Name Prof. Chukwunọnso Okafọ, B.L., Ph.D.
Position Professor and Associate Dean of Law
Contact Details Department of International Law and Jurisprudence
Faculty of Law
University of Nigeria
Enugu Campus, Enugu, Nigeria
Phone: +234 706 374 6226
+234 909 542 3898
Email: Chukwunonso.Okafo@unn.edu.ng
Alternate email: ChukwunonsoOkafo@lawyer.com
Web site: lawtojustice.com
Brief Biography
Chukwunọnso Okafọ is a Professor and the Associate Dean of Law at the University of Nigeria. He was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1989. Following brief legal practice, he proceeded to the USA where he studied for Master’s and Doctorate degrees. After earning a Ph.D. at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, USA, in 1996, he taught at Western Carolina University (WCU), USA, 1996-2003 and Norfolk State University (NSU), USA, 2003-2011. He was tenured and promoted at both institutions, becoming a tenured Professor in 2006. As Author and Editor, Professor Okafọ published Grounded Law: Comparative Research on State and Non-State Justice in Multiple Societies, a book that analyzes a variety of unofficial (non-governmental) and official (governmental) law, justice, and social control processes in several countries, demonstrating the complex workings of alternative law and justice and the critical need they serve in various societies. These analyses highlight the need to expand the meaning of “law” beyond its parochial sphere as a government-sanctioned phenomenon. Also, Professor Okafọ is the author of Reconstructing Law and Justice in a Postcolony. The book studies the challenges, considerations, and templatefor rebuilding the law, justice, and social control of a former colony, such as Nigeria. The work makes specific recommendations for reforming ("reconstructing") various areas of Nigerian law and justice, including law making, law enforcement, judiciary, and the prisons/corrections. Further, Professor Okafọ published Law and Justice in Post-British Nigeria: Conflicts and Interactions Between Native and Foreign Systems of Social Control in Igbo, a book on the plurality of Nigerian law, justice, and social control. The volume also delineates formal and informal law and justice, and creates a prototypefor testing the formality or informality of a law and justice process. In addition to the books mentioned here, Professor Okafọ is the author of numerous peer-reviewed, professional articles as well as other essays on law, justice, and social control. As part of his research, Professor Okafọ has presented many professional papers at local, national, and international conferences on a variety of law, justice, and social control subjects. Also, he is Editor-in-Chief of Law and Policy Review, and the Associate Editor of Journal of Law and Conflict Resolution. Furthermore, he serves on the editorial boards of other professional journals, namely: Race and Justice: An International Journal; African Journal of Criminology and Justice Studies; as well as Journal of Contemporary Law. Finally, in addition to his professional attainments, Professor Okafọ displays robust leadership qualities in the sphere of social and cultural organizing. For instance, from January 2007 to December 2008, he served as the Vice-President of Nigerians in Tidewater Virginia (NITVA) (NITVA is an association of Nigerians residing in eight United States cities). Subsequently, he was elected and he served as President, 2009-2010. Owing to his sterling leadership as President, he was unanimously reelected for a second term.
