TABU HAILS GLOBAL SCHOLAR PROF. BEN NAANEN ON 2026 BIRTHDAY, CELEBRATES ENDURING LEGACY

Renowned historian, international policy expert, and Niger Delta advocate, Professor Ben Naanen, has been celebrated by mentees, colleagues, and admirers across the globe as he marks his birthday on April 21, 2026.

In a tribute issued in Port Harcourt, Barr. Anthony Tabu—Secretary of the South-South Peoples’ Conference and National Coordinator of the Tinubu Re-election Movement—described Prof. Naanen as a distinguished leader whose life of service, scholarship, and advocacy continues to inspire generations within and beyond Nigeria.

Prof. Naanen’s career spans academia, global policy institutions, and grassroots environmental activism. He currently serves as a member of the Governing Council of the The Progressive Institute, the official think tank of Nigeria’s ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

Internationally, he was a Commonwealth Postdoctoral Fellow at the School of Oriental and African Studies in the United Kingdom.

A central figure in the Niger Delta struggle, Prof. Naanen served as Pioneer General Secretary and later President of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People, where he played a leading role in internationalizing environmental campaigns across Europe. His global engagement includes serving as Former Vice President of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization, headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands, now based in Brussels, Belgium.

He also led a UNPO mission that monitored the first multi-party elections in Zanzibar, part of the Tanzania.

His expertise has been sought by major global institutions, including the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development in Geneva, Switzerland; the World Resources Institute in Washington, D.C., United States; and the United States Agency for International Development’s Office of Transition Initiatives.

At the national level, Prof. Naanen is a Governing Council member of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs and has contributed to global discourse as a member of the Working Group on Ethnicity, Xenophobia and Indigenous People under the World Council of Churches. He is also Founder and Trustee of the Niger Delta Environment Relief Foundation and a former Governing Council member of the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project.

In academia, Prof. Naanen has held several prestigious positions, including Senior Fellow of the South-South Exchange Programme for Research on the History of Development (SEPHIS) in Amsterdam, and Visiting Professor at the University of Uyo. 

He also served as Head of the Department of History and Diplomatic Studies and later Director of the Emerald Energy Institute at the University of Port Harcourt. His international academic engagements include fellowships at Northwestern University and the Leiden University.

Prof. Naanen’s public service record is equally extensive. He was a senatorial candidate under the All Nigeria Peoples Party during the 2003 general elections and has served as a delegate to multiple United Nations forums on indigenous populations and human rights in Geneva.

Notably, he played a critical role in peacebuilding and environmental remediation efforts in Ogoniland. He was a member of the multi-stakeholder committee set up by the Federal Government of Nigeria to implement the United Nations Environment Programme report on Ogoni. He also served on the Ogoni Dialogue Committee and the Bodo Mediation Initiative, which facilitated a landmark environmental settlement involving compensation to affected communities following litigation in London.

Describing him as a “mentor, leader, and global statesman,” Barr. Tabu expressed gratitude for Prof. Naanen’s enduring impact, noting that his work continues to bridge continents—from Nigeria to Europe and North America—while advancing justice, environmental sustainability, and scholarly excellence.

As tributes continue to pour in, Prof. Naanen is widely regarded as a towering figure whose legacy in academia, advocacy, and public service remains firmly etched on the global stage.