By Ibrahim Ramalan
For six good years, Korean Cultural Centre Nigeria (KCCN) has dedicated the 21st of every March to mark the UNESCO designated World Poetry Day by rewarding poetic excellence.
In line with the mission of the World Poetry Day, KCCN has chosen to reward the passion for poetry with a sumptuous prize extravaganza that has continued to strike a chord among the young and established poets across the country.
During this year’s commemoration and award presentation which took place at the KCCn’s head office in Abuja, for the adult category, Patricia Innocent emerged the winner and was awarded N100,000 for a single poem he submitted. The poem was adjudged to be the best.
Mariam Oluwasheun and Okewu Oke came second and third and were awarded seventy thousand naira and fifty thousand naira respectively.
In the school category, Aisha Mijinyawa from Capital Science Academy, Abuja emerged winner and was awarded fifty thousand naira only.
Others are Faith Jonah of African Child College, Kubwa who came second and was awarded thirty thousand naira while Yusuf Mohammed of Vima School, Minna, Niger State came third and was awarded twenty thousand naira only.
Highlight at the event include poetry presentation by different poets in attendance.
Shedding more light on the award, The co-organiser of the fiesta, Jerry Adesowo who is the creative director of the Arojah Concepts, said, on the school category he had received 116 poems from 21 schools, while in the adult category, he had received over 4 hundred entries.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Director of the KCCN, Mr. Han Sung-Rae recalled that the poetry fiesta was started since 2011 when the Korean Cultural Centre in Nigeria was opened, adding: “Since then, we have held this feast every year so as to promote in Nigeria, the abundant talents that abound in the arts.”
He said: “In 2014, the first anthology of poems from here to there was published and it included poems received from 2011 to 2013. This year, the second anthology is out. Selected poems from 2014 to 2016 are contained therein.
“It would be shared free of charge. This I believe will not just make the poems more easily accessible but will also document and preserve the works of these poets,” he submitted.
In his remark, the Chairman of the event, Barrister Ahmed Maiwada emphasized that poetry is a serious business. He therefore called on the government to take up the challenge of promoting the art before it goes into total extinction.
“The day 21st March should be made a special day for poets to get together and celebrate. UN made it a special day because it was becoming an endangered species and government should encourage the poets and poems to be showcased at the local government areas not leaving it in the hands of Koreans alone,” he appealed.
Also speaking, the President of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), Malam Denja Abdullahi commended the initiative of the KCCN for organizing the event as well as for promoting poetry which, according to him, has been relatively put on the backbench.
The president therefore called on many other spirited individuals and organizations to follow suit.
