PhD candidate: NA (Nuhu Adeiza) Ismail MSc, Promotor: prof.dr. VR (Rene) van der Duim. External copromotor: dr. A. Aceska & dr. E. Adu-Ampong. My PhD research is on the governance of informal settlements in Abuja, Nigeria. The research provides deeper insights on how and why land ownership rights and tenure security in Abuja’s informal settlements are so controversial and remain unresolved for over 45 years since the creation of Abuja as the new capital city of Nigeria in 1976. Findings from this study show how the complexities around Abuja’s informal settlements are collectively produced by both state and non-state actors. The study also provides insights into why the challenges and contentions around informal settlements in many African cities, particularly around land rights and tenure security, have persisted for so long without any foreseeable resolutions. Theoretically, the study contributes to the understanding of governance, urban informality, and the state from a global south perspective. In terms of application, the insights on the complexities around Abuja land dynamics are handy for policy makers, planners, land investors, NGOs, and stakeholders that are interested in African cities.

More information

5 weeks on Monday Evening. It's time for a new film course series! This series focuses on the interaction between processes of decolonisation and cinema. Since the revolutionary 1960's, film directors have increasingly seen film as a medium that can play a role in the process of decolonisation, as well as a medium that still has to be decolonised itself. Dreamsof independence and self-determination made cinema more militant and radical, turning it away from Hollywood and its perpetual dreamscape. In short: making films with a rock in one hand, and a camera in the other, as the authors of the radical manifesto "Towards a Third Cinema" (1969) wrote. will draw on an exciting mix of film theory, analysis and history, and of course a wide variety of unforgettable clips from the film history of the country in question. In collaboration with Lumière Cinema. It is, next to registration for the whole series (see link in side box), also possible to register for individual lectures (see links behind lectures).

more-info