Wole Soyinka

On Wednesday July 13, the Wole Soyinka Centre will hold its eighth edition of the Media Lecture Series by 10 am at NECA Building, A2, Hakeem Balogun Street, off Lateef Jakande Road, Agidingbi, Ikeja, Lagos.

As contined in a statement signed by Motunrayo Alaka, Centre Coordinator, Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Reporting, the theme of this year’s edition is: “Tax education, national development and the seminal role of the media” will be delivered by Mrs Adebimpe Balogun, the first female president of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN), alongside other discussants from various sectors critical to the theme.

The Centre chose the theme of this year’s lecture to contribute a veritable opportunity to raise critical questions and national debate on issues surrounding taxation in the country; ranging from the importance of taxation to development, evaluating the compliance rate, the lack of trust for wise use of funds generated by the government, the level of reportage of the issue in the media, among others.

The lecture series which first hosted in 2008, is, according to a media report, designed to periodically examine varying topical issues that have a reverberating effect on the perceived performance of the media, on the health of our country, Nigeria, and its democracy. It is usually a well-attended programme with a good spread of media professionals, civil society organisations, students, government officials, leaders of industries and members of the diplomatic corp.

The event has featured respected personalities like; Prof. Harry Garuba of the African Institute, University of Cape Town, South Africa; Dr. Olatunji Dare, an Associate Professor of Journalism at Bradley University, Peoria Illinois USA and a former editorial page editor of The Guardian Newspaper; Prof Bayo Olukoshi of the UN African Institute for Economic Development and Planning (UNIDEP); Prof Biodun Jeyifo of Harvard University; Prof Abiola Irele, doyen of African literature; and Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, Governor of Kaduna State, as guest speakers. The tradition of holding the event on July 13, which this year is Professor Soyinka’s 82nd birthday, started in 2009 in our bid to honour this illustrious global citizen even as we draw attention to current national issues.