A significant gathering of the brightest minds in Nigeria in the areas of law, creative industry and the academia, will expectedly on Monday, May 26, be at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs auditorium, in Victoria Island Lagos, as everything is set for the 2025 COSON Lecture to be delivered by eminent legal and political player, Babatunde Ogala SAN, FNIM, Fbr, FIMC, OFR.
The lecture will be discussing the critical subject, “The Political & Legal Environment For The Continued Growrh Of The Nigerian Creative Industry”.
The presentation will be followed by a dissection of the lecture by distinguished discussants led by Prof Duro Oni, emeritus professor of Creative Arts and former Deputy Vice Chancellor, University of Lagos.
The other discussants will include Mrs. Toke Benson Awoyinka, Hon Commissioner for Tourism, Arts & Culture – Lagos State; Dr Shaibu Hussein, Executive Director, National Film & Video Censors Board and Hon Jese Okey Joe Onuakalusi, Lawyer and Hon. Member, House of Representatives.
Chairman, Copyright Society of Nigeria (COSON), Chief Tony Okoroji, is confident that all arrangements are on track to have a memorable lecture on May 26.
Said Okoroji: “The distinguished lecturer and Learned Silk, has assured me that the text of his lecture is ready. I am in touch with all the key discussants and each of them is set to make it an unforgettable day.
“The formal invitation cards for the lecture are in circulation but it is our intention that as long as there are seats available at the newly renovated auditorium of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, we will allow every member of the public who is interested to be part of the big discussion on the trajectory of the Nigerian creative economy, to be seated. The lecture is in line with the 2025 COSON Week theme – ‘Nigeria will rise again!’ We are charging no fees”.
As a high point of each of the COSON Week celebrations, the COSON Lecture has always brought together the brightest minds in the areas of law, creative industry and academia to dissect those issues which are shaping, the intellectual property ecosystem and the knowledge and creative economy.
The inaugural COSON lecture in 2013 was delivered by Prof Helge Ronning, Chairman, Norwegian Copyright Development Association (NORCODE) with His Excellency, Mr. Rolf Ree, Norwegian Ambassador to Nigeria, as Guest of Honour.
The 2015 COSON Lecture was delivered by Prof. Bankole Sodipo with His Excellency, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, then Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as Guest of Honour, and the nation’s unsurpassed legal luminary, Prince Bola Ajibola, as Special Guest.
The COSON Lecture in 2017 was delivered by the Hon. Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama, one-time Deputy Director-General of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), the Geneva based United Nations agency. The Chairman of the lecture was the nation’s guru of Intellectual property and commercial law, Emeritus Prof Egerton Uvieghara.
The last COSON Lecture was delivered by Mr. Emeka Mba, former Regulatory Affairs Manager for MultiChoice Nigeria, former Director General of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) and former Executive Director of National Film & Video Censors Board (NFVCB). Dr Tonye Clinton Jaja, Chairman, Governing Board, Nigerian Copyright Commission, was Special Guest of Honour.
With the quality of the minds that have consistently gathered at each of the lectures, the COSON Lecture series has easily become Nigeria’s most sought-after event for the discussion of creativity, content, and developments in the new global knowledge economy and the continued growth of the very important Nigerian creative industry.
The COSON Chairman, Chief Tony Okoroji, is assuring everyone that the 2025 COSON Lecture holding on Monday, May 26 in Lagos, will continue the tradition.
