Folorunso Alakija Distinguished Lecture on Religion and Public Life in Africa

In August 2025, the Folorunso Alakija Distinguished Lecture on Religion and Public Life in Africa brought leading voices together to reflect on the intersection of faith, governance, and the public good in Nigeria—Africa’s largest multi-faith democracy. Professor Oyeronke Olademo, Professor of Comparative Religious Studies in the Department of Religions at the University of Ilorin, examined religion’s influence across education, leadership, economics, politics, and security, highlighting both challenges and opportunities while calling attention to the gap between professed faith and lived practice. Professor Jacob K. Olupona—Professor of African Religious Traditions and of African and African American Studies at Harvard University, who earned a degree from the University of Nigeria—led a dialogue with Professor Olademo, exploring the nuances of her research and its implications for Nigeria. 

The next evening, a CAS Gala Dinner gathered leaders with the purpose of supporting the Study of Africa at Harvard through partnership and philanthropy. the Center for African Studies invited attendees to reflect on the most important questions facing Nigeria and Africa in the next 25 years and to consider how Harvard and Nigeria can work in partnership to catalyze the region’s full potential. Insights from this dialogue will help guide the Center’s agenda back in Cambridge. The evening’s conversations were guided by Ms. Toyosi Akerele-Ogunsiji, a prominent Nigerian social entrepreneur and human development expert, whose work spans entrepreneurship, education, youth development, and public leadership. The centerpiece of the evening was a keynote address by the former Vice President of Nigeria, His Excellency Professor Yemi Osinbajo, who spoke on the critical importance of research in Africa—spanning public health, agriculture and food security, the green economy, and national security. Read news coverage.

In 2018, the Center for African Studies launched the Folorunso Alakija Distinguished Lecture on Religion and Public Life in Africa. This annual lecture is sponsored by the Harvard Center for African Studies and generously supported by the Center for African Studies’ Africa Advisory Board Member, Folorunso Alakija. 

This lecture provides a platform for the Harvard University Center for African Studies to connect faith leaders with the Harvard community and beyond in a conversation about the constantly shifting and contested boundary between the secular and the sacred, the public and the private.

Mrs. Folorunso Alakija is Executive Vice-Chairman of Famfa Oil Limited. She is a businesswoman and philanthropist with a sincere desire to help the needy, a fashion icon with an infallible sense of style, a loving wife, a caring mother, and a doting grandmother.