Principal Officer

Vice Chancellor

Shedrack Best is a professor of international relations and peacebuilding who commenced and spent most of his academic career at the University of Jos.

He was born on 20th April 1962 at Mangu, Plateau State in Central Nigeria, and had his early childhood years. He had his early education at primary and secondary school levels there between 1969 and 1980.

He thereafter went to the School of preliminary Studies, Keffi, from 1981 to 1983. He attended Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, from 1983 to 1986. He bagged a B.Sc. degree in international studies, with first class Honours in 1986. This earned him the Henry Ejembi Prize for the Best Graduating Student in Political Science at the Department of Political Science of ABU Zaria in 1986. Thereafter, he proceeded for the mandatory National Youth Service Corps to the former Bendel State, now Edo and Delta states, between 1986 and 1987.

Prof. Shedrack Best enrolled in a postgraduate programme thereafter, and obtained M.Sc. in international relations and strategic studies from the University of Jos in 1990. In 1993, he was awarded an Academic Staff Commonwealth Scholarship to pursue a Doctorate degree in Peace Studies at the University of Bradford, United Kingdom, from where he graduated with a Ph.D. in peace studies in 1996.

Shedrack Best commenced his academic career as Graduate Assistant in the Department of Political Science, in June 1988. Best rose steadily in his career, teaching, researching, mentoring and supervising in the area of research methodology, democracy and governance, international relations, politics of African states, comparative politics, political ideas and security studies, conflict resolution, peacebuilding and peace practice. His academic career took him to the different states of Nigeria, to West African nations, to the rest of the African nations and the rest of the world.

He carried out significant researches with funding from a variety of international agencies like the British Council, the British High Commission, USAID, the Netherlands Embassy, International Centre for Reconciliation Coventry Cathedral, Conciliation Resources (UK), etc. He attracted foreign grants from a variety of sources. He was appointed Professor of international relations and peacebuilding of the University of Jos in October 2007.

Best is an astute scholar, teacher, researcher, consultant, security analyst, a gender equality promoter, conflict management trainer and capacity builder, a mediator and conflict intervener. He has worked and gained experience in many parts of Nigeria facing dysfunctional conflict. Professor Best is among the first generation of conflict and peacebuilding scholars in Nigeria. He has contributed to the development of the field through the building of conflict resolution and peace studies curricular in Nigerian universities, as well as in other African institutions. He has also contributed to the growing body of literature through his books, scholarly articles, motivational lectures, teaching and research, peace practice, and the community of his graduate students. He is probably the first professor of peace studies in Nigeria. His publications cover a wide range of topics in international relations, conflict analysis and peace building, all in books and scholarly journals.

Professor Best was the founding Director of the Centre for Conflict Management and Peace Studies of the University of Jos. This was achieved with support from partners like the United Nations mandated University for Peace, the United States Agency for International Development, the British Council and British High Commission in Nigeria, the University of Bradford, and the Netherlands Embassy in Nigeria, among others. He built the centre to an enviable height with good research and partnership networks. Today, the Centre is a key teaching and research facility in peace and conflict studies.

In 2011, he was appointed by the Governor of Plateau State as the pioneer Special Adviser in conflict resolution and peacebuilding. He carried out the assignment diligently, leading to the de-escalation of tense conflict situations and building of better community and inter-faith relations in the state.

The Plateau State Governor further appointed him as the Secretary to the Plateau State Government in May 2011. This was an avenue to impact governance with his intellectual insights and theoretical pedigree. He served in that capacity until the end of tenure in May 2015. Thereafter, he returned to his academic career in October 2015 till date.

Professor Best has been:
• USSR-MacArthur Foundation Visiting Scholar in International Peace and Security in a Changing World, at the Frederick Douglass Institute for Africa and African–American Studies, University of Rochester, NY, USA, 1991.
• Academic Staff Commonwealth Scholarship, Association of Commonwealth Universities, at the University of Bradford, UK, 1993-96.
• The Africa Project, Plowshares Institute in Conjunction with the Centre for Conflict Resolution, University of Cape Town, South Africa, 1997 and 1998.
• British Council Staff Exchange Programme of the Jos-Bradford Linkage, spent at the University of Bradford, UK, January to March 2002.
• Fulbright Summer Institute of the United States Department of State, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, Illinois, USA, June to August 2002.
• Staff Exchange Programme facilitated by the Netherlands Embassy, Abuja, Nigeria, at the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 2009.
Shedrack Best served as the Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Jos for three years. He is an active member of the Nigeria Political Science Association (NPSA), Nigerian Society of International Affairs (NSIA), and the Peace Studies Association of Nigeria. He is also a major resource person and contributor to think tanks, including the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies Kuru, the National Defence College Abuja, the Army Resource centre Abuja, the Nigeria Defence Academy Kaduna, the Nigerian Army War College Abuja, the National Institute for International Affairs, among others.

Professor Best is happily married with 4 children (two boys and two girls), and two grandchildren. He loves travelling, playing music, political networking, peace-building work and farming.

He was a Sabbatical Fellow at the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS), Abuja when he was appointed Acting Vice-Chancellor of Plateau State University in February 2024.