Dr Ola Bello
Oladiran (Ola) Bello obtained both his MPhil and PhD degrees in International Relations from the University of Cambridge and also holds a First Class BSc degree from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. He has worked for organisations including the United Nations (New York) and Management Systems International (Washington DC), Merchant International Group (London) and Arthur Andersen (later KPMG). Dr Ola Bello has more than 10 years of experience in research and policy advisory, including on governance and extractive sector reform; sustainable development; and international development cooperation (including in EU-Africa relations). He spent three years with FRIDE (Spain) managing a donor-funded programme on the EU’s role in managing fragility and resource governance in select African countries. In 2012-2015, he was Head, Governance of Africa’s Resource Programme (GARP) at the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA) and also functioned as head of SAIIA’s Cape Town office. Ola is spearheading GGA's technical support to Nigerian reform, including delivering ethics training for senior Nigerian judicial officers and change-makers (2017-2019). He's also working to expand GGA's role as in-country resource centre for multilateral consultative missions to Nigeria's ministries and parastatals. These missions include the UNECA/AU mineral sector governance team.
Nigeria’s crucial role in navigating the Niger coup crisis

Nigeria’s crucial role in navigating the Niger coup crisis

The military takeover in the Niger Republic gravely endangers security and stability in the West Africa and Sahel region. Similarly, the division within the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) into a pro and anti-coup bloc, portends an escalating risk....

The men contending for Nigeria’s presidential seat

The men contending for Nigeria’s presidential seat

Observant Nigerians are currently gripped by both fear and optimism in the face of the country’s divergent realities. On the one hand, rising poverty and insecurity in the land. On the other, a burgeoning youth population that if harnessed could power Nigeria to...

Why the state, not Nigeria, has failed 

Why the state, not Nigeria, has failed 

An article published this May in the Foreign Affairs journal provoked heated debates about whether Nigeria is a failed state. Professor Nic Cheeseman, who is an acquaintance going back a decade ago when I consulted and wrote on EU-Kenya development cooperation, co-...

Mainstreaming Good Governance into Nigerian Tax Reform

Mainstreaming Good Governance into Nigerian Tax Reform

GGA-Nigeria’s reform manual on Mainstreaming Good Governance into Nigerian Tax Reform offers a fresh and provocative perspective on taxation. It seeks to stimulate dialogue on the most important governance interventions and the sequencing required to actualise...

Dr Ola Bello
Oladiran (Ola) Bello obtained both his MPhil and PhD degrees in International Relations from the University of Cambridge and also holds a First Class BSc degree from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. He has worked for organisations including the United Nations (New York) and Management Systems International (Washington DC), Merchant International Group (London) and Arthur Andersen (later KPMG). Dr Ola Bello has more than 10 years of experience in research and policy advisory, including on governance and extractive sector reform; sustainable development; and international development cooperation (including in EU-Africa relations). He spent three years with FRIDE (Spain) managing a donor-funded programme on the EU’s role in managing fragility and resource governance in select African countries. In 2012-2015, he was Head, Governance of Africa’s Resource Programme (GARP) at the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA) and also functioned as head of SAIIA’s Cape Town office. Ola is spearheading GGA's technical support to Nigerian reform, including delivering ethics training for senior Nigerian judicial officers and change-makers (2017-2019). He's also working to expand GGA's role as in-country resource centre for multilateral consultative missions to Nigeria's ministries and parastatals. These missions include the UNECA/AU mineral sector governance team.