Third Ake Arts and Book Festival holds in Abeokuta

Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State symbolically threw open a door to declare open the 3rd Ake Arts and Book Festival. The international festival that has firmly placed Nigeria on the culture map of the world was formally declared open at the MKO Abiola Cultural Centre, Kuto, Abeokuta. The Governor, Sen. Amosun, while declaring the […]

Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State symbolically threw open a door to declare open the 3rd Ake Arts and Book Festival.
The international festival that has firmly placed Nigeria on the culture map of the world was formally declared open at the MKO Abiola Cultural Centre, Kuto, Abeokuta.
The Governor, Sen. Amosun, while declaring the festival open, praised the long standing creative spirit of Nigerians that have helped put the country in the news for the right reasons, while encouraging the festival guests to freely engage and discuss topical issues relevant to the growth of literature and creativity around the world.
He praised the commitment of the festival organisers, The Book Buzz Foundation, for staging what has become an important cultural event.
“I hope this festival will continue in years to come long after we have gone so that it becomes a lasting legacy for our children,” he said.
The festival director, Lola Shoneyin, said the festival would not have been possible without the commitments of sponsors and donors, who she took time to thank for their continued support.
This year, she announced that three new sponsors have joined the ranks to help make the festival better.
One of the new sponsors, Marine Platform, said it is committed to promoting literature and cultural understanding between people. Speaking, the Chief Finance Officer of the company, Mr Baji Nyam, his company will set up fifty mini libraries containing a hundred books each, which would be distributed to schools to help promote reading.
He also announced the companies commitments to promoting literature in the North of Nigeria in order to create balance in the narrative of the Nigerian story and breach the gap in cultural understanding between the north and other parts of the country.
As a mark of this commitment, he announced a grant of N200, 000 naira for five writers from Northern Nigeria who have had books published this year.
The writers, Samir Haruna,(S is for Suvivor) Halima Aliyu (Fire on the Tip of Ice), Abubakar Adam Ibrahim, (Season of Crimson Blossoms) Elnathan John (Born on a Tuesday) and Maryam Bobi (Bongel) where awarded the grant for this year in a gesture Mr. Nyam said was to encourage them for having gone through the process of writing and having a book published.
In his comments, the General Manager of Chevron/NNPC, Mr Deji Haastrup said his company decided to help sponsor the festival as it seems set to establish Nigeria as a major cultural hub in the world.
This year, 82 writers, filmmakers, artists, poets, thinkers, photographers and other creatives attended the festival which featured book chats, panel discussions, film and documentary screening, poetry performances and more.
The festival is organised by Lola Shoneyin’s Book Buzz Foundation with support from the Ogun State government. Since it debuted three years ago, the festival has proven to be the go-to cultural event in Nigeria and Africa.