L-R: Femi Falana (SAN), chairman of the Occasion; Ayo Obe, guest speaker; Mike Okonkwo, presiding bishop, The Redeemed Evangelical Mission (TREM); Agburum Clinton Chimenem, student of Deeper Life High School, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, winner of the 2026 Mike Okonkwo National Essay Competition; Peace Okonkwo, resident pastor of TREM; Alimi Adeiga Mosorireoluwa, a student of Holyland Senior College, Ipaja, first runner-up; Oloruntimilehin Elijah Oladipo, student of Isolo Comprehensive Senior High School, second runner-up, and Akachi Ezeigbo, the chief examiner of Mike Okonkwo National Essay Competition, during the 25th Mike Okonkwo Annual Lecture, themed “Democracy at the Crossroads: Electoral Credibility, Judicial Integrity and the Future of Nigeria,” held at the Zenith Bank Shell Hall, MUSON Centre, Onikan, Lagos, recently.
…As 25th Mike Okonkwo Annual Lecture spotlights Nigeria’s fragile democracy
Since the return to democratic governance in 1999, every election cycle in Nigeria has been marked by the same question on the credibility of the elections and the ability of the electoral umpire to deliver free, fair, and credible elections.
Today, that question sits at a crossroads with two signposts — electoral credibility and judicial integrity. And that question formed the building blocks of the 25th edition of the Dr. Mike Okonkwo Annual Lecture theme: ‘Democracy at the Crossroads: Electoral Credibility, Judicial Integrity, and the Future of Nigeria.’
