Innocent Barikor

Innocent Bariate Barikor is a Nigerian academic and politician of the All Progressives Congress. He represented the constituency of Gokana as a Member of the Rivers State House of Assembly from 2011 to 2015.

Education Barikor received his doctoral degree in Political Science with emphasis on development studies from the University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria. He moved to the University of Port Harcourt continuing his academic career until 2010 and achieved the rank of Senior Lecturer in Political Science. He has researched and published extensively on the Nigerian State and Minority Agitations, Poverty and Democratization, Debt and Debt Management, Human Rights, and Sustainable Development. He was chairman of the Ogoni academics. In 2004, he was appointed Rivers State Coordinator of the National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP) by the President of Nigeria. During his tenure, he developed and supervised innovative poverty reduction programmes such as COPE, Village Economic Development Solutions, Promise Keeper programme and others which have impacted on the Nigeria's rural poor. In 2007, Barikor led the Grassroots Empowerment Network (GEN) delegation to the South Africa Investment Summit held in Durban.