AWAAL GATA talks to Femi Osofisan, an internationally acclaimed playwright, scholar, poet, novelist, actor, director, songwriter and activist, on the 40th anniversary of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) It is the 40th years of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA). Has creative arts relaxed their powers as tools for securing social justice and equity for the helpless? Are writers doing enough Read More
Christendom is commemorating the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, an envoy of God sent forth by Him over two thousand years ago, to save mankind on earth from spiritual death through His teachings which is no more than to make mankind understand God and His Creations of which the earth and human beings are a small part, so that Read More
Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy and the world’s 27th largest economy, is something of an enigma. Don King, the late American broadcasting icon, once lamented that Nigeria imports what it has and exports what it lacks. King was derisively alluding to Nigeria’s dependence on imported refined petroleum products which it should have abundantly as a leading crude oil exporter, and its Read More
In a statement on Friday, the forum announced that Nnorom Azuonye, James Murua and Michal Musiałowski will be on the debut edition of AWFLinkUp via Zoom, on March 28, 2021 from 4-6pm Nigerian time. Azuonye is a dramatic artist, poet, interviewer, literary editor and publisher based in London. He is also founding administrator, Sentinel Writing & Publishing Company, editor of Read More
Nigerian writer and filmmaker Umar Turaki’s debut novel, “Such a Beautiful Thing to Behold” will be published by Little A, an imprint of Amazon Publishing.The novel was pitched to Selena James at Little A in a two-book deal by Turaki’s agent, Andrea Somberg at Harvey Klinger. The Nigerian rights to the novel was acquired by Farafina Kachifo. Turaki has a Read More
The federal government has proposed to spend one trillion naira on establishment of one cottage industry in each of the 774 local government areas of the country. Similarly, the private sector is planning a N19 trillion intervention for the project over the next 10 years. Minister of Special Duties, George Akume, disclosed this Wednesday at an interactive session with the Senate Committee Read More
Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG) has announced the appointment of Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo, emeritus professor of English at the University of Lagos, as the chairperson of the Advisory Board for the Nigeria Prize for Literature to flag’off the 2021 cycle of the competition. The new board assumed duties on Wednesday as 202 entries in prose fiction carried over from 2020 into the Read More
Maverick author, producer and filmmaker, Onyeka Nwelue and prolific poet and writer, IkennaChinedu Okeh, teamed up to write a children’s book. Entitled “Saving Mungo Park” , the book subverts the axiomatic belief that Mungo Park, aColonial-era Scottish explorer of West Africa, discovered River Niger. It stirs up questions inthe minds of the young by teasing possibilities that it was Africans Read More
As many await the rescue of 39 students of Federal College of Forestry Mechanization, Afaka Kaduna who are still in captivity, bandits in the early hours of Sunday stormed Government Science Secondary School, Ikara, Ikara local government, Kaduna state to kidnap the students.Bandits in a related development attempted to attack a senior staff quarters around the Kaduna International Airport, Read More
The story seemed initially to be an easily predictable one. It tells of a condemned prisoner who was convicted of gruesomely killing Chief Benson Osifo alongside his personal secretary. This earned him all the ill-treatments meted on me by the prison warders. Wittingly, the writer introduces Mr. Akpan, a middle-aged prison warder of over 32 years’ experience became friendly to Read More
In this interview with AWAAL GATA, Dr. WALE Okediran, the Secretary General of the Pan-African Writers Association (PAWA), talks aboutwriting in Nigeria, Africa, and his life. As ANA, the largest writers’ body in Africa celebrates its 40th year of existence and as one of its past presidents, how hard has the journey of uniting and leading the largest minds on Read More
AWAAL GATA reports on the just concluded Hajiya Aliyu Schools Festival (HIAFEST) With the third edition just concluded, the Hadiza Ibrahim Aliyu Schools Festival (HIASFEST) has continued to soar as the most comprehensive and rewarding schools festival in Africa, even without the contribution of the government. It instituted in 2019 by Alhaji Abdullahi Bala Kwatu to immortalise Hajiya Hadiza Ibrahim Read More
President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the retirement of his service chiefs and appointed new ones. Although, their retirement was long over due, Mr President’s action has elicited applause from Nigerians and security experts who blame the rise of insecurity to the inability of the erstwhile service chiefs to change their tactics against the dreaded Boko Haram and armed bandits who Read More
Oyo state Commandant of the Western Nigeria Security Network (WNSN), Operation Amotekun, Col. Olayinka Olayanju (retd) on Saturday, said that 200 Amotekun operatives have been deployed to Oke Ogun area of the state. Col. Olayanju in a statement made available to journalists in Ibadan said the Amotekun operatives were deployed to bring an end to banditry, kidnappings and terrorism in Read More
The translation of works by African authors into Chinese has recorded a whopping 63 percent rise since 2018, a report published by an American linguist and Chinese literary translator, Bruce Humes, has said.According to Humes, there are currently 238 translations of works by African authors into Chinese, showing an increase of 63 percent since early 2018, when there were 146 Read More
Foremost internationally-acclaimed writer from Nigeria, Ben Okri, has released a collection of poetry, nine years after releasing his last one, “Wild”.Titled “Fire in My Head: Poems for theDawn”, it was in the second week of January by a UK-based independent publishing outfit, Head of Zeus. The collection addresses some topics of the day, such as the refugee crisis, racism, Obama, Read More
The 2020 SprinNG Women Authors Prize has been awarded to Cheluchi Onyemelukwe-Onuobia for her debut novel, “The Son of the House.”The award, an initiative of literary organization SprinNG, invests up to N200 thousand in purchasing, distributing, and marketing of a winning book. She was announced winner from a shortlist that included Azizah Idris M’s “A Sackful of Wishes” and Olaoluwa Read More
Dr Yusuf Abubakar Mamud is the author of In God’s Name we Fight and Turning Forty. He works on studies related to countering violent extremism (CVE), de-radicalisation and counter-terrorism, as well as critical thinking studies as the solution to the huge ignorance that continually beclouds reason and civil conversation in Nigeria. Running Against Time, a time to rethink is serialized Read More
Okwudili Nebeolisa’s works have appeared in Threepenny Review and anthologies from Commonwealth Writers, and have been nominated for a Pushcart Prize by The _Cincinnati Review, Salamander Magazine, and Beloit Poetry Journal. His works have been shortlisted for the Gerald Kraak Award, The Sillerman First Book Prize for African Poetry, and the Tom Howard/John H Reid Fiction and Essay Contest Award. Read More
The Director-General, National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Brigadier General Shuaibu Ibrahim has directed all NYSC state and FCT coordinators to ensure strict compliance with COVID-19 prevention and safety protocols in all camps of the scheme nationwide. The DG gave this directive while interacting with management of the Scheme and officials of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) during a Read More
PEN America has announced its 2021 longlist for its annual literary awards, and it features seven African writers in three categories. The categories include: the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award, the PEN Open Book Award, and the PEN Translation Prize. Akwaeke Emezi’s most recent novel, “The Death of Vivek Oji”, has been longlisted for PEN/Jean Stein Book Award, which goes with Read More
Dr Yusuf Abubakar Mamud is the author of In God’s Name with Fight and Turning Forty. He works on studies related to Countering Violent Extremism (CVE), De-radicalization and Counterterrorism, as well as critical thinking studies as the solution to the huge ignorance that continually beclouds reason and civil conversation in Nigeria. Running Against Time, a time to rethink is serialized Read More
When I received the invitation to review the 2-Volume book, Two Decades Of Forensic Advocacy At The Inner Bar, A Festschrift In Honour Of Yusuf Ali, SAN,” published by Bookcraft (2020) and edited by Prof. Wahab Egbewole et al, I instinctively and enthusiastically responded ‘yes.’ I saw the opportunity to write about the very considerable professional accomplishments of this remarkable Read More
Recently, when a University in Benin Republic CEGT decided to honour Kano famous Hausa singer, Aminu Ladan Abubakar alias Alan Waka, he confided privately in some of his close friends including his immediate family that the recent successes he is recording in life is beginning to frighten him because it is either his end is near or the sky is Read More
Bloomsbury and Pantheon will be publishing Prof Wole Soyinka’s newest novel, “Chronicles of the Happiest People on Earth.” Bloomsbury acquired United Kingdom and Commonwealth rights (excluding Canada and Africa, but including South Africa) as well as audio rights from Melanie Jackson Agency. The novel will be published and released simultaneously in the United States by Pantheon Books in September 2021. Read More
Copyright © 2021 | WordPress Theme by MH Themes