Professor Gambari
Amidst mounting concerns on the unleash of violence and conflicts in some parts of the country and coverage by the media, a former Minister of External Affairs, Professor Ibrahim Gambari is expected to lead discussions on the issue at the 10th Wole Soyinka Media Lecture Series.
In a statement on Thursday made available to Apex News, the Coordinator, Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalsim (WSCIJ), Motunrayo Alaka, said the lecture with the theme “Sheathing the drawn daggers: Conversations on investigative reporting and accountability in times of conflict” is billed for Friday, 13 July in Lagos.
Others for the discourse are Joe Abah, Nigeria Country Director, DAI Global; Eugenia Abu, Brand and Multimedia Strategy Expert, Columnist and former Executive Director of Programmes, Nigeria Television Authority (NTA); Professor Umaru Pate, Pioneer Dean, Faculty of Communication, Bayero University, Kano; Mnguember Vicky Sylvester, Professor of Literature and Gender Studies, University of Abuja; and Juliet ‘Kego Ume-Onyido, Co-Founder of Whole WoMan Network.
Professor Gambari and the discussants would address the media’s narration of multifarious conflict issues in the country, including the recurrent crisis relating to communities, farmers and herdsmen, Boko Haram, Niger-Delta militancy and the Biafra secession agitations.
According to the statement, the discussion has become urgent to contribute to demands for accountability from the government to secure the lives and properties of the people and stop the violence while maintaining the highest ethics of the media.
Held first in 2008, the Wole Soyinka Centre Media Lecture Series is an annual event of the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ).
The Centre organises the lecture to raise debate on critical issues affecting Nigeria. It has since 2009 held on 13 July, to commemorate the birthday of Africa’s first Nobel Laureate in Literature and Grand Patron of the WSCIJ, Professor Wole Soyinka.
