Emmanuel Ojeifo
Primary Area: World Religions and World Church
Biography
Emmanuel Ojeifo is a fourth year PhD candidate in theology at the University of Notre Dame. His area of research is in African Christian political theology, with specific interests in land, agrarian, and ecological questions. His doctoral dissertation explores the politics of land ownership, identity, and belonging in sub-Saharan Africa from the perspective of Christian theological social ethics. Emmanuel earned his MA in Religion in Global Politics at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, and his MSc in Science and Religion at New College, the University of Edinburgh School of Divinity, as a Kirby Laing International Foundation Scholar 2018-19. He also holds Bachelor’s degrees in Philosophy and Theology from Nigeria. Emmanuel is currently a Fellow of the Freedom and Prosperity Center of the US Atlantic Council, where he is researching the role of religious faith in the advancement of democratic freedom and prosperity in Africa. He is also a Senior Research Fellow of The Kukah Center, a research and policy think-tank in Nigeria, as well as Researcher at Bethany Land Institute in Uganda.
Research Interests
Christian political theology and ethics, ecotheology, religion and politics, religion and development, land and agrarian violence, black and African sanctity
Representative Publications
“Doing Ecotheology in Africa with Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart.” Nigerian Journal of Theology 38 (2024): 95-112.
Book Review: “Who Are My People? Love, Violence, and Christianity in Sub-Saharan Africa. By Emmanuel Katongole. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 2022. Pp. ix+222.” Religious Studies Review 49:4 (2023) 666-667.
“Christianity, Freedom, and Prosperity in Africa: Challenges and Possibilities.” Religion & Development – forthcoming 2024.
“Mineral Extraction, Human Rights Violation, and the Church’s Social Responsibility in the Democratic Republic of Congo: Matters Arising.” African Theological Journal of Church and Society - forthcoming 2024.
Dissertation
"Who owns the land? Theology, politics, and ethics of land in Africa"
Director: Emmanuel Katongole
Education
- MSc Science and Religion: School of Divinity, University of Edinburgh
- MA Religion in Global Politics: School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London
- Bachelor of Sacred Theology: Pontifical Urban University Rome
- BA Philosophy: University of Ibadan, Nigeria