Protests in Nigeria: AU Professor Available for Commentary and Analysis

Deadly Protests in Nigeria: AU Professor Available for Commentary and Analysis

What: As peaceful protests against police brutality have turned deadly in Nigeria, with several demonstrators killed by security forces, Carl LeVan, professor at American University’s School of International Service, is available for commentary and analysis of the situation in Africa’s most populous country.

When: Thursday, October 22, 2020 – ongoing

Where: Phone, Zoom or Skype

Background:  Carl LeVan, professor at AU’s School of International Service, is an expert on comparative political institutions, democratization, and African security. Before joining AU, he worked as a legislative director in the U.S. Congress and then as an adviser to Nigeria’s National Assembly. He publishes the blog, Development4security and tweets @Dev4Security. Prof. LeVan’s 2019 book, Contemporary Nigerian Politics: Competition in a Time of Transition and Terror (in paperback from Cambridge University Press) details how weak rule of law remains the unfinished business of Nigeria’s transition to democracy in 1999. He currently serves as Chair of the Comparative and Regional Studies Program. He is also the co-editor of the Oxford Handbook of Nigerian Politics (Oxford University Press, 2018). 

“Nigeria’s police have long been an object of irritation and a focal point for petty corruption,” said Prof. LeVan. “The recent protests highlight the police’s equally notorious reputation for human rights abuses, galvanizing global sympathy for ordinary Nigerians who have suffered at the hands of the infamous SARS unit. Like the Black Lives Matter movement in the US, protestors’ demands extend beyond civil rights to investigation and prosecution for crimes of state violence. The lack of accountability – laid bare by President Buhari’s fumbling response thus far – can be traced to elite bargains I learned about as a witness to the 1999 transition, and the architecture of authoritarianism planted by Buhari in the 1980s.”

About American University’s School of International Service

American University’s School of International Service (SIS) is a top-10 school of international affairs located in Washington, D.C. Since the school’s founding in 1957, we have answered President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s call to prepare students of international affairs to “wage peace.” SIS produces transformational research and prepares more than 3,000 graduate and undergraduate students for global careers in government, nonprofits, and business. Our students take advantage of Washington’s wealth of resources and professional opportunities—and an active international network of more than 20,000 alumni. They graduate prepared to combine knowledge and practice and to serve the global community as emerging leaders, waging peace and building understanding in our world.

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