Prof. Ikoh set to deliver Inaugural Lecture

The Director of Academic Planning of the Federal University of Lafia (FULafia), Professor Moses Udo Ikoh, will, later this month, deliver his professorial inaugural lecture.

The Professorial Inaugural Lecture is an opportunity for newly-promoted or appointed professors to inform colleagues in the university and the general public, about their research career and update colleagues on their current and future research directions.

The planned lecture, when delivered by Ikoh, would be the second time such would be delivered in FULafia.

Ikoh is a professor of criminology and sociology of law.

The title of his inaugural lecture is: “Sociology of the Criminal, Arc of Tension, and Harvest of Insecurity in Nigeria: Patterns, Linkages and Implications for National Security.”

Ikoh’s soon-to-be delivered lecture revolves around the root causes of insecurity in the country and how to address the problem.

According to Ikoh, the lecture would “try to provide an overview of the causes of insecurity in Nigeria, drawing from long existing linkages on tran-saharan trade route” and recommend solutions on how Nigeria can overcome its security challenges.

Ikoh said that the presentation would examine how “over the years, the states of Chad, Niger, Mali, Libya and Algeria have had serious internal crisis that weakened governance,” pointing out that “inability to solve the crisis resulted in the establishment of terrorists cells beginning from AQIM in Algeria to Jihadist, National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad in Mali and Niger; and Boko Haram in Nigeria.”

The Asanting Utit Ikpe, born international scholar, in the inaugural lecture, would also give an account of his stewardship which borders on the overall message of his research development in the years he has worked as a university lecturer.

Professor Moses Udo Ikoh grew up as the eldest son in a family of five children in Asanting Utit Ikpe, in Ini Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria.

He graduated from the University of Calabar with a B.Sc (Hons) in Sociology in 1989; and later studied for a Master’s Degree in Management (MBA) with skills in quantitative techniques in 1997.

A former security and investigation officer, Ikoh holds the degrees of Master of Science (M.Sc) in Criminology 2004, and PhD in Criminology, 2008 from the University of Calabar.

Professor Ikoh has his research background from the Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research, NISER, Ibadan, where he worked as a research fellow.

He also taught sociology and criminology at both undergraduate and post graduate levels in the University of Jos; before joining the service of the Federal University of Lafia in 2012.

He is a professor of criminology and sociology of law and has researched and published extensively in the field of sociology of law and criminal justice system, criminology and security, health sociology, security governance, and social policy.

Prof. Ikoh’s love for quantitative criminology and sociology is not only enriched by his MBA degree, but also by the ICT capacity building programme on data analysis (SPSS, E-Views, STATA and PRIMER Statistics), which the Nigerian Institute for Social and Economic Research (NISER), Ibadan, sponsored him in 2009.

Professor Ikoh’s lectures are not only popular within the University, but have also attracted intellectual attention elsewhere.

For instance, in 2012, his paper on the “impact of organised crime on governance in the Gulf of Guinea with focus on Nigeria” delivered at Dakar, Senegal, attracted the attention of EU Representatives.

The following year, 2013, he was sponsorsed by Frederich Ebert Stiftung Foundation to conduct a study at EU Institutions in Brussel (the European Headquarters) on “West African Criminal Network: Linkages and impact on European interventions in Africa.”

The first part of that study is published as organised crime, security threats and governance: The sustainability of European Union interventions in West Africa. Peace and Security Series No. 14. Available at: http://library.fes.de/…/bueros/nigeria/10865-20140805.pdf. See also: https://www.fes.de/…/africa…/standorte/nigeria/…

Professor Ikoh is a member of Exclusive Emerald Literati Network (EELN), the American Association of International Researchers (AAIR), the Nigerian Anthropological and Sociological Society (NASS), the Nigerian Society for Criminology (NSC), and the African Council on Narcotic Crime Prevention (ACON).

He has over 50 publications including edited books and book chapters, as well as articles that are published in both local and international journals.