Former Head of State, Abdulsalami Abubakar, and erstwhile ECOWAS Commission President as well as African Union Chief Mediator on Sudan, Mohamed Ibn Chambas, are among the top dignitaries who have confirmed their intention to grace the Inaugural International Lecture of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
The agency, in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja by its Managing Director, Malam Ali Muhammad Ali, revealed that the duo will attend the lecture billed for October 3, 2024.
Chambas, a renowned diplomat and versed in security and conflict resolution, will speak on the topic, “Insecurity in the Sahel (2008-2024): Dissecting Nigeria’s Challenges—Genesis, Impacts and Options,” while Abdulsalam will chair the epochal forum.
The agency said the lecture will be held at the Nigerian Army Resource Centre, Abuja.
Also invited are President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and members of the Federal Executive Council as well as the top echelon of Nigeria’s political establishment and top brass of the military.
The statement said members of the diplomatic corps and the academic community and media executives from local and African news agencies have also signified intention to attend.
The Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar, Ooni of Ife, Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, and Obi of Onitsha, Nnaemeka Alfred Achebe are leading traditional rulers who have been invited, the statement said.
It said the lecture was “part of the national efforts to enliven public discourse on the debilitating challenges of terrorism, banditry, kidnapping for ransom, militancy and violent ultranationalism among others in the country.
“What are the causal factors responsible for driving violence in this benighted region?
“Who are the non-state actors at the heart of this ring of violence? How is it impacting on Nigeria? How do we as a nation contend with this present and clear danger?
“What prognosis can we make going forward? The lecture is expected to elicit responses to these posers.
It added that the lecture would also interrogate the root causes of the violence troubling the Sahel, examine its impact on Nigeria’s territorial integrity and lay bare the options available to policy strategists based on the country’s security architecture.