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Uchechukwu Ngwaba

Uchechukwu Ngwaba

Assistant Professor
DepartmentLincoln Alexander School of Law
Areas of ExpertisePublic health and human rights, international human rights law, health systems, health governance frameworks, constitutional theory, comparative constitutional law, and transitional justice

Prior to joining the Lincoln Alexander School of Law, Uchechukwu (Uche) Ngwaba worked as a sessional lecturer in three Australian Universities (Macquarie University, Sydney; University of Western Sydney; and Deakin University, Melbourne).

His research engages multi-disciplinary, comparative and socio-legal methods in exploring complex questions affecting health governance frameworks in the Global North and South. He draws appropriately from multiple disciplines (law, humanities, economics, medicine, etc.) to redefine problems outside disciplinary boundaries and explore solutions based on shared understandings of complex situations in the area of health. His work in the area of transitional justice engages Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL) as a useful theoretical lens for critical internationalism to interrogate claims about universalism in the pursuit of international criminal justice, whilst pushing for better representation for the subaltern in international thought and action.

Ngwaba began his career in commercial legal practice in Chief Ladi Rotimi Williams Chambers, Lagos, where he was involved in a number of high-profile litigations before Superior Courts of Nigeria. He subsequently took up an academic position as a Research Fellow at the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS). As one of the principal institutions for legal policy discourse in Nigeria, Ngwaba’s work at NIALS exposed him to policy-oriented research, which traversed a broad field of legal enquiry unified by the focus on achieving policy and systemic changes in Nigeria. 

Refereed Journal Articles

“International Accountability in the Implementation of the Right to Development and the ‘Wonderful Artificiality’ of Law: An African Perspective” (2020) 7 Transnational Human Rights Review, 1-34 (with Obiora Chinedu Okafor).

“Constitutional Rights Norms as ‘Guidelines and Impulses’? Towards an Account of Health Rights Normativity in the Global South” (2020) African Journal of International and Comparative Law (forthcoming). 


“Getting it Right with Health: Foreign Direct Investment as Africa’s Best Chance to Achieve the Health Targets of Agenda 2030 Sustainably? (2019) 40:2 Australasian Review of African Studies, 90-104. 


“A Right to Universal Health Coverage in Resource-Constrained Nations? Towards a Blueprint for Better Health Outcomes” (2018) 5 Transnational Human Rights Review, 1-22. 


“Canadian-Anglophone African Human Rights Engagement: A Critical Assessment of the Literature on Health Rights” (2017) 4 Transnational Human Rights Review, 188-199. 


“Between Tunnel Vision and a Sliding Scale: Power, Normativity and Justice in the Praxis of the International Criminal Court” (2017) Temple International & Comparative Law Journal, 179-193 (with Obiora Chinedu Okafor). 


“Between Tunnel Vision and a Sliding Scale: Power, Normativity and Justice in the Praxis of the International Criminal Court” (2015) XL:2 Africa Development, 241-258 (with Obiora Chinedu Okafor). 


“The International Criminal Court as a ‘Transitional Justice’ Mechanism in Africa: Some Critical Reflections” 2014 9:1 International Journal of Transitional Justice, 90-108 (with Obiora Chinedu Okafor). 


Macquarie University Postgraduate Research Fund (PGRF) Grant with Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Commendation Award, 2015. 


International Macquarie University Research Excellence Scholarship (iMQRES) 2015-2017. 


Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies Academic Excellence Award, 2014.

Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies PhD Tuition Scholarship Award, 2013-2014.  

Degree Institution Year
Diploma in Law Legal Practitioners Admission Board, Sydney, Aus. 2019
PhD (Health Law) Macquarie University, Sydney, Aus. 2018
LLM (Master of Laws) University of Lagos, Nigeria          2012
BL (Bachelor of Laws) Nigerian Law School 2007
LLB (Bachelor of Laws) University of Jos, Nigeria 2006