Researcher, Creative & Research Development Professional
…creating real-world impact through research, strategy, creativity and public engagement.
Ever wondered how ideas move across disciplines, sectors, and creative forms?
I embody that movement. My work travels from researching the democracy–development nexus to research development, grant strategy, impact, policy engagement, and creativity.
The Bolu Ajibola Difference
What distinguishes me from the typical researcher, consultant, or R&D professional is not simply that I work across these different spaces. It is that I know how to connect them. I understand research from the inside because I produce it. I understand research development because I support proposals, funding pipelines, partnerships, and institutional strategy. I understand impact because I help evidence become useful beyond academia. And I understand audiences because I have spent years communicating through stages, music, poetry, panels, and public events. That is my edge. Turning ideas into public value and social change.
How would you like to engage with my work?
Selected Research
Protests and Polls (PaP)
My ongoing doctoral research, with the conceptual anchor ‘Protests and Polls’ (PaP), explores how protest movements and electoral politics shape each other. PaP focuses on the #EndSARS protests (2020), the 2023 general elections, the pre- and post-2023 elections character of the #Obidient movement, and the ongoing overlaps between activism and politics in the lead up to the 2027 elections. Across these junctures, this project traces how discourse, emotions, and symbols travel between the streets and polling sites in Nigeria.
Social movements, elections, political emotions, protest culture, African public sphere
Digital ID & Future of Humanitarian Assistance
As a research consultant commissioned by Caribou Digital, UK, on a project of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), I contributed to the early development of the IFRC’s digital identity strategy. The project explored the mechanisms through which digital identity systems could improve humanitarian service delivery while prioritising and protecting the rights, privacy, and dignity of vulnerable peoples.
Digital governance, humanitarian innovation, technology and development
Lab: Interlocking Art and Activism
Beyond academic research, I use different art forms such as poetry, spoken word, and music to translate ideas into stories and experiences that resonate with different publics. While some of these works draw inspiration from themes such as social change, democracy, hope and civic responsibility, others are rooted in deep reflections on faith and the future.
Ideas
In Action
Excellence is more than a commitment; it's a lifestyle.
From COVID-19 to Fuel Subsidy Removal in Nigeria
Assessing the political opportunities for local grievance.
Legislative Responses in Times of Crisis
The legislature as target and mediator of ensuing outcomes during social emergencies: Revisiting Nigeria’s #EndSARS protest.
Turning Public Engagement into Standard Practice
Institutionalisation in the work of the South African Parliament.
Digital Identity in Humanitarian Contexts
Developed to initiate the co-development of the IFRC’s Digital ID strategy.
The Quest for Development
When social media-brokered political power encounters political ‘flak jackets’
Awards, affiliations and recognition
My work has earned recognitions through awards, international scholarships, grants, and conference invitations across multiple countries.
OAU
Political Science Ambassadors Awardee.
LSE
Firoz and Najma Lalji Foundation Scholar.
YORK
Doctoral researcher in Politics.
PSA
Best Potential Research Award winner.
ESRC (UKRI)
ESRC-funded doctoral researcher.
GLD
Funded international research workshop participant.
Firoz and Najma Lalji Foundation
Fully funded LSE master’s scholar.
Commonwealth
Commonwealth Shared Scholarship awardee (un-utilised).
WRDTP
White Rose DTP pathway award holder.
RCF OAU
Awarded Best Guitarist on campus.
Taiwan
International travel award recipient.
OAU
Political Science Ambassadors Awardee.
LSE
Firoz and Najma Lalji Foundation Scholar.
YORK
Doctoral researcher in Politics.
PSA
Best Potential Research Award winner.
ESRC (UKRI)
ESRC-funded doctoral researcher.
GLD
Funded international research workshop participant.
Firoz and Najma Lalji Foundation
Fully funded LSE master’s scholar.
Commonwealth
Commonwealth Shared Scholarship awardee (un-utilised).
WRDTP
White Rose DTP pathway award holder.
RCF OAU
Awarded Best Guitarist on campus.
Taiwan
International travel award recipient.
Let's talk numbers
A snapshot of impact, reach, and value delivered across projects and continents.
research projects delivered
countries engaged across research and collaboration
research impact projects supported
in research funding supported
in scholarships and grants secured
creative compositions
research projects delivered
countries engaged across research and collaboration
research impact projects supported
in research funding supported
in scholarships and grants secured
creative compositions
research projects delivered
countries engaged across research and collaboration
research impact projects supported
in research funding supported
in scholarships and grants secured
creative compositions