba of Obafemi Awolowo University, sprang forth as the second runner-up for his thesis titled “Continuity and Change in the Egungun Costumes in Abeokuta, Nigeria.”
This year, 17 submissions were received in total. Out of these, twelve submissions (12) were from eight (8) Nigerian Universities – Obafemi Awolowo University, University of Ibadan, University of Abuja, Kwara State University, Ekiti State University, Covenant University, University of Lagos and University of Ilorin; two (2) submissions were from two (2) South African Universities — University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg and the University of Western Cape, while three (3) submissions were from three (3) European Universities – University of Sheffield, University of Birmingham and Aarhus University, Denmark.
The official presentation of the Award is scheduled for Tuesday, December 6, 2022 at the IADS Gallery, J. P. Clark Building.
The Rahamon Bello Best PhD Thesis in African & Diaspora Studies Award was established to promote the development of more in-depth and targeted contemporary scholarship in African Studies that advances the theoretical and practical limits of academic research. Furthermore, the award, endowed by the person for whom it is named, seeks to honor Professor Rahamon Bello, the 11th Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos.
