President Bola Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Media and Public Communication Sunday Dare, has been awarded a Doctor of Philosophy degree by Baze University, Abuja.
The veteran journalist and former Minister of Sports whose career has spanned media, government and diplomacy, earned the academic feat after defending a thesis on Tuesday that probes security dynamics between Nigeria and Niger Republic.
Dare’s dissertation, “Border Management and Regional Security in West Africa: An Assessment of Nigeria and Niger Relations, 1998 to 2023,” examines the evolution of cross-border threats, intelligence-sharing mechanisms and the policy responses of two of the region’s most consequential states.
“The work, defended Wednesday before an academic panel at Baze’s campus in Abuja, argues that porous borders and uneven security cooperation have compounded instability across the Sahel and the Gulf of Guinea,” Vice Chancellor of the institution Professor Abiodun Adeniyi posted on his official Facebook page.
The Vice Chancellor quoted of the subject matter,” Professor Chijioke Ogbonna, who attended the defence session as saying, “Dare demonstrated an impressive mastery.”
He said Professor Ogbonna also praised Dare for the study as “a marriage of scholarship and praxis.”
According to Professor Ogbonna, the research offered concrete policy prescriptions that could inform both national strategy and regional frameworks for managing illicit flows and extremist violence.
NewsQuest reports that the doctorate degree caps an eclectic academic and professional trajectory for the presidential aide, whose public roles intersected with the security and communications issues he now tackles in academic form.
Dare now (Dr. Dare), trained at the University of Jos and pursued further study at New York University, Harvard University, the University of Oxford and the London School of Economics.
For Baze University, the ceremony represented a symbolic vote of confidence. Vice Chancellor Abiodun confirmed that Dr. Dare’s decision to complete his doctorate at Baze — rather than at one of the Western institutions where he previously studied — highlights growing ambitions among Nigeria’s private universities to host rigorous, policy-relevant research.
Professor Abiodun also lauded the doctorate as an example for students and faculty.
“We are proud that Dare chose Baze University for this important chapter of his intellectual journey. His work underlines how experience can deepen scholarship, and how scholarship can lend greater purpose to public service.”
Dare’s thesis traces three decades of bilateral relations and maps how trade flows, migration and criminal networks have adapted to shifting political landscapes. It assesses the effectiveness of joint patrols, intelligence exchanges and regional organisations in curbing cross-border violence, finding that coordination has often been ad hoc and constrained by capacity gaps and mutual distrust.
Our correspondent gathered that the study is timely. The Lake Chad basin, parts of the Sahel and borderlands between West African states have in recent years seen resurgent insurgencies, banditry and trafficking networks.
Effective border management has become central to policymakers seeking to stabilise those zones while preserving legitimate commerce and movement.
“Policy makers need actionable research that links on-the-ground realities with institutional reform,” Ogbonna said. “That is the kind of scholarship Baze seeks to foster: rigorous, relevant and responsive.”
Dr. Dare’s academic achievement highlights a broader trend in which practitioners with lengthy public-service resumes turn to scholarship both to codify experience and to shape policy debates.
His background in journalism and government provided him with access to primary sources and practical insights that enriched the work.
Dr. Dare has said that the research was motivated by a desire to contribute to durable solutions for the region’s security challenges.
He called for sustained investment in institutional capacity, better intelligence-sharing platforms and a regional approach that balances security measures with socio-economic development.
