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Wednesday, March 16, 2022

“We must begin to imbibe a culture by which those who aspire to lead our people are subjected to a rigorous process of public debates that will assess their suitability on objective criteria, rather than the religion they practise or where they come from.”

-

Olusegun Adeniyi

(Nigerian journalist)

Dear Active Citizen,

#EiEat12: On Debates and Democracy

Today, March 16th makes it 12 years since the historic #EnoughIsEnough protests of 2010 to the National Assembly in Abuja and to the then Governor Babatunde Fashola’s office in Lagos on April 13th. We asked if Mr President was dead or alive in Saudi Arabia, wondered why an oil producing nation had fuel queues and demanded that the killings in Jos be stopped.

12 years later, Mr President is alive, just in London for a medical checkup; but we still have fuel queues and insecurity has increased significantly. Nevertheless, EiE Nigeria's work has made some Nigerians more aware, more restless, more politically conscious and more courageous.

Debates are a key element of the ‘Select’ component of our flagship R|S|V|P – Register | Select | Vote not Fight | Protect campaign. We believe in the intrinsic value of debates to deepen democratic ideas, which has led us to host / co-host over 25 debates of various formats, some of which were simulcast in different languages to expand access.

To commemorate our 12th anniversary, we’ll host a symposium titled On Debates & Democracy as part of our continued commitment to mainstreaming debates in Nigeria. The keynote address will be given by Janet Brown, the Executive Director of the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD). CPD hosts all presidential debates in the United States. The media panel will have the four debate moderators that we’ve worked with over the last decade - Maupe Ogun-Yusuf, Ngozi Alaegbu, Reuben Abati, and Seun Okinbaloye - in conversation with Segun Adeniyi. We will also have the debate panel with Abdulfatai Buhari (invited), Babatunde Fashola, Mahmood Yakubu, Mercy Tosin Ayodele and 'Yemi Adamolekun, our Executive Director.

Save the date and join us in-person or online as we have a conversation to explore how political debates contribute to democracy via citizens' engagement; whether or not debates should be mandatory; the role of the media and the role of political parties.We look forward to seeing you!

Enjoy the rest of the week.The EiE Nigeria Team