Benyin Akande is a lecturer and Researcher in the Department of Political Science at the University of Calabar, Nigeria. She is currently on research leave and serves as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Policy Innovation Centre, Abuja. In this role, she focuses on research and policy engagement at the intersection of public policy and gender issues in Nigeria, with a strong interest in connecting academic work to practical policy outcomes.

Her research journey has been supported by a number of competitive fellowships and grants. She was a 2019 Next Generation Social Sciences Fellow of the Social Science Research Council (SSRC) and a 2022 Fellow of the African Studies Association–Carnegie Corporation of New York Research Network. She has also received the Harry Frank Guggenheim African Fellows Award, participated in the University of Michigan African Presidential Scholars Program (UMAPS), and was awarded the African Peacebuilding Network (APN) Individual Research Fellowship of the SSRC. 

Benyin holds a PhD in Public Administration from the University of Uyo, Nigeria, and has published in a number of peer-reviewed journals. Her recent article, “Redefining Women’s Participation in Secessionist Politics: A Study of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) Movement in South-East Nigeria,” was published in the Journal of Women, Politics & Policy. Her work broadly examines how gender shapes political participation in conflict and secessionist contexts. She is committed to policy-relevant scholarship, mentorship, and contributing to conversations on governance, gender, and social change across Africa.