Literature
FRIDAY JOHN ABBA, former chairman of Kaduna State chapter of Association of Nigerian Authors, ANA, is a well known name in the Nigerian literary circle for his radical comments on how ANA should be run. Several members of the association have always challenged him to be part of the national exco if he is serious about changing it. Now he is taking up the challenge, contesting for the post of Assistant General Secretary in the election holding at the International Convention of the association this weekend. In this interview with SUMAILA UMAISHA, he reveals his reasons for contesting and his priorities for ANA.
Q: Who is Friday John Abba?
ANS: I was born on the 2nd day of May 1969. That day happened to be a Friday and, so for reasons which I am still trying to figure out, I am called Friday. I was born in Kaduna but soon my civil servant father had to move with us to Nguru, in Yobe State. I had my first taste of formal education at Kasungula Primary School, Nguru. After leaving primary school, I got admitted into the prestigious Nigerian Military School, Zaria (NMS) for my secondary education before going on to study Computer Science at the Kaduna Polytechnic. I worked as a soldier in Ijebu Ode, Ogun State for a while as demanded by my training in NMS. Later I joined the services of Nigerian Tobacco Company which later transmuted into Brittish-American Tobacco Company.
I have been involved with the Rotary International. I became the president of a Rotaract Club at the age of 18 and went on to become the District Rotaract Representative, the highest position a Rotaract member could attain. I was responsible for over a hundred clubs in 19 states and that gave me the opportunity to travel across the country, understanding the people, their cultures, their pains and their triumphs and also identifying ways through which people?s lives could be made better. I joined the Rotary club of Zaria-city and became the president in 2005.
I have been involved severally with government and other agencies. In 2006, I was one of 24 chosen from across Africa to fine tune the Protocol setting up the Peace and Security Council of the African Union.
I have since left the services of the tobacco company to start my own concern. First it was House of Abba publishing but this was truncated by my 9months detention in 2007. Today, I have set up Wright Words Consulting, a firm that works with writers to make their manuscripts publishable and to help identify certain other imperatives that make for successful publishing. I also serve on the Board of the Centre for Community Relief Initiatives (CCRI) as the Director of Research and Publications.
I have been involved in literary activities since my days at the polytechnic when I took time every Thursday to meet with the Creative Writers? Club of the Ahmadu Bello University. I joined the Kaduna Writers?s League where I served as editor for 4years and later served as Vice Chairman and Chairman. I joined the Association of Nigerian Authors in 2001 and have served as Editor of my branch. Today I am the immediate past Chairman of the Kaduna State Branch of the Association of Nigerian Authors.
I am primarily a prose writer and my works have been published severally in anthologies and through other media.
This, I guess, summarizes Friday John Abba.
Why do you want to contest for the post of Assistant General Secretary?
Shortly before the last elections, I wrote about what I thought was an ineffectual election. I looked at the way we ran our campaigns and realized that we were not addressing issues. And the most fundamental of these issues is the structure of the association. I wondered back then, as I do now if any magician could come and build on what is known to have basic structural defects. And like I wrote back then, and still believe, we have to look at the very foundation of the association and work to correct the defects that have inhibited our growth as individual writers and as an organization.
Sometimes I wonder at the fact that all a writer in this country can manage is a paltry print-run of a thousand copies, two third of which end up in shelves that never get visited. I wonder why with a population of about a hundred and sixty seven million people, the Nigerian writer cannot capture just a percentage or 1.6 million. I read about a hundred books each year and I see things. We must address these concerns and I think that my inclusion on the National Exco will enhance my sharing of ideas with the others to chart a course for the Nigerian writer and ANA.
What makes you think you can win?
I really do not see it as a win or lose thing. I think that anyone who has taken the step I am taking does it in an altruistic way. The most important thing here is the association and how we can make it better. If the electorate - and this is an enlightened electorate - see in me their dreams and aspirations then I will definitely be elected. I really think that the Nigerian writer has the capacity to move mountains but we must address the fundamental issues that have held us down here. Through the years I have made my thoughts known to other writers and I am sure that they will also agree that my voice will be of more effect as a member of the Exco.
What will be your priority when you win?
My primary role if elected will be to assist the General Secretary. But beyond this I think that priorities must be the synergy of the workings of the group. Every individual comes with the ideas that will make the association grow and the group prioritizes these ideas. As a member of the Exco, I will endevour to always insist on prioritizing the welfare of the Nigerian writer because the organization is the sum of the individual members. In ANA today, members cannot even pay the paltry five thousand naira annual dues. And come to think of it how many writers net five thousand naira annually from their literary activities in Nigeria? I think that if we address some of these challenges, ANA will grow with its members.
Another area we have neglected is the need to strengthen the state branches of the association. I have always maintained that the effectiveness of ANA lies with the branches. Strong branches will inevitably result in a strong body. This I think, we must look at very seriously.
How prepared are you for the election?
As a matter of fact, I have been a little unprepared in respect of developing the Politian-style campaign. I have spent all the time thinking strategies to make the association better. But I know the people I have chosen to serve. They are intellectuals with the capacity to see beyond the cheap antics of politics and I am sure that the other contestants are aware of these facts. However, I am still getting across to members across the country and sharing my thoughts with them.
What is your message to the electorate?
ANA can be better. Writers in Nigeria can have their books read and they can make a lot of money from their works. And on the election, we must live above petit sentiments and elect into office those who will work with us to make our dreams come true.
Your advice to other contestants
I respect your decisions to run for the various offices and I know that your decisions are borne out of genuine concern for the association. We are not politicians, we are intellectuals who are seeking to make our trade worth the while. We must not allow other considerations to destroy that which we have struggled to keep alive for thirty years.
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Literature
FJA joins the race for ANA EXCO membership
Q: Who is Friday John Abba?
ANS: I was born on the 2nd day of May 1969. That day happened to be a Friday and, so for reasons which I am still trying to figure out, I am called Friday. I was born in Kaduna but soon my civil servant father had to move with us to Nguru, in Yobe State. I had my first taste of formal education at Kasungula Primary School, Nguru. After leaving primary school, I got admitted into the prestigious Nigerian Military School, Zaria (NMS) for my secondary education before going on to study Computer Science at the Kaduna Polytechnic. I worked as a soldier in Ijebu Ode, Ogun State for a while as demanded by my training in NMS. Later I joined the services of Nigerian Tobacco Company which later transmuted into Brittish-American Tobacco Company.
I have been involved with the Rotary International. I became the president of a Rotaract Club at the age of 18 and went on to become the District Rotaract Representative, the highest position a Rotaract member could attain. I was responsible for over a hundred clubs in 19 states and that gave me the opportunity to travel across the country, understanding the people, their cultures, their pains and their triumphs and also identifying ways through which people?s lives could be made better. I joined the Rotary club of Zaria-city and became the president in 2005.
I have been involved severally with government and other agencies. In 2006, I was one of 24 chosen from across Africa to fine tune the Protocol setting up the Peace and Security Council of the African Union.
I have since left the services of the tobacco company to start my own concern. First it was House of Abba publishing but this was truncated by my 9months detention in 2007. Today, I have set up Wright Words Consulting, a firm that works with writers to make their manuscripts publishable and to help identify certain other imperatives that make for successful publishing. I also serve on the Board of the Centre for Community Relief Initiatives (CCRI) as the Director of Research and Publications.
I have been involved in literary activities since my days at the polytechnic when I took time every Thursday to meet with the Creative Writers? Club of the Ahmadu Bello University. I joined the Kaduna Writers?s League where I served as editor for 4years and later served as Vice Chairman and Chairman. I joined the Association of Nigerian Authors in 2001 and have served as Editor of my branch. Today I am the immediate past Chairman of the Kaduna State Branch of the Association of Nigerian Authors.
I am primarily a prose writer and my works have been published severally in anthologies and through other media.
This, I guess, summarizes Friday John Abba.
Why do you want to contest for the post of Assistant General Secretary?
Shortly before the last elections, I wrote about what I thought was an ineffectual election. I looked at the way we ran our campaigns and realized that we were not addressing issues. And the most fundamental of these issues is the structure of the association. I wondered back then, as I do now if any magician could come and build on what is known to have basic structural defects. And like I wrote back then, and still believe, we have to look at the very foundation of the association and work to correct the defects that have inhibited our growth as individual writers and as an organization.
Sometimes I wonder at the fact that all a writer in this country can manage is a paltry print-run of a thousand copies, two third of which end up in shelves that never get visited. I wonder why with a population of about a hundred and sixty seven million people, the Nigerian writer cannot capture just a percentage or 1.6 million. I read about a hundred books each year and I see things. We must address these concerns and I think that my inclusion on the National Exco will enhance my sharing of ideas with the others to chart a course for the Nigerian writer and ANA.
What makes you think you can win?
I really do not see it as a win or lose thing. I think that anyone who has taken the step I am taking does it in an altruistic way. The most important thing here is the association and how we can make it better. If the electorate - and this is an enlightened electorate - see in me their dreams and aspirations then I will definitely be elected. I really think that the Nigerian writer has the capacity to move mountains but we must address the fundamental issues that have held us down here. Through the years I have made my thoughts known to other writers and I am sure that they will also agree that my voice will be of more effect as a member of the Exco.
What will be your priority when you win?
My primary role if elected will be to assist the General Secretary. But beyond this I think that priorities must be the synergy of the workings of the group. Every individual comes with the ideas that will make the association grow and the group prioritizes these ideas. As a member of the Exco, I will endevour to always insist on prioritizing the welfare of the Nigerian writer because the organization is the sum of the individual members. In ANA today, members cannot even pay the paltry five thousand naira annual dues. And come to think of it how many writers net five thousand naira annually from their literary activities in Nigeria? I think that if we address some of these challenges, ANA will grow with its members.
Another area we have neglected is the need to strengthen the state branches of the association. I have always maintained that the effectiveness of ANA lies with the branches. Strong branches will inevitably result in a strong body. This I think, we must look at very seriously.
How prepared are you for the election?
As a matter of fact, I have been a little unprepared in respect of developing the Politian-style campaign. I have spent all the time thinking strategies to make the association better. But I know the people I have chosen to serve. They are intellectuals with the capacity to see beyond the cheap antics of politics and I am sure that the other contestants are aware of these facts. However, I am still getting across to members across the country and sharing my thoughts with them.
What is your message to the electorate?
ANA can be better. Writers in Nigeria can have their books read and they can make a lot of money from their works. And on the election, we must live above petit sentiments and elect into office those who will work with us to make our dreams come true.
Your advice to other contestants
I respect your decisions to run for the various offices and I know that your decisions are borne out of genuine concern for the association. We are not politicians, we are intellectuals who are seeking to make our trade worth the while. We must not allow other considerations to destroy that which we have struggled to keep alive for thirty years.
- As Writers Converge On Uyo?
The Association of Nigerian Authors, ANA, is well known for its commitment to annual conference. For the past 30 years it has held an international convention annually. This year is not an exception. Members of the association from the state chapters...
- I Went Down Fighting - Agada
The Association of Nigerian Authors, ANA, held its 30th Annual International Convention in Abuja from Wednesday 30th November to Sunday 4th December, 2011. And one of the main activities at the conference was the election of new executive council members...
- Remi Raji Posed To Re-write Ana?s History
PROFESSOR ADEREMI RAJI-OYELADE a.k.a. Remi Raji is a well known name in the community of writers and academics, having authored a number of creative pieces and critical works in the areas of literary theory, African and African American Literatures,...
- "i Will Give Ana More Visibility" - Hyancinth
Hyacinth Obunseh, award-winning writer, publisher and Assistant General Secretary of Association of Nigerian Authors, ANA, is preparing to vie for the position of General Secretary of the association in the forthcoming election in November at its Annual...
- The Write Stuff Bags Media Merit Award
The Write Sutff, the weekly literary column edited by Sumaila Umaisha in the New Nigerian Weekly, has once again brought garlands to the stable of New Nigerian Newspapers when it was conferred with a Media Merit Award for sustained excellence. The award...