ANA @30 convention of chaos
The first inkling the world got that there was something wrong was when the convention, earlier billed for October, was postponed. When a new date was announced (30th November- 4th December) not many were optimistic. Plans of awarding the hosting right to another state chapter (Jigawa to be precise) was muted but the Abuja LOC […]
The first inkling the world got that there was something wrong was when the convention, earlier billed for October, was postponed. When a new date was announced (30th November- 4th December) not many were optimistic. Plans of awarding the hosting right to another state chapter (Jigawa to be precise) was muted but the Abuja LOC under Dr. Seyi Adigun insisted it would be ready.
When writers started trooping into the capital November 30th, their high spirits were immediately doused. They were registered at the Cyprian Ekwensi Cultural Centre, where most of the four day event should have held, and accommodated in Kubwa and Mararaba – two extreme ends of the capital (in fact Mararaba is in Nasarawa State). The locations are infamous for their traffic issues, and the convention events were billed for the centre of Abuja.
Further signs that things weren’t going well was the inexplicable cancellation of the traditional welcome cocktail on the night of the 30th.
Off on shaky legs
The convention formally kicked off on the 1st. Veteran writers like Pa Gabriel Okara, who just turned 90, Odia Ofeimun, Wale Okediran (the last two former presidents of the association) and a host of others graced the opening at Reiz Continental Hotel.
Prof. Tanure Ojaide’s key note address was titled Home Coming: Literature and Human Development was apt. He postulated that literature should be used to “mend the world we live in” and African literature, in particular, should promote human development of the continent.
As the formal opening went on, it was obvious writers were distracted with impending elections into the association’s EXCO after the Jerry Agada led executive must have been dissolved at the convention. Half of the writers spilled into the hallways to finalise political horse-trading, while others were drawn to the bookstands.
After the opening, things spiralled out of control. Writers were brought back to the Reiz from their far-flung hotels for an evening of performances and were left wandering the halls. It was much later in the night that it was whispered that the event had been cancelled, no official explanation was tendered.
Things did not improve the following morning. Writers again took the long bus rides from the fringes of Abuja through the traffic gridlock only to arrive the Cyprian Ekwensi Cultural Centre to a stony silence. No member of the LOC was there to proffer an explanation and the venue for the literary roundtable scheduled for that day remained close.
Agitated writers wandered the centre for a while before resolving to head out to the Millennium Park for readings. That held at the expense of the planned tour of Gurara Falls, which never seemed likely anyway.
One event that must hold regardless of anything was the Business meeting where reports of the various offices will be presented after which the 2009/2011 EXCO will be dissolved and a new one elected for a two-year term.
For an event billed to kick-off by 10 am (December 3), by mid-morning no one was certain where it would hold. The earlier advertised venue of Cyprian Ekwensi Centre had been locked down for the writers apparently because the LOC had not made the necessary arrangements.
Eventually, the Raw Material Research and Development Council, Maitama provided an alternative venue. It eventually kicked off by noon and it was there that the LOC Chair, Dr. Seyi Adigun finally got to explain what was wrong with Abuja’s convention.
There was no money to host the convention, he said. Pledges by corporate bodies and individuals have not materialised and if the incumbent president, Dr. Jerry Agada had not rescued the LOC with a loan of N2m from his pocket, a day after the convention kicked off, things would have been much worse.
His sincere apology for the chaos that marred the convention was roundly applauded. But the disappointment that trailed the excitement of bringing the convention to Abuja will linger. Perhaps Akwa Ibom, hosting in 2012, will blunt the sharpness of this disappointment.