- Department of Political Science and International Studies |Faculty of Social Sciences
The present Department of Political Science and International Studies which runs the B.Sc. (Political Science) and B.Sc. (International Studies) was established in 1967 as the Department of Government with 16 students and 13 academic staff. The degree that was awarded by the Department up till 1976 was the Bachelor of Science in Social Sciences, with specialization in Government. In 1976, the name of the department was officially changed to the Department of Political Science, and the degree programme also changed to Political Science. The objectives of the Department were drawn out in 1976 and still remain: (i) a commitment to national unity through the study of the current efforts at forging a national identity; (ii) awareness of the position of Nigeria and Africa in the international arena through a study of the forces which determine this; (iii) awareness of the conditions of life of the common people of Nigeria and the ways of improving it; (iv) awareness of the evolution, structures and values of the Nigerian Political and Social systems, and, (v) the commitment, capacity and self-confidence to conduct research and discover more about these phenomena. From its inception in 1967, up till 1976, the Department members of academic staff were predominantly expatriates.
From 1974 onwards, the Department started to recruit its brilliant graduates as Graduate Assistants in an effort to Nigerianize. These new academic staff were trained both within the Department and abroad. As of now, 27 out of the 33 members of staff are graduates of the Department. The B.SC. International Studies degree which the Department now awards in addition to the B.Sc. Political Science Degree was introduced in 1979. This programme was created as a way of broadening the scope of teaching and research to meet the broad objectives of the Department. It was also conceived as a premier programme in the Nigerian heartland to sensitize both students and Researchers in the environment to important socio-economic and political issues that are international in scope and implications. The Department has had sixteen heads of Department since 1967. These include Professor C.0. Hunt (1967 - 1968) Professor James O’Connel(1968 - 1976); Professor A.D, Yahaya (1976 - 1979), Professor Ibrahim Gambari (1980 - 1982), Dr. Tony Edoh (1982 - 1986); Dr. O.G. Ajene (1986 - 1990),Dr. R.A. Dunmoye (1990 -1993); Dr. P.P. Izah (1993 - 1998), Dr. A.I. Ohwona (1998 - 2000), Dr. A. S. Mohammed (2000 - 2004),Dr. E. A. Unobe (2004 – 2006), Dr. U.M. Ka’oje (2006 – 2010), Dr. Hudu A. Abdullahi (2010 - 2014), Dr. Yusufu Abdullahi Yakubu (2014-2016), Dr. Yahaya Aliyu (2016 - 2021), Dr. Rahanatu Lawal (2021 - date)
To be an active participant in changing the trends and circumstances of Nigeria’s political development by generating and disseminating new knowledge in politics through teaching, research and community service that will address the values, culture, traditions, needs and aspirations of the societies in which we live. This will lead to the production of qualitative graduates who are disciplined and sensitive to probity, accountability and transparency in both private and public sectors.
To create a department, that will be a centre of excellence in the study of politics at local, national and international levels. A department that will be comparable to any other department of Political Science and International Studies in the world.
Our philosophy is to create a Department which is a centre of excellence at the local, National and International levels and which is comparable to any other department of political science in the world. Furthermore, we wish to have a department which will grow to become the resource centre where major players in both the public and private sectors of the Nigerian economy can come to seek for an understanding of the complex nature of the interplay of forces between national and international issues in this age of globalization.
To create a department, that will be a centre of excellence in the study of politics at local, national and international levels. A department that will be comparable to any other department of Political Science and International Studies in the world.