Date: Thursday 8 May, 4.00-6.00pm

Keynote Speaker: Hon Dimeji Bankole, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Federal Republic of Nigeria

Discussant: Femi Longe, Co-founder, Africa++ (a network that helps people in the diaspora connect with Africa's development)

Chair: Hugh Bayley MP, Member of the International Development Select Committee and Chair, All Party Parliamentary Group on Africa

In a public lecture hosted by the Foreign Policy Centre in partnership with the African Foundation for Development (AFFORD), the Hon Dimeji Bankole, Speaker of the House of Representatives, explored the future of governance and democracy promotion in Nigeria.

While Nigeria is Africa's most populous country, it is by far the continent's largest fledgling democracy. The 2007 presidential and legislative elections were widely perceived to be the most flawed in the country's history. Initially, when President Umaru Yar'Adua was nominated by his predecessor, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, there was much speculation that Obasanjo intended to retain the reins of power using the somewhat anonymous governor of Katsina State as an instrument to advance his own political agenda. Today however, Yar'Adua is increasingly regarded as an enthusiastic supporter of 'better government' as a vehicle for tackling the structural constraints that are impeding Nigeria's development, such as the chronic power crisis.

Questions that were explored during this event included: Is President Yar'Adua simply seeking to build his own legitimacy? Can the Nigerian National Assembly effectively shape legislation and adequately monitor and challenge the executive on behalf of the Nigerian people? Is the Nigerian government being distracted from the business of pursuing an ambitious reform agenda? Does democracy have a future in the Nigerian political power struggle?

Download Invitation (50 kilobyte PDF; need help viewing PDFs?)