Osaro Odemwingie is an author, television host, media strategist, trainer, development communicator, campaigner, lobbyist and social researcher. He has been a full-time human rights and development worker since 1997. As Coordinator of the Freedom of Information Coalition in Nigeria, he initiated and coordinated civil society lobbying of Legislative and Executive officers of government to pass a Freedom of Information Act. Whilst at the OII, Osaro will undertake research on the impact of ICTs on advocacy for transparency and accountability in governance, undertaking a case study of the Campaign For Freedom of Information Act in Nigeria.
Osaro is author of ‘ICT Tools and Africa’ (2005), ‘Back from the Brink’, ‘A Harvest Of Blooms’, ‘At A Crossroads’ – Reports on the State of the Media in Nigeria (1999, 2000 and 2001), ‘Problems and Prospects of Rural Development in Lagos State’ in State Administration and the Challenges of the 21st Century (1999), and over fifty research-based reports for both local and international audiences.
An alumnus of the Anti-Corruption and Good Governance programme, Les Aspin Center for Government, Washington DC, he holds an MSc Public Administration and BSc (Ed.) Economics and Statistics from the University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria.
14 March 2008
Roberto Verzola and Osaro Odemwingie have been selected as the first two civil society practitioners from the Global South to spend time as Academic Visitors at the OII in 2008.
