Glory Nneka Ukwenga

Glory Nneka Ukwenga is Founder and Executive Director, Africana League, a regional youth-driven network that connects African citizens through education and engagement to active participation in the processes of Governance and Development in African states.

She is also the National Focal Point, Réseau des Organisations des Jeunes Leaders Africains des Nations Unies (ROJALNU-SDCs/Africa). She sits on the Boards of African Youth Commission, (AYC) Nigeria, and Arewa Girls Education Foundation (ACEF). Glory is a Research Fellow with the Institut Franqais de Recherche en Afrique (IFRA Nigeria). She is the Secretary,

West African Political Science Association, Member, Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) and Member, Nigerian Society of International Affairs (NSIA) and Member, Nigerian Institute of Public Relations. She is a regular guest on multi-dimensional issues affecting Youth Development in Nigeria and Africa. Her work and appearances have been featured on Diamond 101.1 FM, (Ibadan) Space 90.1 FM (Ibadan), Lead City Radio 106.3 (Ibadan), Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State (BCOS) Television, Viewer TV Abuja, (Abuja), We FM 106.3, (Abuja) and Nigeria Info 95.1 (Abuja), Spider FM 102.7 (Kaduna) and Lagos Traffic Radio 96.1 FM.

Beyond Africana League, in the civil society space, she has supported several NCOs in baseline research within communities on issues of Governance, Peace and Security, Health, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH). In this capacity, she has designed various research programmes and led data sourcing teams for nationwide surveys and Focused Croup Discussions (FCDs). In 2017, She was part of the Technical Team that designed the DFID funded Anti-Corruption in Nigeria (ACORN) project led by ActionAid Nigeria and Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD).

Glory was also part of the CDD team in 2017 that conducted on-site performance assessment of government deradicalization and reintegration of some erstwhile Boko Haram terrorists under the Operation Safe Corridor programme funded by North East Regional Initiative (NERI). She represented CDD at the Public hearing on Constituency Development Catalyst Fund Bill sponsored by Senator Buhari Abdulfatai (Oyo State). In 2018, she led the Arewa Girls Education Fund (ACEF) on its Girl-child education empowerment Project in Kaduna, Bauchi and Borno States. In 2019, She led the Africana League technical Team to convene the Inaugural Forum of the Organized Private Sector in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (OPS-WASH) sponsored by UNICEF.

Glory is known for her commitment to excellence and record-breaking performances. She obtained her first Degree with Honours in Politics and International Relations and graduated Summa Cum Laude as the Valedictorian at Lead City University. She proceeded to obtain her Master's degree from the African prestigious University of Ibadan, emerging as the Best Graduating Student in the Department of Political Science. She has seven years in academic and non-academic research. As a Junior Research Fellow in Nigeria Institute of International Affairs, she prepared academic writings for the Director-General which fed into various Policy briefs utilized by the Federal government and other bodies.

Prior to the 2015 General Elections in Nigeria, her empirical findings held contrary beliefs to most established scholars spelling doom for Nigeria's nationhood taking the position that citizens were not widely disposed to post-election violence and hence the country was not at risk of disintegrating as a direct result of the 2015 elections. It helped reassure close neighbours and informed decisions of a few influential households not to leave the country.

As a University Lecturer, Glor has presented various papers at different academic conferences and has contributed to various academic journals and research publications including Nigerian Journal of International Studies, Institute of Africana Studies, Nigerian Journal of International Affairs, Pyrex Journal of Political Science and International Relations, Ife Journal of International Affairs among others. Her unwavering passion for Africa's developement drives her numerous researches, consultancies, and youth mobilization campaigns and mentoring on African Union's agenda 2063 and UN Sustainable Development Goals for 2030.