Nigerian Scholar Leo Igwe Makes History as First Nigerian Elected Vice-President of Humanists International

Nigeria has secured a new place on the global humanist stage with the election of scholar and rights advocate Dr Leo Igwe as Vice-President of Humanists International.

The appointment makes Igwe the first Nigerian and only the second African in the organisation’s history to rise to the position, following the tenure of Ghanaian humanist Roslyn Mould, whom he succeeds.

Igwe’s election took place during the Humanists International World Congress and General Assembly in Ottawa, Canada, held from August 7 to 9, 2026.

For a Nigerian who has spent more than two decades challenging harmful beliefs and defending vulnerable people, the international recognition represents another major chapter in a career built around advocacy, scholarship and the promotion of reason.

Igwe is the Director of Advocacy for Alleged Witches (AFAW) and founder and chair of the Humanist Association of Nigeria. He is also widely known as a scholar of religion and a strong advocate for critical thinking, secular ethics and the protection of people exposed to abuses linked to religious practices and superstition.

His advocacy has taken him across Nigeria and beyond its borders, with much of his work centred on witchcraft accusations, religious extremism and other forms of abuse associated with superstition.

Through these efforts, he has promoted human rights, freedom of thought, evidence-based approaches to social problems and the use of reason in confronting practices that place vulnerable people at risk.

Taking on the new international role, Igwe said he would focus strongly on the challenge posed by religious nationalism and extremism while advancing humanist alternatives.

“As the Vice President I will relentlessly work to ensure that Humanists International effectively addresses the threat of religious nationalism and extremism and provides a robust alternative to dogmatic religions and supernatural faiths to all who subscribe to humanist values, ethics and cosmology around the globe,” he said.

Founded in 1952, Humanists International is a global umbrella organisation representing humanists, atheists and agnostics. It works to create a community for people who seek to live happily, ethically and responsibly without religion or belief in a deity.

Igwe’s emergence adds a Nigerian voice to the organisation’s international leadership at a time when African humanists are making a growing contribution to the global movement.

Organisers described the election as a milestone for African humanism, underscoring the increasing role of African advocates in shaping conversations around human rights, freedom of thought, ethics and reason on the global stage.

For Nigeria, Igwe’s elevation is another example of a Nigerian professional taking an advocacy built at home to an international platform and emerging with a leadership mandate.