Literature
- Chief Servant Celebrates Birthday In Literary Style
Dr. Mu?azu Babangida Aliyu of Niger State has distinguished himself from the other governors not just in terms of his preference for the appellation of ?Chief Servant? instead of the official and prestigious ?Executive Governor?. He has become a governor...
- 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...
- Praxis Brings Ibb, Obj, Buhari Together
Public presentation of the book Praxis of Political Concepts and Clichés in Nigeria?s Fourth Republic (Essays in Honour of Dr Mu?azu Babangida Aliyu, last Thursday in Abuja turned out to be a unifying platform for three former heads of state hitherto...
- Gimba's Works In Perspective (report)
Some writers never get the recognition they deserve during their life times, they are discovered and celebrated only after they are dead and gone, while others bask in the glory of their literary exploits from the very beginning of their writing career....
- Northern Nigeria Writers' Summit Makes First Outing (report)
The Northern Nigeria Writers? Summit instituted by the Northern chapters of the Association of Nigerian Authors, ANA, has made its first outing. And what a grand outing it was! Not only was it well attended, the activities marking the event were so well...
Literature
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 antecedent in the early 1930s and sustained by Abubakar Gimba and his contemporaries from the 1980s, has transformed the area into one of Nigeria?s prominent literary destinations. And with the sustained efforts of the present Executive Governor of the state, Dr. Mu?azu Babagida Aliyu, the state is fast becoming the nation?s literary capital.
One of the practical evidence of this is the Mu?azu Babangida Aliyu (MBA) National Literary Colloquium scheduled to hold in Minna the state capital next month. The event, which will have Professor Wole Soyinka and other prominent writers in attendance, is the second in the series. The first one was held last year.
The idea actually began in 2010 when the Chief Servant decided to mark his birthday with the unveiling of 10 titles of government and private books as a way of reviving the reading culture. Subsequently, in 2011, he went the whole hug by turning his birthday to a national book day, now popularly known as the MBA National Literary Colloquium.
The main objective of the annual event is best captured in the words of Professor Muhhamed Kuta Yahaya, the governor?s Chief of Staff: ?It is all about giving Nigerians a platform to share ideas on societal regeneration and national development. The Chief Servant has over the years settled for a culture of book development in his resolve to build a lasting castle of legacy for the augmentation of state policies and programmes.?
Professor Abubakar Rasheed, the Vice Chancellor of Bayero University, Kano, who chaired the colloquium affirmed the nobility of the exercise: ?The Chief Servant has scored another first in Nigeria. He has shown the way for others to follow. Niger State is very lucky to have a leader who knows how to lead... a leader who is committed to transforming not only the physical but the literary and intellectual landscape of the state.?
The Chief Servant?s romance with literature and writers may have begun way back in his school days, but the practical manifestations of his commitment to the arts became more pronounced when he assumed office as governor in 2007. He began by personally attending the literary activities organized by the state chapter of the Association of Nigerian Authors, ANA, to see things for himself. In fact, he is the first chief executive of the state to attend the Annual Schools Carnival of Arts and Festival of Songs (ASCAFS), an annual creative platform for secondary school students established by the chapter in 1995.
Impressed by what he saw at the ASCAFS and other similar events, he threw his executive weight behind the chapter in its cause of promoting literature in the state. In 2008, he gave a grant of three million naira to the chapter to go round the 25 local governments to promote reading culture through the project Read-To-The-Child Campaign. After the successful campaign, the state government published seven titles of children?s stories by authors resident in the state. In the same year, the sum of eight million naira was disbursed to the chapter to organize the 1st Northern Nigeria Writers Summit.
The following year, Niger state government donated ten million naira towards the chapter?s hosting of the 2009 edition of the Annual International Convention of ANA in Minna. That conference turned out to be one of the best events ever held by the association. At the event the state government again surprised the community of writers by announcing the donation of a 23-hectre land to the chapter for the establishment of an international writers? village.
As the Chief Servant?s zeal to promote literature heightens, the scope of his generosity expands beyond the Niger State chapter of ANA. In 2009, he donated one million naira to the national body of ANA towards the hosting of Abubakar Imam Colloquium in Kaduna. It is worthy of note that the Chief Servant was the only governor in the north that contributed to the event. And just recently the state government approved the sum of ten million naira to the national body of the association to establish a Nigerian Writers Series, a project similar to the defunct African Writers Series.
There is hardly any writer who would not be impressed by this unprecedented generosity in a country where leaders treat issues concerning literature with levity. Even Odia Ofeimun, the renowned Nigerian poet known for his critical views, could not help showering praises on the governor: ?I can say without fear of contradiction that since the emergence of the Chief Servant as the head of the affairs of the state, no branch of ANA across the country has met infrastructural presumptions of a branch as much as Niger State has done.?
By virtue of his efforts to transform Niger State into literary capital of Nigeria, the Chief Servant has written his name in gold as far as Nigerian writers are concerned. He may have his shortcomings, as no human being is perfect, but in terms of literary support, the man is Zuma Rock.- Chief Servant Celebrates Birthday In Literary Style
Dr. Mu?azu Babangida Aliyu of Niger State has distinguished himself from the other governors not just in terms of his preference for the appellation of ?Chief Servant? instead of the official and prestigious ?Executive Governor?. He has become a governor...
- 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...
- Praxis Brings Ibb, Obj, Buhari Together
Public presentation of the book Praxis of Political Concepts and Clichés in Nigeria?s Fourth Republic (Essays in Honour of Dr Mu?azu Babangida Aliyu, last Thursday in Abuja turned out to be a unifying platform for three former heads of state hitherto...
- Gimba's Works In Perspective (report)
Some writers never get the recognition they deserve during their life times, they are discovered and celebrated only after they are dead and gone, while others bask in the glory of their literary exploits from the very beginning of their writing career....
- Northern Nigeria Writers' Summit Makes First Outing (report)
The Northern Nigeria Writers? Summit instituted by the Northern chapters of the Association of Nigerian Authors, ANA, has made its first outing. And what a grand outing it was! Not only was it well attended, the activities marking the event were so well...