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Nigerian scholar and rights advocate Dr Leo Igwe has been elected Vice-President of Humanists International, becoming the first Nigerian and the second African to hold the position in the organisation’s history.
The election took place during Humanists International’s World Congress and General Assembly held in Ottawa from August 7 to 9, 2026. Igwe succeeds Ghanaian humanist Roslyn Mould.
Igwe is Director of Advocacy for Alleged Witches (AFAW) and founder and chair of the Humanist Association of Nigeria. He is also known as a scholar of religion and a prominent voice for critical thinking, secular ethics, and the protection of vulnerable people from harmful religious practices.
Founded in 1952, Humanists International is an umbrella organisation for humanists, atheists, and agnostics worldwide. It works to build community for people who seek to live happily, ethically, and responsibly without religion or belief in a deity.
In a statement after the vote, Igwe outlined his priorities for the role.
“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.
For more than two decades, Igwe has campaigned in Nigeria and internationally against witchcraft accusations, religious extremism, and abuses linked to superstition. His work has focused on promoting reason, human rights, freedom of thought, and evidence-based approaches to social problems.
Organisers described his election as a milestone reflecting the growing contribution of African humanists to the global movement.
