I was searching my males when I found this historic document and thought it wise to share. It was posted in josanayahoogroup in Septembe 2005. Hapy reading.
Yusuf Adamu
Dear friends, please find below a summary of Drs Okediran's and Shehu's reading visit to Kano. We are working very hard for the success of the convention and we need you to keep us in your prayers. Many thanks.
Dr. Yusuf Adamu
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Kano 2005: Okediran kick starts campaign
Ali Liman Abubakar
cisse@justice.com
Dept. of Mass Comm., BUK
When during the presidential electioneering in 2003, president Obasanjo was told that he would not win re-election should he fail to win Kano, the retired general did took it serious and spread his tentacles to even far-flung areas of the ancient city. It was only when he realized that even a miracle could not sway Kanawa’s massive votes to his favor that Obasanjo reluctantly ‘sacrificed’ it to another retired general, and what happened after the April 19 elections was and is still a common knowledge among Nigerians.
Last Wednesday, Kano gave a rousing welcome to another presidential candidate, but this time not for the PDP, ANPP or any political party, but for the forthcoming Association of Nigeria Authors (ANA) convention and national election. Apparently spurred, not only by its position as host of this years’ grand occasion for the nations literati, but also by the aforementioned myth, Honourable Wale Okediran, a writer of repute, former secretary general of ANA, and now a member of the federal House of Representatives from Oyo State, was confident of clinching the plum position in Kano come November.
The auditorium at the number 10, Emir’s palace road British Council office was filled to capacity, as writers both young and old thronged to catch the glimpse of the writer-cum-politician and to be inspired by his rich writing prowess.
Accompanied by ANA Kano chairman Dr. Yusuf M. Adamu and returning Chevening Scholar, Isamila Bala Garba, Hon. Okediran made good use of the fine rainy season weather in the ancient city to kick start the monthly literary reading with a short story he titled Baby in the Storm. In plain language and graphic illustrations, using Western Nigerian Muslim characters, the ANA presidential candidate narrated his story, which is about the age-long African tradition of male chauvinism.
Three other reading sessions followed later, with supporting presenters from the ANA Kano members performing and presenting poems and short stories at each session. The title for the other stories presented by the guest reader are an excerpts from a book Sighs of Desire published in 2003, which is about a female character Deola caught in the bug of mass exodus for greener pastures and has to chose between joining her run-away fiancée abroad and tying nuptial nuts with her new found love in her hometown. The other two titles from Okediran were Dog Catcher of Alakia and A memory of Easter, which is inspired by the recent Abuja demolishings. It was the first monthly reading to extend beyond the traditional seven o’clock closing time.
By far the highlights of the event were the question and answer sessions that follow every presentation by the guest reader and four or so supporting readers. Okediran first answered question on how lengthy a short story is suppose to be when he said that a minimum of one thousand to two thousand words is acceptable. However, according to him in the United States nowadays, what is called short short story is now the fashion there, as stories are written in thirty to one hundred words only.
The honorable member then lamented the penchant of the federal government for not giving prominence to writing. According to him, people who are autocratic in nature tend to be suspicious of people of letter, because in whatever situation, they call a spade by its name. Even at the National Assembly Okediran added, people look at members who are writers with suspicion.
It was their desire to make change in the administration of this country that led them to come up with what they call the Forum for Democracy and Good Governance. This forum Okediran said is mainly for writers at the domed chambers who often meet to look at issues before going to the floors to debate it. “It is a pressure group that pushes for issues that are for the good of this country”, he added.
Okediran also said that it is the objective of this forum to see to the signing into law a bill that will ensure federal government giving out grants for art, which he says is still with the Minister of arts and culture. When signed into law, the bill would go along way in elevating creativity and assured that before the end of this year, the bill will see the light of day.
On the Ghana-must-go issue which is a literary concept that has now been usurped by diplomacy and foreign policy as metaphor, Okediran traced the history of the concept to the times when Ghanaians in this country were being deported to their country and they could only then used the sack-like bag as luggage since it was the cheapest available. Being so cheap, the bag became the only luggage available for Nigerians, hence any time heavy things are being conveyed, the bag is the alternative. Institutions in the country took to carrying money in the bag and thus it acquired the metaphorical name.
Okediran also added that in the cause of our journey as a nation, we have picked up so many bad habits including corruption “to the extent that the executives were trying to influence house members using Ghana-must-go”. It was rather surprising to him that the name is now in use worldwide to the dismay of Ghanaians themselves where just two weeks ago, a member of parliament there accused him (Okediran) and Nigerians for “spoiling their name”. An excess luggage anywhere in the world is now referred to as Ghana-must-go. But the onus of replacing this name with another Okediran believes rests on the creative minds of writers across the country.
As an honorable member of the House of Representatives, a place that has acquired notoriety for being Ghana-must-go collectors from the executives, Okediran affirmed that since his emergence as honorable member, he has never set eyes on the metaphorical Ghana-must-go.
The guest reader then advised novice writers that publishing is very expensive venture in the country, but the easy way for them is to look for grants from organizations like the Ford Foundation. The attack on young writers by the established first and second generation writers for what the latter call poor quality of output, should not dampen the spirit of the former, for according to Okedaran, when William Shakespeare started, most people then wrote him off, believing he would not last for five years, but Shakespeare did not only live to be good but even in death is a legend in the world of literature and writing.
One distinctive difference Okediran wants established writers to take into account before they crucify the young ones is the theme they write on. “You don’t except somebody of thirty for example to write in the same theme with someone of fifty. When they were writing, their themes were in colonialism, independence etc, but now we see totally different themes” Okediran added.
As someone who sees it all at the National Assembly, the guest had to answer questions that border on the politics of removing the House Speaker as well as the rumor making the rounds about president Obasanjo considering putting the job of his deputy on the line. On the Masari must go declaration by the executives, honorable Okediran said the entire House was solidly behind their Speaker, and on the Jacob Zuma treatment of Atiku, Okediran said that for those of them who do not belong to the ruling party, it was a happy thing that the constitution makes it necessary for such a matter to go to the National Assembly where careful deliberations will be done before anything.
At this point, Okediran jumped to the big one. He first outlined how he was searched by a group of people who wanted him to be the next ANA president but he rejected their move on ground of his being busy at the National Assembly. What made him change his mind according to him was the fact that having rose through the ranks of ANA, first as Oyo state chairman, then National Treasurer, before ascending the throne of the National Secretary General, he believes there could be no better candidate as him who possesses the inside knowledge that will move ANA higher.
He also believes that with a strong team beside him, and the support from the National Assembly that will obviously come through him, raising the writer’s union to another level will not be a cumbersome job. With the declaration of ANA Kano Chairman Dr. Yusuf Adamu to go for the position of the Secretary General, it is clear that this year’s convention is not only writing pack but also politik pack. This declaration particularly drew a feeling of belonging from the Kano writers whose only representative at the National level is the present National Financial Secretary in person of Aisha Zakari.
The visiting writer was then hosted by ANA Kano to a mouthwatering dinner where he expressed his satisfaction with the level of preparation for hosting a big event as ANA national convention and promised to do something from his end in Abuja . Before the dinner, announcement of some donations of books by the writer politician was made.
With about sixty days to the ANA national convention, it is already clear who the serious contenders for the coveted positions are, and that Kano ’s hosting may go a long way as the best in the history of association.
GUEST WRITERS (WALE & SHEHU) IN KANO AND THE POLITICS OF ANA
PRESIDENCY
BY MUTTAQA YUSHAU
myushau@yahoo.co.uk
INTRODUCTION:
The announcement by the branch chairman of the
Association of Nigerian Authors, Kano branch Dr Yusuf
M. Adamu to host two guest writers’ in their
reading tour, has been warmly welcomed by the members.
ANA Kano has distinguished itself from other branches
in the state for being the only chapter with bilingual
sections, namely Hausa and English.
On 31st August and 4th October, the Association
hosted two literary luminaries, namely Hon. Wale
Okediran and Dr. Emman Usman Shehu. Most interestingly
the two writers are presently working in political
helm of affairs, the former been a law maker, and the
latter working with the presidency, these shared
peculiarities prompted ANA members to pose many
questions to them. Especially in their bid for ANA
presidency. In view of this, this piece is
prompted to unearth the literary episode that took
place in the ancient city of Kano , and would most
importantly account for the he writers encounter with
their literary siblings, who happens to be in the
corridor of power.
From the on set, Honourable Dr. Wale Okederai,
presently a member of the House of Representatives and
erstwhile secretary of (ANA). Has fascinated many
fellow writers for the simplicity of his persona and
concern for the literary enterprises. in his
presentation, namely, the storm, sigh of desire and
DOG Catcher, he has shown his reaction
to the society
where he lives, that is be faced with multifaceted
problems, which complicated social life ,breeds
inequality, kill hope for the future and battered the
destiny of the common man.
Being among those vying for the National president
of
ANA, He vomits the promises he holds, if his dream is
realized as he lamented “my intention is informed, for
being in ANA for a long time. I new it problems, and I
got a lot of encouragement form like minded
individual in order to resuscitates ANA,
however, He
further noted on the death of reading culture due to
the poor economy in the country.
While receiving questions from the floor members, on
what he has done so far in booming literature, as a
law maker, Honourable Wale notified the general
writers that they have passed a bill, if eventually
assain by the president, a large chunk of money would
be devoted in developing the writing enterprise
Coming to the second guest writer, Dr. Imman Usman
Shehu, Imman Usman Shehu has distinguished himself as
one of the unique
Nigeria literary icons that always
combine his reading with performance which always make
the atmosphere to be full with ovations and happiness.
Imman Shehu deploys some native languages in his
English poems, may be in order to appeal to the
emotion of his listeners in his poems he uses things
like Gatanan gatanan ku, which is a tradition in
Hausa story telling
Just like his literary sibling Dr. Wale Okidera, Dr.
Imman Shehu is equally biding for the National
president of (ANA), and equally upholds many promises
to move ANA to the high pedestal. In view of this, He
made the following remarks:
“Any society that did not recognize the relevance of
writing, such a society is deemed to lose its identity
and its own culture.
Emman Shehu urge Nigerian writers to be embarking on
reading tours, because it is a way of interacting with
other writers, across boundary and cultures so as to
appraise their literary skills.
Meanwhile, Emman Shehu responds to many question
especially the politically sensitive one, relating to
his bid for the presidency. He lamented that “joining
ANA presidency with another job is not easy, but only
lies in ones determination, I’m biding for this post
in order reinvigorate ANA because contemporaneously,
one only heard of ANA when there is a National
Convention”.
From the aforementioned, it is suffice to say that,
the development of any literary endeavour, lies in the
ability of great men, with the zeal and enthusiasm to
organize a forum in which various forms of writing,
ranging form poetry, prose, play etc could be read
discussed, and criticize.
Therefore, it will not be out of place to argue that,
the Association of Nigerian Authors Kano state chapter
under the able leadership of Dr. Yusuf Adamu who is
equally biding for the national secretary of ANA, has
been in the fore front .therefore it is imperative for
the writes to have the profile of any contestant
before hand, so as to chose the caliber that can lead
ANA to a promise land.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
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