Northern Nigerian Writers summit repositions self
After three days of deliberation, the 3rd Northern Nigerian Writers Summit has taken measures to position itself as an umbrella organisation for the promotion of literature in the region This resolution was reached at its annual summit held at the conference hall of the Katsina State secretariat complex where an interim executive, under the headship […]
After three days of deliberation, the 3rd Northern Nigerian Writers Summit has taken measures to position itself as an umbrella organisation for the promotion of literature in the region
This resolution was reached at its annual summit held at the conference hall of the Katsina State secretariat complex where an interim executive, under the headship of BM Dzukogi was given a one-year mandate to stir the affairs of the body and oversee this transition.
Other members of the executive, according to a communiqué issued by the interim secretariat are the writers Alhaji Muhammad Sani Kabir, Aisha Umar, Zaharaddeen Ibrahim Kallah, Kabir Assada and Hajiya Hafsat AbdulWahid.
They are charged with designing a blueprint for administering its operations to cover the 19 states of Northern Nigeria and Abuja.
Other resolutions reached at the summit include developing a strategy where Northern Governors Forum, multi-national corporations, institutions, individuals, governments and organisations in the region can intervene through funding and provision of facilities that will accelerate the development of creative writing in the region including Abuja.
The summit hopes to coerce established writers and institutions in Northern Nigeria and elsewhere to facilitate capacities of young writers from the region through publishing, residencies, mentoring, prizes, workshops, trainings, and conferences.
Part of the measures of attaining literary development in the region that the summit will explore include establishing Book Development Agencies like the one in Niger State to further institutionalise book development initiatives in the region through official recognition and annual statutory budgetary allocations. The book agencies shall be exclusively for the development of creative works.
The summit also wishes to liaise with the Nigeria Copyrights Commission to enable the protection of intellectual properties of writers in the region as well as get maximum value for their creative products.
During the summit, papers were presented by prominent writers including Dr. Wale Okediran (The role of creative writers in nationalism and cultural development), Professor Yusuf Adamu ( Contribution of the media towards the development of Hausa language and literature), B. M. Dzukogi (Teen Authorship: Towards discovering and mentoring the next generation of northern Nigerian writers) and Prof. Asabe Kabir (Hausa women folksongs: Tool for cultural preservation).
Participants at the summit also had the opportunities of visiting the Emir of Katsina’s place where the emir received writers. They also visited the 700 year old Gobarau minaret and old Katsina College established in 1920.