Adeolu Oluwaseyi Oyekan

Adeolu Oluwaseyi Oyekan is a Nigerian philosopher whose work explores identity, social cohesion, democracy, and the ethical challenges facing contemporary Africa. He has taught and conducted research for more than a decade, beginning as a lecturer at Lagos State University before holding postdoctoral and research fellowships at Nelson Mandela University and the University of Pretoria. His scholarship spans dozens of peer-reviewed publications and book chapters, engaging themes such as cosmopolitanism, nationalism, technology, decolonial thought, and African metaphysics. He also serves as an external examiner and contributor to academic bodies across Africa, reflecting his commitment to advancing philosophical inquiry and fostering inclusive dialogue in society.

My research lies at the intersection of African philosophy, political theory, and ethics, with a central concern for how postcolonial African societies negotiate questions of justice, democracy, identity politics, and belonging. Broadly, my scholarship is animated by two interrelated aims: first, to critically interrogate the colonial legacies and contemporary global structures that continue to shape African political life; and second, to recover and creatively rework indigenous African resources of thought in addressing the continent’s enduring challenges of governance, identity, and social cohesion.

My published works cut across several overlapping domains. In political philosophy, I have examined the conditions of democracy and development in Africa, particularly how plural religious and cultural identities intersect with democratic institutions. Similarly, in my work on reparative justice and restitution, I have argued for competent and ethical leadership as the primary basis for just reparations in Africa. I have also responded to cosmopolitan rationalizations for the looting of African artifacts, raising ethical issues related to the dignity, welfare, and identities of African states. I contend that restorative justice in Africa is not only retrospective, but also future oriented, offering pathways for rebuilding fractured communities and reclaiming lost cultural heritage.

Another key strand of my scholarship addresses human rights discourses in Africa. I critically evaluate African theories of human rights that seek to ground the concept in communal or cultural traditions, highlighting both their promise and their limitations. While such theories enrich global debates by resisting reductive universalism, I argue that they must also avoid essentialism and remain attentive to the complex realities of African political life. In a related vein, my critique of certain currents in African feminism cautions against approaches that risk over-glorifying an idyllic past that obscures patriarchal privileges still perpetuating gender inequalities. Instead, I advocate for feminist frameworks that remain attentive to the lived experiences of African women while staying open and inclusive.

I have also extended these concerns into the domain of indigenous knowledge and public health ethics, particularly in works on African bioethics and surrogacy. The COVID-19 pandemic underscored the importance of interrogating Africa’s readiness and vulnerabilities. In co-authored works, I examined the challenges of pandemic philanthropy in Africa, as well as issues related to the management of identities and social cohesion during a pandemic. A sole authored work further explored the challenges of managing a pandemic in Africa amid conspiracy theories. My ongoing research on the politics of risk imposition investigates how pandemic management and vaccine justice illuminate broader questions of global inequality, ethical responsibility, and the just distribution of risks and benefits.

Currently, I am developing a project on the prospects and challenges of interculturality and belongingness, which explores how African societies can cultivate inclusive identities that transcend exclusionary nationalisms while remaining grounded in indigenous ethical traditions such as Ubuntu and complementarity. Taken together, my research contributes to African philosophy, political theory, and practical ethics through a lens that is both critical and constructive. The critical dimension exposes structures of domination and epistemic exclusion that constrain African agency, while the constructive dimension focuses on the retrieval and reimagination of traditional African thought to envision more just and sustainable futures, and on creating knowledge systems that are at once indigenous and modern.