Fashola, others to grace TheNiche 2022 lecture Thursday

Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, will, on Thursday, September 8, deliver the 2022 edition of TheNiche yearly lecture.

The lecture, an intellectual fiesta, which is aimed at proffering solutions to some of Nigeria’s most daunting problems, is organised by TheNiche newspapers, an online media platform.

It will hold at the Agip Recital Hall of the Musical Society of Nigeria (MUSON) Centre, Onikan, Lagos.

A statement by Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of TheNiche, Ikechukwu Amaechi, stated that this year’s lecture, which holds exactly two weeks from the flag off of the campaigns for the 2023 elections, was timed to sensitise Nigerians on the issues that should inform the leadership recruitment exercise next year.

Fashola, will speak on the theme, “2023 elections and the future of Nigeria’s democracy,” while veteran First Republic politician, human rights activist, former Liaison Officer to late President Shehu Shagari and founding member of the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Alhaji Tanko Yakasai, will chair the event.

Many high profile political and business leaders, including former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, as well as leading presidential candidates in the 2023 elections, are expected to grace the occasion.

Amaechi, who said the “choice of both the lecturer and chairman was a product of painstaking deliberations,” also emphasised that “beside the two tested democracy giants, a panel of five discussants drawn from the academia, media, civil society, political class and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will interrogate Fashola’s lecture in real time.”

The panelists include Prof. Victor Chukwuma, Fellow, Astronomical Society of Nigeria and the Nigerian Institute of Physics, and Mr. Martins Oloja, Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief of The Guardian.

Others are former Director-General NIMASA, Dr. Dakuku Peterside; Mrs. Ene Obi, Country Director ActionAid Nigeria, Convener Situation Room, and Mr. Festus Okoye, INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee.

The discussions would be moderated by erudite scholar, Mr. Anthony Kila, experienced lecturer and public speaker, Jean Monnet, professor of Strategy and Development, Director at the Centre for International Advanced and Professional Studies (CIAPS).