IBRAHIM Gambari, former Minister of External Affairs, Joe Abah, former Director General of the Bureau of Public Service Reforms and current Nigeria Country Director of DAI Global, are among the eminent Nigerians that have been selected to speak at the 10th Wole Soyinka Media Lecture Series.

The event, themed: “Sheathing the drawn daggers: Conversations on investigative reporting and accountability in times of conflict”, is scheduled to hold on Friday, 13 July, 2018, at NECA House, Alausa, Lagos.

Also expected to speak at the event are Eugenia Abu, former Executive Director of Programmes, Nigeria Television Authority (NTA); 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.

Motunrayo Alaka, Coordinator of Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ), in a statement, said the theme of lecture is apt given the mounting concerns on the unleash of violence and conflicts in some parts of Nigeria and the media coverage of same.

“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,” Alaka stated.

The Wole Soyinka Centre Media Lecture Series, first held in 2008, is an annual event organised by the WSCIJ to raise debate on critical issues affecting Nigeria.

Since 2009, the event has been held on every 13th of July to commemorate the birthday of Wole Soyinka, Africa’s first Nobel Laureate in Literature and Grand Patron of the WSCIJ.

Admittance to the event is open to journalists, members of security agencies, policy makers, representatives of pressure groups and non-governmental organisations, members of the diplomatic corps, students, lawyers and other members of the public.