Abiola Idowu-Ojo (nee Ayinla) is a Senior Legal Officer for Protection at the Secretariat of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (“the Commission”), and is also responsible for assisting the Working Group on Extractive Industries, Human Rights and the Environment in Africa. She is equally, amongst others: the head of the Communications coordination team; the focal point for the Working Group on Communications; a focal point for the collaboration between the Commission and the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights; and the focal point for strategic planning; at the Secretariat of the Commission. As well, between September 2017 and April 2020, Abiola served as the Acting Deputy Executive Secretary to the Commission, and has also acted on many occasions as the Officer-in-Charge of the Secretariat of the Commission.
Abiola has had over sixteen years of dynamic and varied legal experience working in diverse capacities as a legal expert in the areas of human rights, natural resources exploration and management; foreign direct investment laws and practice; corporate governance and general business compliance. In her strides as a human rights lawyer, she has interned and worked in different capacities, including with the International Bar Association, the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the Commission. She has also worked as an independent expert in different capacities. Abiola is a graduate of the University of Lagos -Nigeria, a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, and a member of the Nigerian Bar Association.
EDUCATION
- University of Lagos, Nigeria (LL.B Honours) 2002
- University of Pretoria, RSA (LLM, with specialization in Human Rights and Democratization in Africa) 2003
- Abo Akademi University, Finland (Adv. Dip.) 2004
- Admitted to the Nigerian Bar 2005
- University of Geneva, Switzerland (Certificate in International Organizations Management) (2019)
- Loyola University, Chicago, USA (LLM, Rule of Law for Development) 2020
AREAS OF CONCENTRATON
Human Rights Law/African Human Rights System; Rule of Law; International Law; International Development; Energy & Natural Resources Law, Governance and Management; Project Financing; and Corporate-Commercial Law.