By Usman Oladipo Akanbi and Dame Joan Oji

Today, we pay tribute to a colossus of academia and a national merit award winner, Emeritus Professor Olu Obafemi, as he celebrates a remarkable 75 years of life. A scholar of unparalleled distinction, educator, and public intellectual, Professor Obafemi’s impact on Nigerian society has been profoundly transformative. His groundbreaking research and literary works have not only mirrored the Nigerian experience with unflinching candour but also challenged prevailing narratives, inspiring successive generations of literary scholars.

As a trailblasing pioneer in the field of Nigerian literature, theatre, and performance, Professor Obafemi’s scholarship has immeasurably enriched our understanding of these disciplines. Notably, Professor Obafemi has demonstrated exceptional leadership in various capacities. He served as the President of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), where his impactful tenure contributed significantly to the growth and development of Nigerian literature. In addition, he once chaired the National Commission for Museums and Monuments, further solidifying his commitment to preserving Nigeria’s cultural heritage.

His mentorship has nurtured a constellation of brilliant minds, fostering a legacy that continues to inspire and influence new generations. Sir, we wish you many more years of robust health, happiness, and sustained impact! Congratulations once again, the Asiwaju of Kiri Kingdom, Emeritus Professor Olu Obafemi, FNAL, FANA, NNOM.

• Usman Oladipo Akanbi Ph.D, FANA
  President, Association of Nigerian Authors
  Dame Joan Oji Ph.D

ANA, General Secretary

Dr Camillus Ukah, President, Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), says reading of creative literature will assist in shaping the minds of Nigerians to prevent their involvement in violence.
Ukah said this on Saturday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the sideline of the ANA 40th Anniversary/Annual Convention in Abuja.
NAN reports that the association had begun the provision of 40,000 creative literature books to 40 secondary schools to commemorate its 40th anniversary.
Ukah said: “We believe that creative literature is a missing link between our nation and development.
“Our late founding father, Chinua Achebe, said that story is our guide and escort. Without the story, we just jump into candle fence like blind beggers.
“That story is literature and symbolic because it is your story that guides you, it will tell you what you did wrong before and the need to correct it.”
According to him, literature is also key to security of any nation because literature grooms the mind and a groomed mind cannot get involved in untidy violence.
“For example, look at Wole Soyinka, Nobel Laurette, with all his rascality, if not for literature, somebody who went and seized a radio station.
“Will it be difficult for him to get to the bush with AK-47 but literature has groomed his rascality. It has given his radical tendencies a purpose. As far as Wole Soyinka is concerned, his abiding principle is humanity.
“Look at Achebe, in his stubborn quietness, literature had groomed him and redirected his energy to developing the mind of man.
“Literature is imperative to nation’s security and development. So, literature has a lot to offer to a nation’s building and development.
“I think the earlier we take the promotion of literature seriously, the better for us.
“For all of us who have children, you can experiment it. If you give your child one creative literature book every week, that child will become a star, irrespective of discipline whether science or art.
“What does it do is to open the mind of that child. So, Literature is key to any development,” ANA boss said.
Dr John Asein, Director-General of Nigerian Copyright Commission, told NAN that the commission would partner with ANA leadership to sustain the association’s creative literature books project.
Asein said that the commission, in collaboration with ANA, would ensure proper monitoring of the creative literature books given to 40 schools in the country.
“We want the provision of creative literature books to be a sustainable programme.
“So, it is not just about giving them books. We want to also adopt those 40 schools and go to them one after the other, encourage them in area of creativity, respect for copyright and for them to develop their talents.
“So, some days they will also become authors. We will work with ANA on that to get the list from you and make it a sustainable programme,” Asein said.
According to him, there is need to go to those schools always because we cannot plant a seed and then go and think it will just grow, you must go back and check whether the weed is disturbing.
“So, these children need to be given constant encouragement that it doesn’t matter how things appear today, there is a future.
“We will work together to rebuild the character, passion and vision of these children.
“I thank ANA for starting by putting books in their hands because the schools may end up keeping those books in their libraries and before you know the shelves are even gone.
“So, with this arrangement, I will ensure that from our state offices, I will hand a number of schools to each state for proper monitoring,” he said.

Mr Ugochukwu Okeke, the Chairman, Joint National Association of Persons with Disabilities in Anambra, has urged his members to ensure they participate actively in Saturday’s governorship poll.
Okeke said that all the necessary assistance for members of the group to take part in the election had been put in place.
He said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Awka on Friday.
He urged members not to be afraid to come out to exercise their civic right, since security agencies had reassured them of adequate security before, during and after the exercise.
“There is no need to fear, the state is safe for us to move to our various voting centres for the election.
“Do not stay back in your homes without voting on Saturday for the next governor of our dear state.
“We are sure that the electoral officers will grant us deserved attention that we do not need to queue for a long time before voting.
“All the necessary arrangements to ensure we are comfortable during voting have been made,” Okeke said.
He lauded the quick resolution of the security challenge that had threatened a hitch-free electoral process.
“I am happy that I will be part of the people to elect a new government that will determine the welfare of our members.
“We are interested in the election because we need to vote for the governor that will take care of persons with disabilities in the state,” Okeke said.
He said that in their meeting ahead of the election, all the units made arrangements on how to move out to be part of the process.
“We are going to make more concrete plans concerning our collective and uniform mobility in future elections in the state,” he said.

The media and literary community lost a major member on Sunday, when poet, journalist and arts patron, Eddie Aderinokun, passed away.

The elder brother of another influential writer, Kayode Aderinokun, and late co-founder of GTBank, Tayo Aderinokun, bid the world BYE at the age of 80.

He was one well-travelled and eminently connected media practitioner who brougth glamour into the business.

Apart from being prolific, he did the same to the literary world, with many writers who matured especially in the 1980s and 90s being beneficiaries of his natural tendency to mentor people.

His former priestly office in the Eric More area of Lagos, at a memorable era, was like the headquarters of the Association of Nigerian Authors.

Indeed, it was the venue where the Lagos State branch of the association got life, as he hosted many of their Saturday meetings.

Aderinokun also had intimate and beneficial relationships with many of the individual members, acting like a godfather of a kind.

It is thus with an uneasy nostalgia that some of the characters who experienced the man popularly called Uncle Eddie will relate to the news of his passage.

One of such people, Akin Adeoya, who has also become a ‘big boy’, could not escape such a puzzle on Monday evening when he spoke briefly with Phenomenal.com.ng on phone.

“Baba ti lo,” he said before this writer uttered a word, meaning ‘Baba has departed.’

Like this news platform, Adeoya is eagerly eagerly prospecting information on Aderinokun’s passage.

Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari has paid the writer a tribute.

He expressed sadness over the death in a statement released by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, in Abuja on Monday.

The News Agency of Nigeria noted that he saluted the more than 60 years of vibrant journalism practice by Aderinokun, which saw him rise to editorship of the then reputable Daily Express Newspaper, and his contribution to literature through many books, particularly on poetry.

“Also unforgettable are his footprints in sports development, particularly volleyball, where he made his mark as a very successful Chairman of the Nigerian Volleyball Federation,” the president said.

He also lauded the fact that Aderinokun, as President of Nigeria League of Veteran Journalists, shared his wealth of experience, and guided younger professionals on the path of ethics and good conduct, adding that all these would be recorded in his favour by posterity.

Mr Denja Abdullahi, President, Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) on Wednesday in Abuja urged the Federal Government to ensure stiffer penalties against piracy.

Abdullahi said that piracy was a major challenge to the intellectual property industry.

The ANA president stated that authors would be encouraged to write if the issue of piracy was effectively tackled.

“There is a high rate of piracy in the country, this is the major reason for dwindle in the sale of original book copies.

“Authors are not making money from what they have written, it is discouraging, so we must collectively fight piracy,” he said.

Abdullahi urged the federal and state governments to enliven the inspectorate divisions of the ministries of education to ensure efficiency.

He further said that there was need to improve on school curriculum for effective impartation of knowledge.

“Teachers and other staff require adequate monitoring, this is where the inspectorate division comes in, teachers need to do the right thing,” he said.
The ANA president said that steps would be taken to rejuvenate the culture of reading in the schools system.