12th Wole Soyinka Centre Media Lecture Series to hold online July 13

The 12th edition of the annual Wole Soyinka Centre Media Lecture Series is set to hold as a webinar on Monday, 13 July 2020, from 10am to 12noon West Africa Time (WAT).

According to a press release issued on Sunday morning signed by WSCIJ Executive Director, Motunrayo Alaka, the event which will be held virtually for the first time, will discuss the theme—Data, media and national development.

Confirmed speakers are Oluwayemisi Alaba, Senior Lecturer, Statistics Department, University of Ibadan; Yemi Kale, Statistician-General of the Federation and Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian National Bureau of Statistics; Mannir Dan-Ali, Editor-in-Chief, Daily Trust Newspaper, and Oluseun Onigbinde, Co-Founder and Director, BudgIT Foundation. Chioma Agwuegbo, Founder, TechHer will moderate the session.

The Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism has carefully chosen the theme and panellists to highlight the role of data for policymaking, improving citizen’s welfare and ensuring sustainable development considering current challenging economic realities exacerbated by the novel coronavirus pandemic.

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Raising debates on critical issues affecting Nigeria has been the focus of the annual lecture since its 2008 maiden edition. From 2009, we have held the lecture on 13 July, to commemorate the birthday of Africa’s first Nobel Laureate in Literature and Grand Patron of the WSCIJ, Wole Soyinka, who will be 86 this year.

Because of the need to keep to responsible health and safety rules to help reduce the spread of covid19, we will host the 2020 lecture as a webinar. It is open to everyone including persons from the media, government, pressure groups, policymakers, private sector, students, non-governmental organisations and the diplomatic corps. Interested participants may access the link for the event through www.wscij.org/12wsclecture