The PhD Political Science program is designed to equip students with highly specialised knowledge in Political Science and in the various areas of specialization in the discipline. The areas of specialisation offered are:

1.          International Relations

2.          Public Administration

3.          Local Government Administration

4.          Defence and Strategic Studies

5.          Peace and Conflict Studies

6.          Law and Diplomacy

7.          Legislative Studies

8.          Comparative Politics

Philosophy

The philosophy of the programme is to provide both professional and academic education that adheres to the highest standards of scholarship that is relevant to contemporary problem solving mechanism within the general framework of holistic education as formulated in the Seventh Day Adventist philosophy of education.

Vision Statement

A first-rate academic and research program, imparting quality Christian education and up-to-date skills for building servant leaders for a better world

Mission Statement

Excellence through teaching and research geared towards producing manpower and ethical leadership for public and private sector and international organisations, as well as the positive transformation of the nation, Nigeria, and the world.

Programme Objectives

Generally, the objectives of the course are to:

1)     Develop high skilled manpower in the discipline of Political Science;

2)     Prepare students for the kind of research that will lead to further research and not only present   research findings;

3)     Provide a supply for the high demand for skilled labour for national development especially within the precinct of continually growing global challenges.

4)     Contribute to the growing need of the national and international community in developing a corps of peace engineers and researchers;

5)     Prepare highly skilled professionals of integrity, guided by biblically-based ethos in their service to man and nation; and

6)     Further the achievement of Babcock University’s goal of preparing women and men for service in this world that will lead them and others to eternity.

Learning Outcomes

At the end of the programme, graduates of the course would:

1)     Have in-depth knowledge in a specialized area of Political Science;

2)     Be able to initiate, conduct and supervise research in Political Science;

3)     Be ready to take up academic positions in research institutions and universities;

4)     Be ready for leadership positions in both private and public sectors, and in international organisations.

Admission Requirements

Candidates for the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree must satisfy the general regulations governing postgraduate studies at Babcock University. In addition, the following are requirements for the PhD Political Science degree programme:

1)     An MSc or MA degree in Political Science or cognate disciplines from Babcock University, or from any other institution recognized by the BU Senate, with at least a CGPA of 60% or 4.0 on a 5.0 scale, in order to quality for regular admission to the PhD programme.

2)     Candidates who score between 3.5 and 3.99 on a 5.0 scale or 55-59% at the MSc/MA may be admitted under conditional status to the PhD programme, provided that they successfully complete a minimum of 15 additional credits in Master’s-level coursework in Political Science at Babcock University prior to commencing any coursework in the PhD in Political Science programme.

3)     Candidates whose Masters’ degrees (MSc or MA) are from other disciplines outside Political Science shall be required to complete any courses (including a Master’s thesis) that are lacking in the transcript when compared with the Babcock University MSc Political Science programme. In such cases, the completed Master’s degree and any remedial coursework must attain the required proficiency of 60% for regular admission into the PhD programme.

4)     Professional certificates/degrees or professional experience shall not be considered as relevant for direct admission into the PhD programme. Prospective candidates who are holders of professional degrees shall be required to take remedial credits at the MSc level, based on perceived deficiencies in the transcripts presented. Furthermore, holders of professional degrees who were not required to complete a thesis/project in the course of such prior qualifications will be required to complete a thesis among other requirements before being admitted into the PhD programme.

5)  Candidates admitted conditionally/provisionally into the PhD programme cannot take PhD-level courses until they have satisfied remedial course requirements stipulated for their admission.

6)  The Department reserves the right upon the approval of the CPGS to offer or deny admission to prospective applicants based on existing faculty and/or staffing needs, budgetary considerations, strategic needs/plans, and so on.

Curriculum for the Programme

Candidates for the PhD will be required to complete three semesters of coursework in areas related to their chosen specialisation, and then will spend a minimum of three semesters solely developing a doctoral thesis and carrying out research related to the attainment of the PhD.

Evaluation of the coursework at the PhD level will be by the preparation and presentation of seminar papers, among other modalities, and the successful writing of end of semester examinations, or as determined by Senate and the CPGS Board.

Coursework for the PhD shall amount to 42 credits, and the thesis shall amount to 16 credits, for a total of 58 credits. The minimum CGPA for graduation shall be 4.0 on a 5.0 scale.

Requirements for Graduation

Other Requirements for Graduation include:

1.     Candidates are required to register each semester till the conduct of external examination of the PhD thesis.

2.     All PhD students are required to consult with the PG Coordinator for guidance before selection of courses each semester.

3.     All departmental courses registered for by the students must be passed with a minimum score of 50%.

4.     Attendance at the Weekly Postgraduate seminar is compulsory for all students throughout the duration of their studentship. Students are to register the postgraduate seminar as course each semester before the semester in which the Thesis I will be registered.

5.     Students are required to submit PhD Thesis proposals (in their area of specialization) for consideration by the PG Committee immediately after resumption for the first semester, after which students are to defend the Proposal at a Departmental PG Seminar.

6.     On approval of the Thesis proposal, Supervisors (Specialists in student’s area of specialization) shall be assigned to each student who will guide such student through the process of executing and writing the thesis.

7.     Students are required to work with all their Supervisors. Examination of the thesis at any stage would not hold without approval from all supervisors of the candidate.

8.     On completion of the first three chapters of the thesis, the student will be scheduled for pre-field seminar presentation, following approval by the Student’s Supervisors.

9.     Students are required to submit Thesis progress report at the end of each semester from the fourth semester till the completion of the PhD programme.

10.  Pre-field seminar is expected to hold in the semester in which the student registers Thesis I.

11.  Pre-field seminars would be scheduled at least two weeks after the submission of pre-field materials including CPGS seminar clearance and ethical clearance from Babcock University Health and Research Ethic Committee (BUHREC).

12.  Pre-field seminars are to be graded by the Departmental PG Committee, and after successful presentation, the student is to proceed on field work after effecting all corrections made by the Departmental PG Committee.

13.  Students who have not passed all courses will not be allowed to present Pre-field seminars

14.  The field work would take a minimum of three months from the date of presentation of pre-field.

15.  On submission of post-field materials approved by the supervisors, post-field seminar would be scheduled, minimum of one month from date of submission of all materials including clearance from CPGS.

16.  The PhD Post field seminar would be an open examination conducted on the Departmental PG Seminar day. On successful defence of the post-field candidates would be expected to effect all corrections and recommendations and proceed to Internal defence.

17.  Candidates are required to submit their thesis to Department approved Editor before submission for internal defence.

18.  Internal defence (a closed door examination) before the members of the Departmental PG Committee, will be scheduled on submission of copies of Corrected materials with accompanying clearance from the Editor.

19.  Oral defence would hold on a day fixed by the External Examiner approved by the CPGS, and Supervisors of Students are required to be in attendance. Examinations would not hold in the absence of any of the Supervisors, except with prior approval of the HOD.

20.  Degrees are deemed to be awarded after students have effected all corrections from the external/oral examination and submitted hard bounded copies of the thesis.

21.  Departmental clearance would only be given when students have submitted hard bound final and corrected copies of thesis to the office of the HOD.

NOTE: A minimum of 58 credit hours comprised of the following:

§  GEDS courses             – 8 credits

§  All core courses          – 28 credits

§  Thesis                         – 16 credits

§  Electives                     -  6 credits

TOTAL                      - 58 credits