Brig. Gen Bala Saleh
Brigadier General Saleh Bala (Rtd) is the President and Founder of the Whiteink Institute for Strategy Education and Research (WISER) and the Chief Executive Officer of White Ink Consult, a defense and security research, strategic communication and training consultancy firm based in Abuja, Nigeria. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Maiduguri, Nigeria (1982) and a Master’s degree in International Peace Studies (2006) from the University for Peace, San Jose, Costa Rica, and another Master’s in National Security Strategy (2009), from the National Defense University, National War College, Washington DC. Through his 30 years military service, he held several local and international appointments at command, staff and training levels. Bala had UN service as a Military Observer with UNAVEM III, Angola (1995-96) and was also the Military Chief of Staff UNOCI (2011-12). Bala consults for a number of local and international governmental and non-governmental organizations in the areas of National Security Strategy Development, Security Sector Reforms (SSR), and Preventing/Counter Violent Extremism Strategies.
DR. TONI HAASTRUP
Dr. Toni Haastrup, Ph.D. is Senior Lecturer in International Politics at the University of Stirling, UK. Currently Editor-in-Chief of JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies, she is also an executive committee member of Women Also Know Stuff, a member of the ISA Committee on the Status on Women and I co-convene the UACES Research Network, Gendering EU Studies. Her research broadly explores the nature of global power hierarchies (between the Global North and South) in knowledge and practice and has worked in the area of global governance of security via regional security institutions – the African and European Unions.
DR. SALEH B. MOMALE
Saleh B. Momale is a development geography and resource use management specialist currently serving as a Permanent Commissioner with the Kaduna State Peace Commission. He holds a PhD in Geography and is a member of the Geoinformation Society of Nigeria(GEOSON), Association of Nigerian Geographers (ANG) and the Institute of Chartered Mediators and Conciliators (ICMC), among others. Prior to joining the Kaduna State Peace Commission in November 2017, he was a senior Lecturer at the Centre for Dryland Agriculture, Bayero University, Kano. He was previously the Executive Director of the Pastoral Resolve (PARE), a nongovernmental organization for several years.
DR. VICTORIA FONTAN
Victoria Fontan is a Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies and Vice President of Academic Affairs at the American University of Afghanistan. She is also a visiting professor at the Western Institute of Technology and Higher Education (ITESO), Guadalajara, Mexico; at the InstitutSupérieur des Techniques de Développement, Kalehe, République Démocratique du Congo; and the University of Duhok, Iraq. Prior to her appointment to Afghanistan, she coordinated the establishment of the quality framework for HPass, the LinkedIn-type platform for humanitarian workers and volunteers. Victoria also engages in selected academic activities within the fields of peace education, peace-building research, and critical terrorism studies.
JULIE SANDA
Julie Gwangmwa Sanda, is Head of Department of Conflict, Peacekeeping and Humanitarian Studies (DCPHS) at the African Centre for Strategic Research and Studies (ACSRS). A researcher, trainer and facilitator, she served at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) and also at the defunct National Council for Inter-Governmental Relations before joining the services of National Defence College (NDC). She holds a BSc in Political Science from the University of Jos and a Masters in Political Science from Ahmadu Bello University Zaria. Her current research interests include peacekeeping and foreign policy, women and security, among others. She has several publications to her credit and serves as Editor for Africa Peace Review.
Hakeem Ajijola