Might have been a saying meant to describe the gigantic academic exploits of Osman Gbla compared to his modest physical stature

Dr. Osman Gbla is a Professor of Political Science in the Department of Political Science, Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone.   

Among the many prestigious positions he has held at the Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone – his alma mater – is serving as Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Law from 2007 to 2011.

Before his appointment as the faculty dean, he was also Head of the Department of Political Science from 2003 to 2007 and again, from 2012 to 2014 at the same Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone.

While teaching and serving the university in such high desks, Prof. Gbla doubled as Executive Chairman of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) National Governing Council (NGC) of Sierra Leone from 2008 – 2018.

Prof. Osman Gbla is the founder of the Centre for Development and Security Analysis (CEDSA) Sierra Leone. The centre is an educational, research and development–oriented organization committed to sound empirical research, training and capacity building.

The amiable academician is the current Chair of the Graduate Committee of Fourah Bay College as well as a Member of the Professorial Committtee of the University of Sierra Leone.

Gbla holds a Bachelor of Arts (BA), Master of Science in Economics (MSc Econ) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degrees in Political Science from Fourah Bay Collge, University of Sierra Leone.

He also received an Advanced Diploma in International Conflict Resolution from the Department of Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University in Sweden.

Prof. Gbla received his early education at the Ansarul Secondary School in Koidu town, Kono from 1978 to 1983. He proceeded to the Methodist Boys High School (MBHS) in Freetown where he got his General Certificate of Examination, GCE with distinctions and   completed his sixth form education.  

The Professor has over the years carried out individual and collaborative research work for a number of regional, sub-regional and international bodies including the African Union (AU), Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the World Bank (WB) and the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) in the areas of peace, security and governance in relation to Sierra Leone, West Africa and Africa generally.

He was co-researcher with Prof. Severine Rugumamu of Tanzania in developing the Capacity Building Strategy for post-war Liberia, Sierra Leone and Uganda. He also participated as lead researcher in the African Security Sector Network (ASSN) study on Hybrid Security Governance in Africa (2015-2018); the ALTUS Global Alliance Study on Conflicts and Security Governance in West Africa (2012 -2013) and together with Dr. Maggie Dwyer of Edinburgh University in Scotland for the fieldwork study on Return from Peacekeeping: Mission Effects on Veterans in Sierra Leone (2020); and Sierra Leone’s Fragility Assessment (2012).

The erudite professor was also the First Lead Facilitator of the Executive Postgraduate Course, Managing Peace and Security in Africa (MPSA 1) Programme of the Institute for Peace and Security Studies (IPSS) of the University of Addis Ababa and the African Union, Ethiopia (2010-2011).  

Some of Prof. Gbla’s publications include Dwyer M and Gbla O. 2021. The Home Stress: The Role of Soldiers family on peacekeeping mission, the case of Sierra Leone, International Peacekeeping, Volume 28, November 5, 2021. https://doi.org/1080/13533312.2021.1996237 

Gbla Osman, 2025 etal,  Oxford University Press. Contributed the Liberian and Sierra Leonean chapters

Gbla Osman, 2018, Hybrid Security Governance Responses to Crises: The Case of the Ebola Response in Sierra Leone. Stability: International Journal of Security and Development 7(1) p.8  DOI:h,i.org/10.5334/sta.612

 Gbla, Osman,2013, Dynamics of Post-Conflict Reconciliation in Sierra Leone: Lessons for other African Countries, Journal of African Culture and International Understanding  (IACIU) No.5 , July- September ,2013 pp.5-13

Featuring on the cover of Newday Magazine of July 2007, Gbla was asked by the magazine. Newday Magazine: What contribution can the university as a reservoir of knowledge, and in particular, your own faculty, make towards politics in Sierra Leone?

Prof. Gbla: To begin with, the role of the university in any nation is to generate and disseminate knowledge and also to train the necessary human resources for nation building.

Suffice to say, Prof. Osman Gbla has creditably laid his own bricks to nation building.