I am a researcher specializing in military sociology. I earned a PhD in Sociology from Stellenbosch University in South Africa, where I researched the coping and social support strategies of Nigerian Military Widows in the War against Boko Haram. I have held various short-term Research Associate roles within the Department of Sociology, Stellenbosch University, the Open Society Foundation (OSF) in South Africa, focusing on security and rights issues in Southern Africa within the framework of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) framework, and with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on projects related to missing persons in armed conflicts across Africa.
I am a Visiting Research Fellow at the Centre for Death and Society (CDAS), University of Bath, England. At CDAS, I am researching the intersections of wartime death, grief, remembrance, and memory in the Nigerian military.
My recent and ongoing projects include the experiences of Nigerian military wives and families in the 21st century, as well as the combat experiences of Nigerian soldiers in the war against Boko Haram. The latter project was supported by a fieldwork grant from the European Research Council's Starting Grant (STG) Madness in Africa (MaDAf) project: “A History of Madness in West Africa: Governing Mental Disorder during Decolonization (1940s-1970s)” (2021-2025). I am also co-editor, with Camille Evrard, on a Cahiers d’études Africaines special issue on war trauma among African combatants (201th -21st centuries)
My primary research interests focus on (1) war and military families, (2) soldiering and combat experiences, (3) Remote Combat and Disembodied Warfare, (4) grief, memory, and remembrance, and (5) research methods.
Email: ajalatemitopeolufisayo@gmail.com
X: @olufisayo_ajala
LinkedIn: Fisayo Ajala