The 18th Wole Soyinka Centre Media Lecture Series will hold on Monday, 13 July 2026 at 9:30 a.m. (WAT) at The Providence, Ikeja GRA, Lagos, under the theme, Beyond the Ballot: Measuring Democracy Through Security, Welfare, Accountability and Public Trust. The event will feature Professor Umaru Pate, Professor of Communication at Bayero University, Kano, as keynote speaker, while Professor Ayodele Atsenuwa, Professor of Public Law at the University of Lagos, will review the 2025 Journalism and Civic Space Status Report.
Register now: http://tinyurl.com/18wscijmedialecture.
The programme will feature the Democracy Delivery Conversation, a high-level dialogue examining journalism’s role in tracking governance outcomes, strengthening public accountability and deepening democratic engagement. Panellists include Umaru Pate, Taiwo Gbadegesin, Head of Voter Education and Publicity, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Lagos State; Nabilah Usman, General Manager, Radio Now 95.3FM; Muftau Gbadegesin, Sustainable Development Practitioner; and a representative of the Nigeria Police Force. The session will be moderated by Deji Badmus, Founder of TV360.
Following the review of the 2025 Journalism and Civic Space Status Report, the programme will continue with a Stakeholder Dialogue on the State of Journalism, Civic Space, Democratic Accountability and Public Trust. Panellists include Ayodele Atsenuwa, Lanre Arogundade, Executive Director, International Press Centre (IPC); Bernard Akede, Head of Reportorial, News Central TV; Abimbola Adebisi, Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Lagos State Police Command, Mariam Alo, Programme Officer, Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ); and Khadijah El-Usman, Senior Programme Officer, Anglophone West Africa, Paradigm Initiative. The session will be moderated by Ayo Mairo-Ese, Anchor, Arise News.
As conversations about democracy increasingly extend beyond electoral outcomes, this year’s Lecture will examine how security, welfare, accountability and public trust shape citizens’ everyday experience of democratic governance. Complementing the keynote lecture, the public presentation of the WSCIJ’s 2025 Journalism and Civic Space Status Report will provide fresh evidence on media freedom, civic space and democratic accountability, while the Democracy Delivery Conversation will explore journalism’s role in tracking governance outcomes, strengthening accountability and deepening democratic engagement.
Held annually on 13 July to commemorate the birthday of Professor Wole Soyinka, Africa’s first Nobel Laureate in Literature and Grand Patron of the Centre, the Wole Soyinka Centre Media Lecture Series has, since provided a platform for examining the intersection of journalism, democracy, governance and public accountability. Through its lectures and related interventions, WSCIJ continues to advance public-interest journalism and strengthen democratic discourse in Nigeria.
Signed,
Motunrayo Alaka
Executive Director/CEO, WSCIJ
