Ogaga Ifowodo, lawyer rights activist, and poet, worked for eight years with Nigeria's foremost human rights group, The Civil Liberties Organization, where he combined the compilation of rights violations with pro-democracy advocacy and pro-bono litigation. Between 1997 and 1998, he was arrested and detained by the military regime of General Sani Abacha. He is a fellow of the Iowa Writing Program and is currently at Cornell University.