Dr. Moses Yakubu

Short Bio

Dr. Moses Yakubu is a distinguished Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of African and Diaspora Studies, Faculty of Arts, University of Lagos, Nigeria, and a Principal Investigator of the University of Lagos African Cluster Centre. He obtained a Ph.D. degree in History and Strategic Studies. Dr. Yakubu has also received a Certificate of Completion of Course on the Implementation of the UN Security Council Resolutions on the Women, Peace and Security Agenda in Africa, jointly awarded by the Peace Operations Training Institute and UN women, as well as a Certificate of Completion of Course on Conflict Analysis from the United States Institute of Peace.

Dr. Yakubu has presented papers at conferences in Africa, Europe, and America. He is also a published author in both national and foreign journals and books and has been awarded international and national grants and fellowships. In 2023, he became a recipient of the Bayreuth Academy of Advanced African Studies award at the University of Bayreuth in Germany. In 2021, he served as a Visiting Mobility Fellow for the African Cluster Centre at Universite de Joseph Ki-Zerbo in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

Dr. Yakubu is the coordinator of the Rahamon Bello Best Ph.D. Thesis Award and the Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Institute of African and Diaspora Studies, UNILAG. His research interests include African Peace and Conflict Studies (Military History), Gender/Women Studies, and Development Studies. He is a member of the Historical Society of Nigeria, Conflict Resolution Network-West Africa (CORN-West Africa), and Society for the Study of History and International Studies, as well as an Affiliate Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA).

Selected Publications

•  Bolarinwa, J. & Yakubu, M. (2022). “Assessing the European Union’s (EU) Role in Conflict Management and Post-conflict Development in Africa,” In Spiegel, E., Mutalemwa, G., Liu, C., & Kurtz, L. R. (eds) Peace Studies for Sustainable Development in Africa: Conflicts and Peace Oriented Conflict Resolution. Springer International Publishing, 531-554.
• Yakubu, M., & Falode, J. (2022). “Economic Determinism and Boko Haram Terrorism: Understanding the Long Road to Peace and Security in North-East Nigeria, 2009-2019,” In Spiegel, E., Mutalemwa, G., Liu, C., & Kurtz, L. R. (eds) Peace Studies for Sustainable Development in Africa: Conflicts and Peace Oriented Conflict Resolution. Springer International Publishing, 107-121.
• Yakubu, M., Ademola-Adeoye, F., & Falaiye, M. (2022). “Doctoral Training in Nigeria: Re-Engineering the Existing System for Sustainable Higher Education Institution,” in von Scherer, C. & Sooryamoorthy, R. (eds.). Doctoral Training and Higher Education in Africa. Routledge Taylor and Francis.
• Yakubu, M., & Adeyeri, O. (2022). “Women, Resistance Movement and Colonialism in Africa: Evidence from Egypt, Kenya and Nigeria,” in Allen F. & Amadi L. (eds.). Decolonizing Colonial Development Models in Africa: A New Postcolonial Critique. Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group: Maryland.
• Yakubu, M., Aideloje, F. & Babawale, T, (2022). “An Analysis of the Crimes Committed by the Multinational Joint Task Force,” JCEEAS-Journal of Central and Eastern European African Studies 2(1), 48-67.

Project Description

The Involvement of Elderly Women in Traditional Male Cults and Festivals in Egba land.

This research delves into the importance of elderly women in men's cultural events and festivals in Egba land, Nigeria. It aims to understand the crucial roles women elders play in male-dominated cults and festivals and how these roles impact the success of cultural events and the development of Yoruba society. Significantly, the study is an attempt to showcase how gender intersectionality resonates in cultural festivals. The study seeks to answer the following questions: why do some men's rituals require the involvement of elderly women? What are the functions of women elders in men’s cults and festivals? And, in what ways does the exclusion of women elders affect the outcome of men's rituals? Through visits to women elders and male members, the research investigates the value and significance of women in male cults and festivals, which often exhibit anti-women sentiments in public. The study aims to explain the relationality between the female and male sexes in traditional rites and how they perform during cult processions and festivals. It seeks to provide theoretical explanations for the indispensability of elderly women in men's domain and challenge the patriarchal system that underestimates the contributions of women elders in men's space. This research is interested in the reflexive dimension of the socio-cultural African perspective on gender intersection, and the multifaceted ways women elders relate to men's cult/festivals in traditional and modern periods. The research is historical, analytical, and descriptive in its presentation.