All is now set for the 2026 TheNiche Annual Lecture. This year’s edition, which will be the fifth in the series, will hold on Thursday, April 23, at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Kofo Abayomi Street, Victoria Island, Lagos. The event will start at 10 am prompt, according to a statement on Tuesday by Ikechukwu Amaechi, Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief of TheNiche, an online newspaper.

He said that the lecture will be delivered by Dr Alex Chioma Otti, OFR, Governor of Abia State, under the distinguished chairmanship of His Royal Highness, Muhammadu Sanusi II, CON, Emir of Kano.

Before becoming Abia governor on May 29, 2023, Otti, a renowned banker was the Managing Director of Diamond Bank Plc., a major Nigerian retail bank that merged with Access Bank in 2019 to form a larger entity.

In the same vein, before becoming the Emir of Kano, Sanusi, who doubles as the spiritual leader (khalifa) of the Tijanniyah Sufi order in Nigeria and neigbouring countries, was also the Managing Director of First Bank of Nigeria – Nigeria's oldest bank, and one of Africa's largest financial institutions. He was the first northerner to head the bank. He was also appointed Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) by late President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua in 2009.

Amaechi said the choice of Otti as the guest speaker and Emir Sanusi as the chairman was deliberate.

“As Nigeria goes into another silly season of politics, the electorate need to be reminded, to use the phrase of James Carville, former U.S. President Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign strategist, that ‘it is the economy, stupid.’ There is also the need to remind leaders at all levels to keep the campaign focused on economic issues,” the statement said.

“Both Governor Otti and Emir Sanusi are unarguably among the best, not only in Nigeria but also globally on issues of the economy and sundry financial matters. So, the idea of the lecture this year is to jumpstart the much-needed discussion on the economy we have and the governance we need. The lecture will dissect the country’s economic reality and the discipline, or lack of it, of governance.”

Amaechi noted that the 2026 lecture under the auspices of TheNiche Foundation for Development Journalism will be the fifth in the series.

Previous guest speakers include Prof Kingsley Moghalu, Prof Anya O. Anya, Mr Babatunde Raji Fashola, former Lagos State Governor and former Minister of Power, Works and Housing; and Mr Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, former Rivers State Governor and Minister of Transportation. Past chairpersons also include Prof Remi Sonaiya, late Dr Christopher Kolade, Alhaji Tanko Yakasai and Dr Uma Eleazu.

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