Literature

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 for the great event.

NNW: How is the secretariat doing?

Denja Abdullahi: The secretariat is doing perfectly well, given the circumstances we find ourselves. The office space is in Lagos and I live and work in Abuja. Nevertheless I coordinate very well with the staff in Lagos and with all other exco members around the country. One of the promises I made to members before mounting this position was that I will run a sensitive and what I call a rapid response secretariat. With the modern means of communication and the will to carry everybody along in ANA affairs, I thank God I have been able to run an open administration.

What activities do you have lined up?

We have a lot to do this year. We have capacity building initiatives for our members and the chapters across the country. We have a landmark colloquium on 50 years of Things Fall Apart coming very shortly in April. We have several of our collaborations with other allied groups and federal government agencies yet to come and, of course, our routine activities of literary advocacy. We will round the year with our annual convention, the 27th, in Gusau, Zamfara State.

What is your level of preparation so far for the Achebe colloquium?

We started planning for this colloquium since last year January when we finally ratified the programme at our executive council meeting. Since then, we have made contacts with people, organisations, institutions, government and the private sector who will help us realise a good outing. We are presently at the level of rounding off preparations and waiting for the dates to come. The whole month of April 2008 has been dedicated to the Achebe colloquium with programmes in Abuja, Lagos, Ibadan and Nsukka.

What problems are you facing in terms of financing and organizing the event?

We are not facing much problem in terms of finance because we gave the programme to a company to help us market to relieve us of having to go cap in hand frantically to look for money. We are talking to governments at some states and the federal level to support the project. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism and National Orientation has already endorsed the project and we are about getting some nods from the Heart of Africa Project in the Information and Communications Ministry and Education. This is not to say everything is rosy, we are still waiting for the concretisation of many of the promises made to us so far. Organising a project of that magnitude is a full-time affair and it has been very tasking for us exco members working on the project to tidy things up while still attending to our daily affairs and family commitments.

What steps are you taking to check problems that might arise in the course of the preparation?

We are solving the problems as they come along. We do this by making people to buy into the project and see the stake they have in it. We have also made ourselves amenable to advice that are not self-serving and we are ready to accept a helping hand from anyone with our vision for the project.

What is magnitude of this event compared to the Soyinka colloquium?

This Achebe colloquium is going to be bigger than the Soyinka colloquium, going by the various programmes we have lined up. We are celebrating in four cities as against that of Soyinka we did only in Ife. We have used the Soyinka colloquium experience to devise ways of doing it better at the Achebe colloquium.

Why did you just single out Achebe and Soyinka for this kind of honour, leaving out writers like Gabriel Okara?

May I say we are not singling out anybody for honour, we are just responding to auspicious moments of our literary history regarding some of our great writers. Writers such as Gabriel Okara etc. have been honoured by some of our chapters and even at the national level. As time goes on we shall honour others with several other activities. As an association, one of our objectives is to hold up our writers for celebration and honour at all times.

(c) Interview by Sumaila Isah Umaisha for the New Nigerian of 26th January, 2008.

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