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The Open Society Foundations (OSF) has announced the names of four Nigerian intellectuals who were selected for the $120,000 Open Society Fellowship for the Global South. They are part of a group of 31 public intellectuals from seven cities in the Global South, who will serve as Open Society Fellows in 2025-26.

In a statement shared with Financial Nigeria, the OSF said the fellowship will support a global cohort of public intellectuals, with the explicit aim of directing attention and resources to diverse and emerging voices, particularly those outside the West and in places and communities that have often been overlooked.

“The fellows were drawn from cities that are home to a dynamic circle of thinkers and cultural producers engaged in high-level critical debate,” according to the statement. “The cities are Beirut, Buenos Aires, Colombo, Dar es Salaam, Jakarta, Lagos, and Taipei.”
 
Nigerian intellectuals from the worlds of academia and art who will benefit from grants to continue their pursuit of restless critical thought are publisher Anwuli Ojogwu, educator Sa’eed Husaini, architect Tosin Oshinowo, and visual artist Victor Ehikhamenor. 
 
“We’re in the midst of momentous changes around the world – changes that are unsettling our assumptions and forcing us to revisit them. The bold ideas and energy that this global fellowship brings is not just important, but crucial in this moment,” said Binaifer Nowrojee, president of the Open Society Foundations. “The Open Society Fellowship has a special place in the work of the foundations and these fellows will help shape global conversations on the most pressing issues of our time - from human rights and social justice to climate change and inequality.”

The OSF said fellows were selected by a distinguished panel of external reviewers for their heterodoxy and openness to new approaches and vigorous debate, ensuring that Open Society remains true to a vision of restless critical thought. Fellows each receive a grant of $120,000. They meet several times in person and join a network of colleagues committed to collaboration, debate, shared learning, and social impact.

“The Open Society Fellowship is committed to supporting public intellectuals in cities that act as crucibles of critical debate and cultural experimentation. We hope to enable public intellectuals in those places to take their rightful place on the global stage and link their work to the broader goal of advancing open society,” said Fellowship Director Stephen Hubbell.  
 
Anwuli Ojogwu is a publisher, editor, and co-founder of Narrative Landscape Press, an independent company that has published acclaimed African and Caribbean writers such as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Oyinkan Braithwaite, Chibundo Onuzo, Yejide Kilanko, Uche Okonkwo Marlon James, and Lupita Nyong’o. Narrative Landscape Press expanded its reach by opening a new branch in East Africa.

Sa’eed Husaini is a researcher, organiser, and educator. He is currently a research fellow at the Centre for Democracy and Development in Abuja, where he leads a project to digitise the family-held archives of Nigerian left and pro-democracy activists from the 1940s to the 1990s.

Tosin Oshinowo is an architect, designer, curator, and the principal and founder of Oshinowo Studio. She has worked on civic, commercial, and residential projects throughout Nigeria and is renowned for her socially responsive approach to architecture, design, and urbanism. Her work demonstrates a strong interest in architectural history while embodying a contemporary perspective on African design and innovation. 

Victor Ehikhamenor is a multidisciplinary visual artist and writer known for vibrant and incisive works that engage with African cultural heritage, its resonance within the global African diaspora, and the postcolonial politics of his native Nigeria. Using materials and iconography that embrace the traditions and histories of Africa while integrating elements that allude to the continent’s colonial past and Nigeria’s complex geopolitical position as an oil-producing nation, he offers insight into contemporary Nigeria.