Crisis Group Role

Nnamdi Obasi is Crisis Group's Nigeria Senior Adviser. He first worked with Crisis Group from 2006 to 2010, then returned to the organization in 2013. Working under Crisis Group’s West Africa Project, he leads Crisis Group’s research, policy prescriptions and advocacy in Nigeria.

Areas of Expertise

Nnamdi has worked on Nigeria’s security and governance challenges for virtually all his working life. For Crisis Group, he has researched and written on:

• Militancy and violence in the Niger Delta
• Boko Haram insurgency
• Herder-farmer violence in central Nigeria
• Shi’ite-government tensions
• Biafra separatist agitation
• Election violence
• Military reform

Professional Background

Before joining Crisis Group in 2006, he was Senior Research Fellow and later Head of Department of Peacekeeping and Humanitarian Affairs at the Centre for Strategic Studies and Research, National Defence College, Abuja. Between 1984 and 1994, he worked as a journalist on the editorial board of Concord Newspapers in Lagos, then the largest-selling newspaper in sub-Saharan Africa.

He earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Demography and Social Statistics from Obafemi Awolowo University (formerly University of Ife) in Nigeria. He also holds a Certificate in Facilitation of Peacekeeping Training from Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) in Accra, Ghana.

Select Publications

Obasi has authored two books: Ethnic Militias, Vigilantes and Separatist Groups in Nigeria (2002) and Small Arms Proliferation and Disarmament in West Africa (2002). He has also contributed to several books and peer-reviewed publications on conflicts, peace operations, small arms and organised crime in West Africa. He is frequently interviewed by Nigerian and international media, and regularly consulted by international organisations working on Nigeria.

Languages

• English (fluent)
• Ibo (native)