Ropo Sekoni, Board Chair of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ); Toun Okewale-Sonaiya, Chief Executive Officer of Women Radio WFM 91.7; Balarabe Ilelah, Director General of the National Broadcasting Corporation and Adedoja Allen, Managing Director/CEO, City 105.1FM alongside eight other distinguished speakers, are set to lead the 15th edition of the Wole Soyinka Centre Media Lecture Series. The event themed ‘Building a resilient Nigerian media and democracy’ is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, 12 July, and Thursday, 13 July 2023, on Twitter Spaces at 11 am daily. Click here to join the conversation.
They will be joined by Aliyu Tanko, Editor at BBC News Hausa; Idayat Hassan, Director of the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD); Subomi Plumptre, Co-founder of Volition Capital Investments Limited; Christoph Plate, Director of Media Programme Sub-Saharan Africa at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation; Augustine Agbonsuremi, Executive Director, Progressive Impact Organization for Community Development; Amaka Okoye, West Africa Correspondent for Deutsche Welle (DW); Tayo Fagbule, Editor at BusinessDay; and Anita Egboigbe, Operation Lead at Big Cabal. Sekoni, a professor of Comparative Literature and Cultural Studies, will deliver the keynote address at the two-day event.
The decision to host this year’s lecture on Twitter Spaces marks a significant milestone for the event as it allows the centre to reach a broader audience and promote wider engagement. The chosen theme of the lecture stems from the need to set a tone for the new government in Nigeria on the necessity to strengthen an independent media that will hold those in power accountable and promote an informed and engaged citizenry. It also underscores the importance of fostering a resilient democracy that delivers better standards of life for citizens and restores Nigeria’s place of glory in the comity of nations. Courtesy of the lecture and other interventions, WSCIJ has consistently contributed to the entrenchment of democracy in Nigeria.
The Wole Soyinka Centre Lecture Series, initiated in 2008, examines pertinent issues affecting the media’s performance and Nigeria’s democratic landscape. The tradition of holding the event on July 13 started in 2009 to celebrate Professor Wole Soyinka on his birthday, even as we draw attention to current national issues. This year is particularly special because it marks the fifteenth year of the initiative.
Signed,
Motunrayo Alaka
Executive Director/CEO, WSCIJ
