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Abuja to host Champion Better Society Lecture
ADEZE OJUKWU
FOR the first
time since the event’s inauguration, Abuja, the nation’s capital and seat of
power, will host this year’s Champion Better Society Lecture series.
The event leaves Lagos for the Bolingo
Hotel and Towers, Abuja. It holds on Wednesday, December.. 15.
Governor Abdullahi Adamu of Nasarawa State
will chair this year’s event while the lecture itself will be delivered by a
scholar and administrator, Dr (Mrs) Dora Akunyili.
Dr. Akunyili, who is also the
Director-General National Agency for Food Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC),
will speak on The Challenge of a new Nigeria:
Ethics, Leadership and the Primacy of merit.
The popular lecture series which is the
sixth in over eight years, is an annual event organised by Champion Newspapers
Limited (CNL), as part of its corporate commitment to the advancement of the
society.
The high profile annual programme is
expected to attract participation from public and private sectors.
Previous editions had held treatises on
critical socio-political and national issues with seasoned presentations from
distinguished Nigerians across the strata.
The maiden lecture on Democracy as a
Model for Economic Development and National integration was delivered by
former Minister of Information and Culture, Prof. Sam Oyovbaire in 1997, while
the 1998 edition focused on Nigeria: a Rebirth for the 21 Century, had Prof.
Isawa Elaigwu of the Institute of Governance as the lecturer.
The year 2000 edition featured former
Finance Minister, Dr Kalu Idika Kalu on Moral & Ethical Values for the
Nascent Dispensation, while former Education Minister now Senator of the
Federal Republic, Prof. Jibril Aminu lectured on
Nigeria: The Challenges of Federalism in 2001.
Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer
(CEO) Nigerian Breweries Plc, Chief Festus Odimegwu lectured on the
Imperatives for Outstanding Corporate Performance within the Nigerian
Environment in 2002 in Port Harcourt.
In its 16 years of existence, the company
has systematically packaged the lecture series to address the nation’s myriad
socio-economic and political problems which according to the management had
hindered "attainment of a better society, where equity, peace and fairness are
upheld."
Furthermore, it is in furtherance of its
roles, that the lecture series are galvanised to provide an intellectual
platform for citizens to deliberate on the various dimensions of the national
question with a view to proffering solutions to the recalcitrant issues.
The current edition is the first to be
held in Abuja.
Chairman of this year’s organising
committee Mr. Andy Ike-Ezeani who is Champion’s Editorial Board chairman assured
that the lecture would draw an enthusiastic attention, like most in the past
given Dr Akunyili’s antecedents.
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