Dr Pedi Chiemena Obani

Dr Pedi Chiemena Obani is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Jurisprudence and International Law, University of Benin, and a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria. She is also a Visiting Research Fellow for the University of Leeds GCRF Water Security and Sustainable Development Hub. She has over a decade of research, project management and capacity building experience in climate change, water and natural resources management, with expertise in urban services, gender inclusiveness, regulatory framework, policy implementation, and governance projects. Pedi has contributed to flagship international reports and agenda setting for sustainable natural resource governance. She holds a PhD in Human rights and Inclusive Development, with a focus on the human right to sanitation, from the University of Amsterdam, and has a strong academic publication record. She has received prestigious academic grants and fellowships, including the African Studies Association UK’s Mary Kingsley Zochonis Fellowship in 2019.

EDUCATION

2018 2011 2010 2007 2006	PhD Human rights and inclusive development, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands Pg. Cert. Sustainable Business Management, Keele University, United Kingdom LLM Law and Sustainable Development, University of Aberdeen, United Kingdom BL Law, Nigeria Law School, Nigeria LLB Law (Honours), University of Benin, Nigeria

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

2020 2019 - 2020	Visiting Researcher: Water Security, Policy & Governance, University of Leeds, United Kingdom Researcher: Environmental Policy, UNU-INRA, Ghana
2012 -	Lecturer: Law, University of Benin, Nigeria
2011	Operations Manager, Urban Energies Solutions Ltd., United Kingdom
2010	Project Green Intern, Phoenix Gas Services Ltd., United Kingdom
2007-2009	Barrister & Solicitor, Ademola Adeniji & Co., Nigeria

MOST RECENT RESEARCH RECORD

2020     Visiting researcher for the University of Leeds GCRF Water Security and Sustainable Development Hub, with a focus on mainstreaming the human rights perspective in the research of Working Group 5 on Water Governance

2020 Drafted a detailed outline, with guidelines and recommendations, for the forthcoming report of the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education, for presentation at the UN General Assembly Third Committee in October 2020

2019 Project co-lead for Stranded Assets research at UNU-INRA, which involves research conceptualization, knowledge syntheses of emerging policy issues, coordination of research activities and drafting country reports to facilitate implementation of evidence-based approaches.

2019 Expert on the human rights to water and sanitation, as part of the development of the University of Manchester online course on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) agenda, with a focus on SDG 6

2019 – 2020 Lead consultant for the sanitation nexus analysis, conducting cross-sectoral analysis of key national and sub-national laws and policies, as part of the Research and Evaluation of Nexuses of the Exploitation of Water in African Law (RENEWAL) Project in Nigeria

2019 Expert for the World Bank Groups’ Enabling the Business of Agriculture report (2019), which involved analysis of relevant water sector laws and policies impacting on agriculture in Nigeria

2018 Researcher, NEPAD Western African Network of Water Centres of Excellence (WANWATCE) – University of Benin Research Team, with the role of mainstreaming human rights standards in the research design

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Books

Kremere E., Morgan E. and Obani P., SDG 6 – Clean water and sanitation: Balancing the water cycle for sustainable life on earth, Bingley: Emerald Publishing, 2019.

Obani, P.C., Strengthening the Human Right to Sanitation as an Instrument for Inclusive Development, Leiden: Taylor & Francis (CRC Press/Balkema), 2018.

Journal Publications

Obani, P., and Attah, M., “Expropriation under the Land Use Act 1978: Is grazing a public purpose?,” Nasarawa Journal of Public and International Law, 5, 1, 2018, pp. 2019-221.

Obani, P., “The National Health Policy 2016: A Missed Opportunity for Advancing the Human Right to Sanitation for Nigerians?,” ESR Review: Economic and Social Rights in South Africa, 18, 2, 2017, pp. 5–8.

Obani, P., and Gupta, J., “Inclusive development as an imperative to realizing the human right to water and sanitation,” Journal of Sustainable Development Law and Policy, 8, 2, 2017, pp. 67-86.

Obani, P., “Inclusiveness in humanitarian action: Access to water, sanitation and hygiene in focus,” Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 24, 2017, pp. 24-29.

Zwarteveen, M., Kemerink-Seyoum, J.S., Kooy, M., Evers, J., Guerrero, T.A., Batubara, B., Biza, A., Boakye-Ansah, A., Faber, S., Flamini, A.C., Cuadrado-Quesada, G., Fantini, E., Gupta, J., Hasan, S., Horst, R., Jamali, H., Jaspers, F., Obani, P., et al., “Engaging with the politics of water governance,” Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Water, 4, 2017, e01245.

Obani, P., and Gupta, J., “Human right to sanitation in the legal and non-legal literature: The need for greater synergy,” Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Water, 3, 5, 2016, pp. 678-691.

Obani, P.C., and Gupta, J., “The impact of economic recession on climate change: Eight trends,” Climate and Development, 8, 3, 2016, pp. 211-223.

Obani, P., and Gupta, J., “The evolution of the right to water and sanitation: Differentiating the implications,” Review of European, Comparative & International Environmental Law, 24, 1, 2015, pp. 27-39.

Obani, P., and Gupta, J., “Legal pluralism in the area of human rights: Water and sanitation,” Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 11, 2014, pp. 63-70.

Obani, P.C., “Review of the National Climate Change Commission Bill, 2008,” NIALS Journal of Environmental Law, 3,2276-755X, 2014, pp. 26-55.

Obani, P., and Fagbohun, O., “Exit, voice and indifference: Case study of consumers in the Nigerian global systems for mobile (GSM) service market,” University of Benin Journal of Business Law, 1, 1, 2013, pp. 115-137.

Obani, P., and Ogbodo, S.G., “Strengthening the national institutional framework for environmental migration through sustainable development,” Hong Kong Law Journal, 43, 3, 2013, pp. 897-916.

Encyclopedia Entry

Obani, P., “Waste reduction and sustainable development,” In: Leal, Filho W. (ed.) Encyclopedia of Sustainability in Higher Education. 2019, Springer, Cham.

Journal Papers Accepted

Obani, P., “The right to food in Nigeria,” To be published in NIALS Current Law Review.

Obani, P., “Localizing the human right to water in Lagos State, Nigeria,” To be published in Utrecht Law Journal.

Journal Papers in Review

Obani, P., Okunrobo, H., “Critical reflections on combating trafficking in human organs in Nigeria,” Submitted to: NIALS Current Law Review.

Peer Reviewed Blog Posts

Obani, P., Human Rights Compatibility of Trade in WASH Services in the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfronomicsLaw, 2020) https://www.afronomicslaw.org/2020/05/28/human-rights-compatibility-of-trade-in-wash-services-in-the-african-continental-free-trade-area/

Obani, P.,  #Handwashing and Covid-19: Women and Access to Water (IAWL, 2020) https://www.africanwomeninlaw.com/post/handwashing-and-covid-19-women-and-access-to-water

Obani, P., Redefining the Role for International Environmental Law in Addressing Climate Change (AfronomicsLaw and UAE, 2019) https://www.afronomicslaw.org/2019/11/18/redefining-the-role-for-international-environmental-law-in-addressing-climate-change/

Obani, P., Kent, A., Symposium Introduction: Law, Policy, and the Promotion of Investment in the Renewable-Energy Sector (2019) https://www.afronomicslaw.org/2019/11/11/symposium-introduction-law-policy-and-the-promotion-of-investment-in-the-renewable-energy-sector/

Kent, A., Obani, P., Promoting Investment in the Renewable Energy Sector: Concluding Remarks and Future Legal Research Agenda (2019) https://www.afronomicslaw.org/2019/11/23/promoting-investment-in-the-renewable-energy-sector-concluding-remarks-and-future-legal-research-agenda/

SELECTED MEMBERSHIPS

Nigerian Bar Association (NBA)

Earth System Governance Network (ESG)

Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC)

Rural Water Supply Network (RWSN)