Odoh Diego Okenyodo
15 November 2008
Stories and photos byHalf of Niger state's normal contingent to the annual national convention of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) and, still, representatives of other states would be overwhelmed, even if the occasion held under the sea. Writers got a taste of this last weekend as the writers' fiesta came to a jaunty close: Niger state, the initiator of the now-mainstreamed Teen Authorship scheme, not only dazzled everyone with a literary series of stories for children, but got the hosting rights for next year's convention.
Always spearheaded by the indefatigable and cheerful teacher, poet and athlete, Baba Mohammed "BM" Dzukogi, the Niger state team has put up spirited expeditions in search of the right to host the nation's authors. Dzukogi's quest is egged on by a team of foot soldiers that is made of mostly his former students, whom he had guided to sharpen their literary talents. This year, ANA Niger branch chair Aminu Sheikh Mohammed presented their bid. He told the fair-sized audience at the Federal Technical College Gusau, venue of the Annual General Meeting, that his branch had been a leading light of the Association, consistently producing books, organising over a dozen editions of the Annual Schools Carnival of Arts and Festival of Songs (ASCAFS) as well as the first ever Northern Nigerian Writers' Summit.
Niger's challenger, Katsina, who was also represented by its chairman, Alhaji Mohammed Kabir, apparently wowed by their opponent's curriculum vitae withdrew their bid, referring to Niger as their "elder brother".
It was a significant win for ANA Niger, most especially because this would be the opportunity for them to actualise the ambition they have long nursed. It would also be an opportunity to wield its numerical might as 2009 would be another election year. The branch is known to vote as a community, seeing that they are the branch closest to working with the semblance of a unified purpose. Furthermore, there are indications that the branch is likely to field a presidential candidate in the 2009 elections, if the current National Vice President and immediate past Minister of State for Education, Dr Jerry Agada, demonstrates no interest. That is in spite of the fact that The Power State (as Niger is known, more because it is home to two dams that generate electric power, than because it is a seat of political power with two influential former military Heads of State) boasts of Abubakar Gimba, a novelist and past President of the Association with whom the current President, Dr Wale Okediran, served as General Secretary.
In the current National Executive Council, ANA Niger has two members, namely: Alkasim Abdulkadir, who is National PRO (North) and BM Dzukogi (National Treasurer). Though, membership of the National Executive Council yields no material dividends, it is priced and keenly contested owing to the fact that members of the Association regard Executive Council members as influential enough to spread training/publication opportunities to them. Also, over the years, the mission has been to ensure fairer representation of writers from across the River Niger in ANA affairs, leading to increased agitations for executive positions and locations for the organisation's activities, the latter often influenced by quasi-democratic considerations.
The representation has been beneficial, to say the least, on both sides of the Nigerian divide. Those who visited Zamfara for the first time (and they were many) attested to the fact that the image they had of a vicious society whimsically cutting off limbs was unfair, as they saw a very free society that could, at worst, be described as sane. The former chairman of ANA in Benue, the poet Moses Tsenongu, said this much when he told Bookshelf, "I am very glad that I came for this convention. This trip has been an eye opener for me. I now know that the Nigerian press has done our country a disservice by portraying a people in the way they have portrayed Zamfara."
Tsenongu was speaking the mind of many others. There was a visit to Kwatakwarshi rocks, a tourist's delight that no one would think existed. The writers climbed rocks and drank from the spring water issuing from the rocks. They enjoyed most bits of the encounter with Zamfara, even when the ANA branch had only been in existence for just about ten months, so Minna wouldn't be different, given that it is the "elder brother" of Katsina (so do we call it the grandfather of Zamfara?).
But nothing can be said about the ANA convention in Gusau without applause for His Excellency Mahmud Aliyu Shinkafi, the Governor who actually made the miracle possible. He played host to everyone gracefully. He attended the awards dinner almost as he arrived straight from China, same way Alhaji Ibrahim Idris did when Kogi State hosted the convention in 2004. So, what would be expected of The Chief Servant is not much left to conjecture, since he has displayed overwhelming interest in literature and education. The fingers are tightly crossed.
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