Esther ekong

Research Fellow
Ph.D. (Law, Intellectual Property) Candidate, 2022

Esther holds a Bachelor of Laws (LLB), Master of Laws (LLM), and a Masters in Public Administration (MPA). Prior to relocating to Canada for her Ph.D. studies, she worked for seven years as a Research Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, in Lagos, Nigeria. Her Ph.D. thesis is supervised by Prof. Oguamanam. 

Esther currently holds the positions of New and Emerging Research Group Vice-President for Open AIR and Graduate Students Representative for the Canadian Association of African Studies (CAAS). In September 2019, Esther was awarded third prize in the Africa Portal “Women, Power and Policy Making” research competition, for her policy brief titled: Gender implications of Geographical Indications for Ghanaian Shea Butter (available here).

Esther is passionate about women’s rights and empowerment and is the initiator of Chadash Phoenix Woman Foundation, a non-governmental organization set up in Nigeria in 2012. The NGO is focused on helping indigent women build capacity for small businesses and on raising start-up funds for them. She also volunteers as a Friend Advocate with Citizens Advocacy in Ottawa. Esther is married with children.