Amupitan to Deliver Keynote Address at Launch of Eniola Bello’s Collection of Protest Essays

Joash Amupitan, chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), will deliver the keynote address at the launch of two books examining Nigeria’s democratic experience authored by Eniola Bello, the managing director of THISDAY.

The two-volume publication of more than 900 pages titled, ‘SHADOWS: Protest Essays on Africa’s Most Consequential Country (1999–2023)’, chronicles Nigeria’s political and democratic evolution between 1999 and 2023.

At the launch, slated for July 23, 2026 at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja, Amupitan will speak on ‘Strengthening Electoral Institutions: Pathways to Free, Fair, and Peaceful Elections in 2027’, focusing on reforms needed to strengthen Nigeria’s electoral process ahead of the next general election.

The books, published by Cable Books — an imprint of Cable Media & Publishing Ltd, publishers of TheCable — offer an episodic account of the country’s democratic journey, highlighting institutional developments, policy achievements and governance challenges that have shaped contemporary Nigeria.

The essays examine issues like corruption, human rights abuses, policy failures, insecurity, leadership, executive-legislature relations, the cost of governance and public accountability.

The publication also explores godfatherism, the internal democracy of political parties, electoral malpractice, the use of religion in politics, elite hypocrisy, ethnic mobilisation and the influence of money in Nigeria’s political landscape.

The organisers said the book provides a historical account of the people, events and issues that have shaped Nigeria’s politics and power relations since the return to democratic rule in 1999, while reflecting on how those developments continue to influence the country’s trajectory.