Panel 54 Podcast
Panel 54 is where Africa tells its own story. From Lagos to Lamu, Cape Town to Cairo, hosts Waweru Njoroge (Kenya) and Ndu Okoh (Kenya/Zimbabwe) explore the people, power, and politics shaping the continent. Each episode delivers sharp, evidence-first conversations with leaders, activists, athletes, and cultural voices. From sports and identity to security, media, new foreign influence, youth movements, sovereignty, and Africa’s place in a multipolar world, Panel 54 offers a global perspective through an African lens.
Episodes
Could Russia shape Nigeria’s 2027 election without supporting a particular candidate?
In this episode of Panel 54, Waweru Njoroge speaks with investigative journalist Philip Obaji Jr. and Dr Oladeji Olatunji, a lecturer in Public Relations and Advertising at Lagos State University.Philip examines Russian-linked influence networks o...
Can partnerships help African defence companies move from promising ideas to deployed capability?
In this episode of Panel 54, Waweru Njoroge speaks with Todd Stiefler, Director of Commercial at Terra Industries. Todd brings experience across government, national security, industrial technology, software and commercial growth, including ...
Can African states dismantle meth networks and successfully prosecute those behind them?
In this episode of Panel 54, Waweru Njoroge speaks with Femi Babafemi, Director of Media and Advocacy at Nigeria’s NDLEA, and Kennedy Echesa Lubengu, an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya.
Femi e...
Is Africa becoming a new frontier for methamphetamine production and trafficking?
In this episode of Panel 54, Waweru Njoroge and Thule Lenneiye speaks with Fidel Amakye Owusu, a Ghanaian geopolitical and security analyst, about the growth of meth production and trafficking across Africa.
T...
In this episode of Panel 54, Waweru Njoroge and Thule Lenneiye sit down with Siaka Nasiru, a former Nigerian Army officer, private consultant and security analyst, to examine why Nigeria continues to struggle with insecurity despite its military strength, intelligence capabilities and international partnerships.
Nasiru brings both a tactical and strategic perspective, shaped by 10 years of military service and his current work anal...
In this episode of Panel 54, Waweru Njoroge and Thule Lenneiye sit down with Nsikak Joseph Nelson, a Nigerian defence technology executive, cybersecurity strategist and systems architect, to examine Nigeria's preparation for the dawn of cybersecurity as defence.
Nsikak brings an indigenous defence technology perspective shaped by his wor...
For many families in the Horn of Africa, livestock is wealth, food, savings and survival. One failed season can turn all of it into hunger, displacement and crisis.
In this episode of Panel 54, Waweru Njoroge sits down with Daud Jiran, Somalia Country Director at Mercy Corps, and Dr. Diba Dida Wako, Regional Livestock Programme Director ...
What happens when diplomacy becomes the frontline of a country’s security, trade and global influence?
In this episode of Panel 54, Waweru Njoroge sits down with Dr. Musalia Mudavadi, Kenya’s Prime Cabinet Secretary and Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs, to examine Kenya’s place in a changing global order.
From regional security and African diplomacy to diaspora affairs, trade, foreign policy and ...
Thule Lenneiye is a Zimbabwean- Kenyan food systems, climate action and digital transformation expert, and Chief of Staff at AGRA.
This conversation looks at why Africa’s food challenge is not only about producing more food. It is about building systems that can deliver safe, nutritious and affordable food through climate shocks, c...
What does peace look like when a teacher steps into conflict with books, dialogue and trust instead of guns?
In this episode of Panel 54, Waweru Njoroge sits down with Jummai Abdullahi, a teacher and university lecturer from Maiduguri, Nigeria to examine Borno’s non-kinetic security front.
Who protects ordinary Nigerians when the state arrives late, local government has collapsed, and armed groups move faster than institutions?
In this episode of Panel 54, Waweru Njoroge sits down with Dr. Sani Abubakar Muhammad to examine Nigeria and the greater Sahel’s security crisis, the spread of insecurity across the Sahel and ...
What happens when years of work, family, legal status and contribution are still not enough to belong?
In this episode of Panel 54, Waweru Njoroge sits down with Itoro Victor Richard and Enos Mate to examine xenophobia in South Africa through the lives of African migrants who built homes, families and livelihoods there before being force...
What happens when beauty becomes exposure, and a personal choice becomes a public health crisis? In this episode of Panel 54, Amira Adawe joins the conversation to examine skin bleaching, colourism, toxic cosmetics and the hidden health risks behind Africa’s beauty industry. Adawe Adawe, MPH, is a Somali-born, American based public health researcher, policy advocate, and found...
What happens when exploitation becomes an economy, and abuse is protected by silence, poverty and weak institutions?
In this episode of Panel 54, Waweru Njoroge sits down with Lilian Muli, journalist and media personality; Queenter Mbori, AMWIK Executive Director and gender-media advocate; Njeri Migwi, survivor-protection and gender-just...
What happens when fear moves faster than facts, and rumours become a threat to global health?
In this episode of Panel 54, Waweru Njoroge sits down with Professor Heidi J. Larson, PhD, Founder and Director of the Vaccine Confidence Project and Professor of Anthropology, Risk and Decision Science at the London School of Hygiene & Trop...
What happens when water becomes a security issue and a border town becomes the gateway to the Horn of Africa?
In this episode of Panel 54, Waweru Njoroge sits down with Dr. H.E. Dr. Ali Maalim Mohamud, the Deputy Governor in County of Mandera, Kenya who also a distinguished environment and public health policy expert, to examine Mandera&...
What happens when insecurity becomes an economy and crime turns into a business model?
In this episode of Panel 54, Waweru Njoroge sits down with Dr. Capt. Lukman Gidado to examine Nigeria’s security crisis, the rise of violent criminal groups, and the systems that allow insecurity to survive.
What happens when insecurity becomes normalised and institutions struggle to keep pace with increasingly organised threats?
In this episode of Panel 54, Waweru Njoroge sits down with David Meshioye, Nigerian journalist and editor, to examine Nigeria’s security challenges and the case for stronger cooperation between the United Stat...
What happens when terrorism, coups, organised crime, and geopolitical competition collide in one of the world's most volatile regions? In this episode of Panel 54, Waweru Njoroge sits down with Fidel Amakye Owusu, Ghanaian geopolitical and security analyst, to unpack the rapidly evolving security landscape across the Sahel and West Africa. From military coups and extremist violence to foreign security partnerships and regional ins...
What does it take to build peace when conflict is never far away?
In this episode of Panel 54, Waweru Njoroge sits down with Brigadier General Kapeh Alwali Kazir (Rtd), former Nigerian Army officer, peacekeeper, and security strategist, to discuss leadership, diplomacy, defence cooperation, and Africa’s evolving security challenges...
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