SCORECARD OF PRAGMATIC DELIVERABLES- 2015-2019: THE DENJA
ABDULLAHI’S ANA PRESIDENCY AT A GLANCE
On November 14, 2015 at the 34th International Annual Convention of ANA held in Kaduna, the 2015-2017 National Executive Council was elected with Mallam Denja Abdullahi as the President and in October 2017, at the 36th International Annual Convention held in Makurdi, the 2017-2019 National Executive Council was elected with Mallam Denja Abdullahi again as the President. The following are the delivery of both National Executive Councils under the leadership of Denja Abdullahi in the last four years:
2016.
• Formation of strategic councils, panels and committees at its inaugural meeting held on the 9th of January, 2015 in Abuja to fast track the delivery of the Association’s objectives. The council and committees are: The ANA National Advisory Council (first of its kind in the history of the Association and made up of 3 former presidents and 2 other elders of the Association); ANA Strategic Plan Development Committee; ANA Land Development Committee and ANA literary Prizes Adjudication Panel.
• The National Executive Council re-worked the process of accessing the annual Yusuf Ali grant by ANA Chapters by calling for proposals which was assessed, leading to the award of grants to 16 successful chapters at the 5th Meeting of the National Executive Council with chairmen and secretaries of chapters which held in Ilorin on the 9th of April,2016. A monitoring process was put in place, leading to a nationwide ANA/Yusuf Ali nationwide literary awareness campaign, with a special focus on tertiary institutions, held by the chapters given the grants.
• ANA was in the forefront of the fight for the release from prison, of one of its members, Nenghi Josef Ilagha , who was imprisoned for a purportedly libelous book he authored against a leading monarch in Bayelsa State. He was committed to prison in November, 2015 but freed on 26th of April, 2016, after much pressure from the Association.
• The Association of Nigerian Authors participated in the review of the Nigerian Copyright Bill by making extensive submission on the draft sent to it by the Nigerian Copyright Commission and which was properly acknowledged by the Commission as contributing greatly to the improvement of the draft bill.
• ANA in the renewed vigour to identify with its own at specific occasions and cultivate existing friendship with partners was represented by the President at the Posthumous launching of a book of its former president Alh Abubakar Gimba in Minna on the 25th of February,2016 and in the launching of a book by its patron ,Yusuf Ali, in Abuja on 17th May,2016.
• ANA on May 13, 2016 held the Authors’ Groove at National International Book Fair in Lagos with one of its trustees, Prof Kole Omotoso , as Guest Speaker. Prior to that, ANA, represented by the President and the PRO South, have been playing prominent roles in the Council and the affairs of the Nigerian International Book Fair Trust.
• ANA on the 3rd of June, 2016 signed an agreement with Box Office Studios Ltd in Abuja for the production of an audio visual documentary on the history, activities and achievement of the Association. The project was completed in December 2016 and a media preview of the film “ Dancing Mask: The ANA Story” was held at the Abuja International Film Village in February,2017. The project was executed with grants received from the Pan African Writers’ Association (PAWA).The film was nominated for the Best Documentary Film category at the 14th Abuja International Film Festival which recently concluded in October,2017.
• A strategic planning workshop was held between 7-10 July, 2016 at Kini Country Home, Akwanga, Nasarawa State , with 17 persons, drawn across the strata of the Association’s membership participating , which led to the production of a 5 year strategic plan document(2017-2012) that was presented to the public at the 35th Anniversary International Convention of the Association which held in Abuja in October,2016.
• The President of ANA empanelled a team led by a former President of ANA and a member of the ANA National Advisory Council, Dr Wale Okediran, to resolve the 4 year old lingering leadership dispute in ANA Niger . The team visited the chapter on the 4th of September, 2016 and the matter was successfully resolved with the enthronement of a caretaker committee to oversee the affairs of the chapter for a year.
• In furthering the internationalization objective of the Association’s activities and cooperation among writers’ bodies across Africa, the President of ANA attended the Ghana Association of Writers (GAW) book festival which held at PAWA house, Accra –Ghana on the 21st of September, 2016. A fall out of that visit was the attendance of ANA’s 35th Anniversary Convention in Abuja in October, 2016 by a delegate from GAW.
• ANA held the first ever National Teen Authorship Conference at Logos International Schools, Awo-Ommama, near Owerri, Imo State from the 27-30 September, 2016. The conference attracted 20 schools in and around Owerri town and 15 teen mentors- trainees from 15 chapters of ANA across the country.
• ANA successfully held a well-attended and very memorable 35th Anniversary Convention in Abuja from the 27-30 October, 2016 which was hosted by Senator Shehu Sani and attended by the First Lady of Imo State, Mrs Nnena Rochas Okorocha, among other dignitaries.
• For the first time in ANA history, apart from the convention held in Abuja in 1985, ANA members attending the 35th Anniversary Convention were taken on a tour of the ANA land in Mpape, Abuja.
• Three distinguished members of the Association (Dr Wale Okediran, Prof Jerry Agada and Late Capt. Elechi Amadi) were inducted as fellows of the Association at the 35th Anniversary Convention. Similar exercise was last carried out at the 2006 Convention in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.
• ANA was fully represented at the weeklong celebration of the 70th Birthday of its former president and member of its National Advisory Council, Prof Femi Osofisan, which held in the University of Ibadan in 2016.
• ANA participated actively at both national and states level in the burial ceremony of the late Capt Elechi Amadi which held in December,2016.
• ANA in its drive to partner and network with fellow arts and culture organizations in the country and beyond towards worthwhile literary causes, anchored a panel on literary prizes at the Lagos Book and Arts Festival(LABAF) held by Committee of Relevant Arts(CORA) in November,2016.
• The 2015-2017 ANA National Executive Council in encouraging democratic principles in ANA chapters across the country supported and monitored the holding of elections into States Chapters’ Executive Councils as at when due in chapters such as Akwa-Ibom, Benue, Abuja, Nasarawa, Kaduna, Rivers, Kwara, Kogi, Osun, Ekiti, Kano, Zamfara, Abia , Bayelsa, Kebbi, Lagos, Enugu, Imo and Ogun States at various times within the years under review.
2017
• The National Executive Council of ANA in late 2016 and spilling over to February,2017, was able to network with Chevron Nigeria Plc, the sponsor of the long rested ANA/Chevron Prose Prize on Writings on the Environment , for the redemption of the prize money of $2,000 each for the winning entries of year 2011 and 2014(The Poacher’s Daughter by Prof Jonah Agunwamba and Oil Cemetery by Prof May Ifeoma Nwoye) respectively.
• Rising from its 2nd Inaugural meeting of 18th February,2017 at Abuja, ANA signed an MOU with STRADA Development Initiative establishing ANA Programme on Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism(ANA-PCVE). The programme has 6 members of ANA drawn from the 6 Geo-Political Zones of the country as members. The programme manager is from STRADA.
• ANA for the year 2017 further streamlined its literary prizes by removing from its array of advertised prizes a few prizes whose endowments have since expired or which no longer received competitive entries.
• ANA National Executive Council in the year 2017 partnered with some of its chapters in the staging of special programmes and events such as the marking of the World Book Day by ANA Bauchi on 2nd March 2017; inauguration of ANA Kano Executive Council and courtesy call to the Emir of Kano on March 30 ,2017 ; A Day with Wole Soyinka by Bayeslsa State Government with ANA Bayelsa on 16th July,2017 and a courtesy call to the Governor of Edo State with ANA Edo on 14th of July,2017,at which event books were donated to the Edo State Library Board.
• The 6th National Executive Council Meeting with Chairmen and Secretaries of ANA Chapters held on the 4th of May,2017 in Ilorin, Kwara State to review the annual Yusuf Ali literary awareness project and other developments in the Association with a view to aligning the Association’s future activities in line with the Strategic Plan document of the Association(2017-2022).
• ANA Donated 100 new titles of books, sourced from its 2016 and 2017 literary prizes entries, to the Justice Mustapha Akanbi Foundation Library in Ilorin in May 2017. The Foundation which was made an honorary member of the Association at the 35th Anniversary Convention of ANA, has been hosting the ANA National Executive Council Meeting with Chairmen and Secretaries of Chapters since 2012. Earlier on in January,2017, ANA donated some books to the Department of English and Literary Studies, University of Jos, towards refurbishing the University’s burnt Library under the Beauty from Ashes project of the University.
• In February 2017, ANA National Executive Council in conjunction with the ANA land Development Committee instituted a monthly monitoring scheme of the development on ANA Land in Mpape ,Abuja with specific developmental timelines agreed with the developer. This culminated in the Foundation Laying and Tree-planting Ceremony held on the land on the 26 of May,2017 with a serving Senator, a member of the House of Representatives, members of the ANA land committee, members of ANA National Advisory Council and other members in attendance. Work is on-going on the land.
• ANA in partnership with Poetry In Nigeria(PIN) held a night of Poetry Performance in the Indigenous languages at the Nzeh Mada Festival held in Akwanga on the 14th of April,2017.This is in furtherance of the promise made for partnering with the Mada Community in bringing in innovation to the Festival events.
• Reproduction Rights Society of Nigeria(REPRONIG), a collection society for copyright owners of literary works paid a courtesy call to ANA on April 2017 in Abuja, led by Chairman of its board, Prof Olu Obafemi, to lay the foundation of a mutually beneficial partnership with ANA. ANA President later attended a workshop on copyright licensing in Tertiary Institutions held by the Society and The Association of Vice Chancellors of Nigerian Universities in Abuja between 8-9 August,2017.
• ANA National in partnership with ANA Lagos hosted the annual Authors’ Groove at the Nigerian International Book Fair Held in University of Lagos on the 12 of May,2017 with a special focus on the National Book Policy. ANA Documentary Film “Dancing Mask: The ANA Story” was screened at the event.
• ANA furthered its linkage activities with foreign literary Associations by cooperating with the Society of Nepali Writers in English, leading to the translation of the poetry of 8 Nigerian poets into Nepali language and published in a bilingual Nepali journal in July 2017. Already, works are on-going in producing an anthology of 25 Nigerian poets in a bilingual Nepali book.
• ANA facilitated the process leading to the honouring of one of its trustees, Labo Yari, by the Kaduna State Government with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the opening Ceremony of the maiden Kaduna State Books and Arts Festival(KABAFEST),which held in Kaduna on the 5th of July,2017.
• ANA in its strategic identification with its members, friends and Associates in their times of joys and sorrows was present at the funeral of the son of its foremost benefactor, Haruna Mamman Jiya Vatsa, on the 5th Of July,2017 in Kaduna. The President later led a team of ANA members to pay a condolence visit to the family at their residence in Kaduna the next day. Similarly, ANA was at the funeral prayer for the father of its benefactor, Yusuf Ali, held in May 2017 in Ibadan and was on condolence visit to Dr Wale Okediran, Former ANA President, who lost his wife in December,2016. ANA had had cause to release official tributes and obsequies, attend Nights of Tributes on the passage of prominent writers and literary critics in the years under review such as Isidore Okpewho, Buchi Emecheta, Senator Muktari Abdulkarim, Osita Ike, Onukaba Adinoyi Ojo, Charry Ada Onwu, Onuorah Nzekwu, Abiola Irele and Adebayo Faleti.
• ANA activated its publishing outfit NWS Publishers with the appointment of a Managing Editor in the person of Mr Osarobu Igudia in 2016, leading to the processes that eventuality saw to the publication of three (3) new children’s literature titles under the Nigerian Writers Series imprint in August, 2017 that was earmarked to be used to power the A-Book-A-Child nationwide project of the Association.
• ANA in the year 2017 at various times was in secondary schools in Enugu, Abia, and Bayelsa States to inaugurate the Young Writers Mentoring Scheme in furtherance of nurturing literary creativity among teenagers and young persons.
• ANA in Partnership with Federal University, Ndufu –Alike Ikwo in Ebonyi State was scheduled to hold a one day symposium on The Expanding Frontiers in Nigeria’s Creative Writing in the 21st Century on the 21st of August,2017 which was disrupted by the nationwide ASUU The symposium has been rescheduled to hold in November 2017 and the maiden ANA national annual conference on the criticism of emergent Nigerian Literature will hold in 2018.
• In the year under review, the National Executive Council of ANA assisted in the formation of a new chapter in Bauchi State and revitalized the chapter in Gombe State.
• ANA established a partnership in August 2017 with Bold Scholar Research Nigeria Ltd, an ICT solution company to revamp its website www.ana-nigeria.com; which was remodeled into a dynamic and highly interactive platform to become the best so far in the history of the Association.
• ANA donated 100 copies of its NWS 2 titles to the children of the IDP camp in Kuchingoro, Abuja on 7th of September 2017 World Literacy Day Celebration.
• ANA got the consent of the Wife of the Governor of Imo State, Ugo Nnenna Nkechi Rochas Okorocha in October,2017 to be the key facilitator and brand driver of its A-BOOK-A-CHILD Nationwide book distribution project.
• Members of the ANA National Executive Council attended the 3rd Northern Nigeria Writers Summit which held in Katsina State between 3rd-5th October,2017 under the theme: “Literature and National Integration: The Role of Writers as Bridge Builders.”
• ANA in October, 2017 published the book Arrows or Gods? Critical Essays on the Leadership Question in Chinua Achebe’s Arrow of God from the proceedings from the celebrations of Arrow of God at 50 in 2014 by The Achebe Foundation and ANA.
• ANA successfully held a well-attended and very memorable 36th International Annual Convention in Makurdi hosted by the Benue State Government from the 27-30 October, 2017.
• Three distinguished members of the Association (Prof. Sam Ukala,Prof Idris Amali and Prof Akachi Ezeigbo) were inducted as fellows of the Association at the 36th International Annual Convention which held in Makurdi,Benue State in October,2017.
• ANA National Executive Council led by the President visited Federal University Ndufu-Alikwe Ikwo to meet the Vice Chancellor over the proposed partnership on criticism conference, attended Prof Akachi Ezeigbo’s book launch and to inaugurate the Young Writers Mentorship Scheme within the University from 8-9 November,2017.
• ANA organized a panel in partnership with CORA on the dearth of literary criticism in contemporary literary sphere at the Lagos Book and Arts Festival(LABAF) of the Committee of Relevant Arts(CORA) in November,2017.Three writers of the Nigerian Writers Series 2 books were also sponsored by ANA to participate in the Children’s Green festival component anchored by Sola Alamutu.
• ANA attended the 2017 Gombe Day of Literature organized by Halimafactor Initiative and sponsored the prizes for the Junior Category Poetry Awards under its Young Writers Mentorship Scheme. The event held on the 23rd of November,2017 at Gombe, Gombe State.
• ANA participated in the drafting of the MOU between The National Library of Nigeria and The National Library of Norway on the digitization of literary text written in the Nigerian indigenous languages in December, 2017.
• ANA donated 100 volumes of contemporary literary texts to the Library of the University of Medical Sciences, Ondo, Ondo State in December,2017.
• ANA participated in the National Conference on Quality Education :Access and Rights Management in Nigeria organized by REPRONIG and Association of Vice Chancellors of Nigerian Universities in Lagos on 27 November,2017.
2018
Ø ANA nominated two persons(Khalid Imam of ANA Kano & Claris Ujams of ANA Abuja) to participate in the Global Book Alliance Regional Meeting organized by the Association for the Development of Education in Africa(ADEA) which held in Abidjan, Cote d ‘Ivoire from 22-24 January,2018.
Ø Rising from its 3rd Inaugural meeting of 20th January,2018 at Abuja, ANA established two committees: Constitutional Review Committee and Intellectual Property Protection and Advancement Committee.
Ø ANA donated 100 volumes of books to Terkule Aorabee for a reading and writing workshops in two LGAs in Taraba State.
Ø ANA ‘s documentary film “Dancing Mask” was screened in West African Films Festival held in February,2018 in Houston, Texas in the U.S.A.
Ø ANA President attended and presented a paper at the African Union 1st Pan African Writers’ Conference which held in Accra,Ghana from the 7-9 March,2018.
Ø On the 1st of March 2018,ANA effectively moved its National Secretariat in line with constitutional provision and national executive council approval to the completed red-brick building of the Association at the Mamman Vatsa Writers’ Village in Mpape, Abuja. The former National secretariat office at the National Theatre Complex in Iganmu, Lagos was handed over to ANA Lagos to manage and would continue to serve as the Lagos liaison office for the Association.
Ø Elections were held in the following ANA Chapters: Edo, Ebonyi, Benue, Niger, Abuja, Rivers, Plateau, Katsina and Taraba
Ø ANA facilitated the participation of 10 indigenous language writers from Nigeria in the Association for the Development of Education in Africa’s “Énabling Writers: Bloom Software Training of Trainers Workshop” which held in Abuja from 17-20 April,2018.
Ø ANA attended the Prof Joe Ushie@60 Conference in Calabar , Cross-River State, Prof Sam Ukala @ 70 retirement celebration and launching of a festschrift in his honour in Abraka and the 25th Anniversary ICALEL Conference at the University of Calabar, all in April,2018.
Ø ANA held its Capacity Building Workshop for National officers and selected 15 States Executive Council Members on “Innovations in Contemporary Literary Awareness Campaigns in Nigeria” which held in Ilorin, Kwara State on the 20th April,2018.
Ø The 7th Meeting of the National Executive Council Members with State Chapters’ Chairmen and Secretaries held in Ilorin Kwara, State on the 21St April,2018.
Ø ANA undertook a media supplement on the ANA/Yusuf Ali literary Awareness Campaign (2012-2018) in various newspapers and on-line blogs between March-April,2018.
Ø ANA held the “Authors’ Groove” at the Nigerian International Book Fair at University of Lagos under the theme “Literary Agency and the Promotion of the Authors’ Craft and Business,” on the 11th of May,2018.
Ø ANA held its maiden International Conference/ Creative Workshop in partnership with Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu –Alike Ikwo with the theme “Expanding Frontiers: Nigeria’s Creative Writing in the 21st Century,” from the 18-19 June,2018.
Ø ANA donated 200 volumes of books to the Library of Alex Ekwueme Federal University ,Ndufu-Alike Ikwo in June,2018.
Ø ANA participated in the State Funeral given to the Late Secretary-General of the Pan African Writers’ Association(PAWA),Prof Atukwei Okai which held in Accra ,Ghana on the 14 of September,2018.
Ø ANA PCVE held a Stakeholders’ Summit on Assessing Nigeria Soft Approach to Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism in partrnership with White Ink Consult and Gusau Institute on the 18th of October,2018 in Abuja.
Ø ANA successfully held a well-attended and very memorable 37th International Convention in Ikeja, Lagos hosted by the Lagos State Chapter of the Association from the 25-28 October, 2018 and attended by the Wife of the Governor of Ekiti State, Erelu Bisi Fayemi.
2019.
Ø Rising from its 4th Inaugural meeting of 26th January,2019 at Abuja, ANA appointed Sole Administrators to revive its ailing chapters in Anambra, Gombe, Kaduna, Sokoto, Nasarawa, Ondo, Bauchi and Cross River States.
Ø From late January –early February 2019, ANA President, on the invitation from Gambian Writers Association(GWA)was at Banjul, The Gambia or a bilateral relationship tour to conduct literary meetings and workshops for Gambian writers.
Ø In February, 2019, ANA published a collection of poems For Ikeogu,For Poetry: Tributes in the Memory of Ikeogu Oke, the winner of the 2017 NLNG Nigeria Prize for Literature for poetry who died on the 24th November,2018.
Ø On 30th March 2019, ANA was at the burial of the late poet Ikeogu Oke , winner of the NLNG Prize for Literature in 2017 at his hometown Akanu Ohafia in Abia State.
Ø On 30th March 2019,ANA was represented at the burial of the father of a one –time chairman of ANA Akwa Ibom ,Prof Joe Ushie at Bendi at Obanliku Local Government Area of Cross Rivers State.
Ø In March 2019, ANA received an endowment of its poetry prize with $1,000 from Senator Shehu Sani.
Ø On 13th April 2019, the 8th Meeting of the National Executive Council Members with State Chapters’ Chairmen and Secretaries held in Ilorin Kwara, State with 12 chapters given sub-grant to carry out innovative literary outreach programmes under the ANA/Yusuf Ali Literary Awareness Project 2019.
Ø On 8th of May 2019, ANA held the Authors’ Groove and Special Writers’ Day under the theme “Pushing the Writer’s Craft and Business in the Age of ICT” at the 18th Nigerian International Book Fair which held in the University of Lagos
Ø On 30th May 2019, ANA donated 50 volumes of books to the Jigawa Library Project to aid the organisation’s book donation project to schools in Jigawa State.
Ø In June 2019 ANA participated in the Burial of Dr Gabriel Okara in Yenagoa and Boumondi in Bayelsa State.
Ø From 2-3 July,2019 ANA held its 2nd Expanding Frontiers of Nigerian Literature International Conference/ Creative Workshop in partnership with Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu –Alike Ikwo in Ebonyi State with the theme “Nigeria’s Literary Criticism in an Expanding Space of Creative Writing and Digital Production in the 21st Century. ”
Ø In August and in September 2019 ,ANA President was at the State Convention of ANA Ekiti State Chapter and at the grand finale of ANA Kogi State Chapter ANA/ Yusuf Ali Literary Awareness Campaign respectively in the spirit of supporting and identification of ANA Chapters across the country.
Ø At various times in the 3rd quarter of 2019, ANA donated volumes of books to Federal Government Girls College Bakori Old Girls Association, Kate Tales Foundation and Ebedi International Writers Residency, Iseyin.
Ø ANA National Executive Council in 2019 monitored and supervised elections held in its chapters in Nasarawa, Kogi, Kebbi,Ekiti and Bayelsa in its resolve to ensure that democracy and good internal governance practices at chapters level .
Ø Fast-tracking development and construction activities on the ANA Land in Mpape, Abuja between 2017-2019 where presently the basic structures originally earmarked to be built on the land are in various stages of completion. This is a land that has remained without construction since 1985 when it was allocated to the Association by the then Minister for the Federal Capital Territory, Late Major General Mamman Jiya Vatsa of blessed memory.
