Literature
Recently, the Association of Nigerian Authors, ANA, held a two-day colloquium on the 50 years of JP Clark?s writings in Lagos. In this interview at the event, the President of the association, Dr. Jerry Agada, spoke about the occasion, its shortcomings and the need to rectify the administrative lapses and effect improvement on future events.
NNW: What is the JP Clark colloquium all about?
Dr. Jerry Agada: We are celebrating his glowing achievements as a writer. Renowned Nigerian writers like Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe and Abubakar Imam have been celebrated by the Association of Nigerian Authors in recognition of their literary contributions. And now that Professor JP Clark has become 50 years in his writing career, we decided to celebrate him too. And that?s the importance of what we are doing today.
It is virtually a year now since you became the President of ANA and this is probably the first major event you are holding, yet the quality of it is low in terms of organisation.
This is not the major event we are holding since I became president. And though there was setback here and there, it does not mean it has become a permanent feature of ANA under my administration. Yes, there were lapses, especially in the build-up to the event, as I said in my welcome speech. You can imagine; how many banners did you see outside? How many people are on the high table and other seats? There were administrative lapses. And this will be rectified in future. I don?t want it to be looked upon as if it has become a permanent feature of what ANA can do. There is a lot of room for improvement. And every aspect will be exploited to ensure that things get better another time.
What would you say are the major causes of the lapses?
There was a committee charged with the responsibility of putting this arrangement in place. I think either because of communication gap or something, they did not connect. And at the end of the day we discovered that the necessary division of labour did not take place, and you find a situation where only one person is doing the whole thing. It is that lack of commitment on the part of the committee that caused the lapses.
But as the president you are supposed to supervise...
Of course, the president was supposed to do the supervision, which in a way he did. But If I start explaining to you the way things went it means we are not going to leave here today. So many people supervised so many things but at the end of the day things did not work out well because of the basic factor that I have already explained.
Are you fulfilling your campaign promises as ANA president?
Yes, I?m fulfilling them. By the time I enumerate them you will see that a lot have been done. Certain things have not taken place but I can tell you that it will be done.
Specifically, what have you done?
This colloquium is one of them. There is the issue of ANA land in Abuja, which was our major campaign promise. Up till today, we?ve been going to the court in connection with that matter. In fact, even if nothing else, the mere fact that we are always in the court trying to make sure that the problem is eased out of our way so that better things can come, is there. So that is something that we are doing. And in terms of national participation, ANA is participating in national activities in one way or the other. Even the colloquium is part of the fulfullment of the campaign promise because the in-thing now is the amnesty programme in Niger Delta. The person we are celebrating today is also from Niger Delta. Put things together like that, you will see that ANA is also projecting the Niger Delta question for the international community.
You said during your tenure that ANA would be commenting on issues of national importance; have you been doing that?
ANA members have been commenting on national issues. We have commented on zoning and other issues. Recently I commented in Leadership newspaper on zoning. I said let zoning stay; that does not prevent Jonathan from contesting, because he is carrying the ticket of himself and Yar?Adua from the previous election in line with that arrangement. So even though Yar?Adua is no longer there, he can continue in his place. So zoning should stay though that arrange should continue. And ANA members in other places are also speaking. I read in a paper the other day, someone was saying all ANA does is go cap in hand begging governors to give them money. I laughed, because how many governors have given us money. The one that was given by the Delta State governor is because we are celebrating an illustrous son of the state. I know most of the governors, and to avoid this situation where somebody would feel that we are going cap in hand to them, I try to dissociate the body from such. So we only meet any of the governors when the event affects him directly. And to me, there is nothing wrong with it.
People may wonder that despite the ten million given by Delta State for this colloquium, there is still poor organisation.
The money was actually ear-marked but not eye-marked. The approval was made but it could not be cleared from the bank. Till this moment that the event is holding, we haven?t been able to access the fund. So certain things that need to be done could not be done because there was no money. But we are not complaining because this programme didn?t start here this morning; it started right from JP Clark?s village. So many things have been going on. But I have already explained that actions will taken to correct the lapses in future. So ANA did not have that ten million right on hand to use. Remember that even the first postponement was as a result of the inablity to get the money at the right time. There was nothing to do but to shift it to today. So let nobody play the issue of somebody carrying ten million and was not able to deliver.
Several millions of Naira was raised by the previous ANA administration, especially from the Niger State government, which you inherited; what has happened to the money?
That only thing I can say about that is that it is not true that millions of Naira was inherited from Niger State government from the last administration to mine. Nothing was given to us. You can ask anybody. The twelve million that Niger State donated for the convention was given to the Niger State chapter of ANA, it was not paid to the national body.
Do you have any plan for ANA to generate its revenue without necessarily begging for sponsorship each time it is organising an event?
We are putting arrangement in place. For instance, we want to commit ANA members financially to generate funds and stimulate a sense of belonging. It is not just enough to carry your bag around the state and say you are ANA member without any commitment. When we put this arrangement in place, and we say ANA member will be paying certain amount at given periods, people will complain, but it will help our source of finance.
What do we expect from ANA in the next convention?
Judging from what we are seeing here this morning and we have all agreed that things have not gone the way we want, I think our expectation is to learn from our mistakes, so that in the next convention we will be adjudged as the best.
Published in the New Nigerian of 21st august, 2010.
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Literature
Celebrating JP Clark?s glowing achievements
Recently, the Association of Nigerian Authors, ANA, held a two-day colloquium on the 50 years of JP Clark?s writings in Lagos. In this interview at the event, the President of the association, Dr. Jerry Agada, spoke about the occasion, its shortcomings and the need to rectify the administrative lapses and effect improvement on future events.
NNW: What is the JP Clark colloquium all about?
Dr. Jerry Agada: We are celebrating his glowing achievements as a writer. Renowned Nigerian writers like Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe and Abubakar Imam have been celebrated by the Association of Nigerian Authors in recognition of their literary contributions. And now that Professor JP Clark has become 50 years in his writing career, we decided to celebrate him too. And that?s the importance of what we are doing today.
It is virtually a year now since you became the President of ANA and this is probably the first major event you are holding, yet the quality of it is low in terms of organisation.
This is not the major event we are holding since I became president. And though there was setback here and there, it does not mean it has become a permanent feature of ANA under my administration. Yes, there were lapses, especially in the build-up to the event, as I said in my welcome speech. You can imagine; how many banners did you see outside? How many people are on the high table and other seats? There were administrative lapses. And this will be rectified in future. I don?t want it to be looked upon as if it has become a permanent feature of what ANA can do. There is a lot of room for improvement. And every aspect will be exploited to ensure that things get better another time.
What would you say are the major causes of the lapses?
There was a committee charged with the responsibility of putting this arrangement in place. I think either because of communication gap or something, they did not connect. And at the end of the day we discovered that the necessary division of labour did not take place, and you find a situation where only one person is doing the whole thing. It is that lack of commitment on the part of the committee that caused the lapses.
But as the president you are supposed to supervise...
Of course, the president was supposed to do the supervision, which in a way he did. But If I start explaining to you the way things went it means we are not going to leave here today. So many people supervised so many things but at the end of the day things did not work out well because of the basic factor that I have already explained.
Are you fulfilling your campaign promises as ANA president?
Yes, I?m fulfilling them. By the time I enumerate them you will see that a lot have been done. Certain things have not taken place but I can tell you that it will be done.
Specifically, what have you done?
This colloquium is one of them. There is the issue of ANA land in Abuja, which was our major campaign promise. Up till today, we?ve been going to the court in connection with that matter. In fact, even if nothing else, the mere fact that we are always in the court trying to make sure that the problem is eased out of our way so that better things can come, is there. So that is something that we are doing. And in terms of national participation, ANA is participating in national activities in one way or the other. Even the colloquium is part of the fulfullment of the campaign promise because the in-thing now is the amnesty programme in Niger Delta. The person we are celebrating today is also from Niger Delta. Put things together like that, you will see that ANA is also projecting the Niger Delta question for the international community.
You said during your tenure that ANA would be commenting on issues of national importance; have you been doing that?
ANA members have been commenting on national issues. We have commented on zoning and other issues. Recently I commented in Leadership newspaper on zoning. I said let zoning stay; that does not prevent Jonathan from contesting, because he is carrying the ticket of himself and Yar?Adua from the previous election in line with that arrangement. So even though Yar?Adua is no longer there, he can continue in his place. So zoning should stay though that arrange should continue. And ANA members in other places are also speaking. I read in a paper the other day, someone was saying all ANA does is go cap in hand begging governors to give them money. I laughed, because how many governors have given us money. The one that was given by the Delta State governor is because we are celebrating an illustrous son of the state. I know most of the governors, and to avoid this situation where somebody would feel that we are going cap in hand to them, I try to dissociate the body from such. So we only meet any of the governors when the event affects him directly. And to me, there is nothing wrong with it.
People may wonder that despite the ten million given by Delta State for this colloquium, there is still poor organisation.
The money was actually ear-marked but not eye-marked. The approval was made but it could not be cleared from the bank. Till this moment that the event is holding, we haven?t been able to access the fund. So certain things that need to be done could not be done because there was no money. But we are not complaining because this programme didn?t start here this morning; it started right from JP Clark?s village. So many things have been going on. But I have already explained that actions will taken to correct the lapses in future. So ANA did not have that ten million right on hand to use. Remember that even the first postponement was as a result of the inablity to get the money at the right time. There was nothing to do but to shift it to today. So let nobody play the issue of somebody carrying ten million and was not able to deliver.
Several millions of Naira was raised by the previous ANA administration, especially from the Niger State government, which you inherited; what has happened to the money?
That only thing I can say about that is that it is not true that millions of Naira was inherited from Niger State government from the last administration to mine. Nothing was given to us. You can ask anybody. The twelve million that Niger State donated for the convention was given to the Niger State chapter of ANA, it was not paid to the national body.
Do you have any plan for ANA to generate its revenue without necessarily begging for sponsorship each time it is organising an event?
We are putting arrangement in place. For instance, we want to commit ANA members financially to generate funds and stimulate a sense of belonging. It is not just enough to carry your bag around the state and say you are ANA member without any commitment. When we put this arrangement in place, and we say ANA member will be paying certain amount at given periods, people will complain, but it will help our source of finance.
What do we expect from ANA in the next convention?
Judging from what we are seeing here this morning and we have all agreed that things have not gone the way we want, I think our expectation is to learn from our mistakes, so that in the next convention we will be adjudged as the best.
Published in the New Nigerian of 21st august, 2010.
- Niger State: The Making Of A Literary Capital
Once upon a time the area known today as Niger State was famous mainly for its strategic position as a major railway station that drew together people from diverse ethnic groups. But the literary revolution, which began with Abubakar Imam?s legendary...
- 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...
- Ana Celebrates One Of Nigeria?s Finest Writers
Late Ken Saro Wiwa, who was an author, television producer, environmental activist, and winner of the Right Livelihood Award and the Goldman Environmental Prize before his execution by the Abacha regime in November 10, 1995, will be celebrated by the...
- Honouring Jp Clark Is Celebrating Delta?s Achievements
Mr. Godini Gabriel Darah, campaign director of Governor Emmanuel Uduguaghan?s re-election project, represented the governor at the recent colloquium organised by the Association of Nigerian Authors to celebrate the 50 years of JP Clark?s writings, in...
- Denja - 'achebe Colloquium Will Be Bigger Than Soyinka?s'
As the International Colloquium to mark the 50th Anniversary of the publication of Chinua Achebe?s Things Fall Apart draws near, the General Secretary of Association of Nigerian Authors, MALAM DENJA ABDULLAHI, speaks to SUMAILA UMAISHA on the preparations...