The idea of this lecture, therefore, is to remind Nigerians beforehand that elections have consequences.
By Ikechukwu Amaechi
Mr Chairman, elder statesman Alhaji Tanko Yakasai, Guest Speaker, Mr Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN), Minister of Works and Housing, Royal Father, His Royal Majesty Eze Chidume Okoro (Ugo Amano), former Deputy Chairman, Imo State Council of Traditional Rulers, Emeritus Chairman, Mbaise Council of Traditional Rulers and President of Royal Fathers in Agriculture, previous Chairpersons and Guest Speakers at TheNiche Annual Lecture – Prof Remi Sonaiya, Prof Kingsley Moghalu (2018), Dr Christopher Kolade, Prof Anya O. Anya (2019), respected elder statesman, Dr Uma Eleazu, Interim Chairman, Board of Trustees (BoT) Anya-Ndi-Igbo, distinguished guests, media colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, I warmly welcome you all to the third edition of TheNiche Annual Lecture.
When the newspaper debuted in April 2014, the editorial policy captured its mission: “TheNiche will always anchor its position on the need for social justice, fairness and respect for human and communal rights … will be uncompromising against any form of discrimination and subjugation either by tribe, gender or religion.”
In pursuit of these ideals, the organization in 2018, set up a foundation – TheNiche Foundation for Development Journalism – a vehicle to drive these lectures, our own idea of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
The maiden lecture with the theme, “Development reporting and hysteria journalism in Nigeria,” was delivered by Professor Kingsley Moghalu, former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and presidential candidate of the Young Progressives Party (YPP) in the 2019 elections, while Remi Sonaiya, retired Professor of French Language and Applied Linguistics, Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) Ife, and presidential candidate of the KOWA Party in 2015 was the chairperson.
The choice of the 2018 Lecture theme was informed by the hysteria that preceded the elections and the need to lower the rhetoric.
The focus shifted, and rightly so, after the election was won by the incumbent, President Muhammadu Buhari, to the economy. TheNiche was of the opinion that the economy was heading for the rocks and there was an urgent need to make it the dominant issue of Buhari’s second term.
So, the October 15, 2019 lecture aptly themed, “Business and accountable governance: The obligations of leadership,” was delivered by Nigeria’s foremost interdisciplinary scholar, Prof. Anya O. Anya, under the chairmanship of Dr Christopher Kolade, former Nigerian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom.
What would have been the third and fourth editions in 2020 and 2021 were stymied by the ravaging COVID-19 pandemic that made all forms of public gathering a taboo. Had the lecture held in 2020, the focus would have been on the youths as Dr Kolade strongly suggested in 2019.
Hopefully, the issue of Nigerian youths will be the theme of the 2023 lecture, considering the pivotal role they are poised to play in the 2023 elections.
But, first things first, hence, on the eve of another pivotal election, TheNiche has, once again, shifted the focus to politics and the country’s leadership recruitment process.
The choice of both the lecturer and chairman of this event is a product of painstaking deliberations. They are democracy giants in their own rights and they represent the old and the new in Nigeria’s democracy loop.
READ ALSO: 2023 elections and the future of Nigeria’s democracy: My take
Pa Yakasai will be 97 years on December 5 and has seen it all. He is the epitome of political progressivism right from his days with the Northern Elements Progressive Union (NEPU). The fact that he is still in the trenches at 97 speaks to his undying patriotism. At 59, Fashola is one of the biggest revelations of Nigeria’s Fourth Republic – astute administrator, staid in his disposition to issues, the former Lagos State Governor has, no doubt, added value to Nigeria’s democracy.
But beside these two democracy giants, a panel of five discussants drawn from the academia, media, civil society, political class and the INEC, have been assembled to interrogate his offerings today in real time.
The timing of the lecture itself was also deliberate. On September 28, exactly 20 days from today, campaigns will start according to INEC timetable and six months thence, Nigerians will go to the polls to elect new leaders in what promises to be consequential elections.
The idea of this lecture, therefore, is to remind Nigerians beforehand that elections have consequences
Indubitably, Nigeria is at a crossroads politically, socially and economically. The decisions the over 96 million registered voters will take in February 2023 will determine where the country goes from here.
This lecture, our modest contribution to nation building, is one of the many interventions in the coming weeks that will, hopefully, help in pointing out the right way in the best interest of Nigeria.
Since the announcement was made that Fashola will deliver this year’s lecture, some have asked the question: Why Fashola?
My riposte is simple: The proof of the pudding is in the eating.
Once again, I welcome you all to the third edition of TheNiche Annual Lecture.
Thanks!
- Welcome address by Ikechukwu Amaechi, Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of TheNiche newspaper at the 2022 TheNiche Annual Lecture at the Agip Recital Hall, MUSON Centre, Onikan Lagos, on September 8, 2022.
