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All is now set for TheNiche Annual Conference 2026. This year’s edition, which will be the fifth in the series, will be held on Thursday 23 April at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Kofo Abayomi Street, Victoria Island, Lagos. The event will begin at 10:00 am.
On Tuesday, a statement by the CEO and Editor-in-Chief of TheNiche, an online newspaper, said the conference 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 governor of Abia on May 29, 2023, Otti, a renowned banker, was the CEO of Diamond Bank Plc., a major Nigerian retail bank that merged with Access Bank in 2019 to form a larger entity.
Likewise, before becoming the Emir of Kano, Sanusi, who also serves as the spiritual leader _(khalifa)_ of the Tijanniyah Sufi order in Nigeria and neighboring countries, also served as the CEO of the 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 the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua in 2009.
Amaechi said the choice of Otti as guest speaker and Emir Sanusi as president was deliberate.
“As Nigeria enters another stupid political season, the electorate needs to be reminded, in the phrase of James Carville, strategist for former US President Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign, that ‘it’s the economy, stupid.’ There is also a 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 indisputably among the best, not only in Nigeria but also globally on economic issues and various financial matters. So, the idea of this year’s conference is to initiate the much-needed discussion on the economy we have and the governance we need. The conference will analyze the economic reality of the country and the discipline, or lack thereof, of governance.”
Amaechi noted that the 2026 conference 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 Governor of Lagos State and former Minister of Power, Works and Housing; and Mr Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, former Rivers State Governor and Minister of Transport. Former presidents also include Professor Remi Sonaiya, the late Dr Christopher Kolade, Alhaji Tanko Yakasai and Dr Uma Eleazu.
