The Claude Ake Visiting Chair was set up in 2003 at the Department of Peace and Conflict Research, Uppsala University (DPCR), in collaboration with the Nordic Africa Institute (NAI) and with funding from the Swedish Government and Uppsala University.

The Chair honours the memory of Professor Claude Ake, a distinguished scholar, philosopher, teacher and humanist, who died tragically in 1996. The Chair is intended for scholars who, like Claude Ake, combine a profound commitment to scholarship with a strong advocacy for social justice. The Chair is open to social scientists working at African universities with problems related to war, peace, conflict resolution, human rights, democracy and development on the African continent.

The visiting chair holder is offered a conducive environment to pursue his or her own research, while there is also opportunity for lecturing, holding seminars and contributing to ongoing research activities at the Department of Peace and Conflict Research and the Nordic Africa Institute.

Dr. Eghosa E. Osaghae is the 2019 Claude Ake Visiting Chair.

Dr. Osaghae is Professor of Comparative Politics at University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria. He is one of Africa’s leading political scientists and scholars on ethnicity and federal studies. Professor Osaghae has published extensively on ethnicity, federalism, governance and state politics. He has received numerous academic awards and visiting positions to scholarly centers of excellence across Africa, Asia, Europe and North America.