Having served the Association of Nigeria Authors (ANA) in various capacities at state and national levels, the current Vice President of the association, Denja Abdullahi, who is vying for the ANA presidency, in this interview with IBRAHIM RAMALAN, believes that it is only freely given, sincere, committed and outpouring individual like himself would take the hard-nosed decisions that will wean the association from dependence on government patronage with regards to funding our Conventions and other programmes.
Congratulations on your recent promotion as a Director in your place of work. Considering that higher position comes with higher responsibility, how much effect can this have on your writing and position as Vice President of ANA?
The effect will be usual and normal because all along in my career as a public servant I have balanced my day job with my operations in the Association of Nigerian Authors. It is easy to combine both effectively without anyone suffering because primarily what I do in public service is basically arts and cultural administration and one of the arts we do administer in my place of work is literature. To me arts administration is not a hobby or a side-kick, it is a career.
I have worked hard to merit the promotion to the pinnacle of my public service career and I have equally done my modest best to be where I am in ANA today.
The 2014 ANA Convention was rescheduled twice before it was eventually held in Ibadan. What exactly was the problem and how was it resolved?
The problem of the 2014 Convention had to do with the perennial problem of ANA in being over-dependent on state governments for the financing of its annual conventions.
Rivers and Kaduna states chapters of ANA were considered for the hosting and both States could not come up in good time with assurance of the capability to host. At a point, we decided to give it to Rivers state and it was a cat and mouse game in getting their state government to endorse the hosting for sponsorship.
The government gave some initial endorsement but the arrow head was caught up irretrievably in a political struggle we are all aware of. That was how that went away. We then decided to look inward to do the Convention within our modest means as an Association in Ibadan.
In the build up to that, we at the late hour got some support from the Presidency and we had a very successful Convention. Right now, we are already looking to the future of ANA Conventions where we would wean ourselves from going cap in hand to states governments and where members would start enjoying fewer subsidies. If we crave for financial independence and less stress for everyone, that will be the way to go.
It is an election year at ANA and as the incumbent Vice President, Are you one of the likely candidates for the ANA Presidency?
Naturally, I should be interested in becoming ANA President at the next election going by my long years of service to the Association.
I established a chapter of the Association in early 90s in Kebbi state when I was lecturing at the Waziri Umaru Federal Polytechnic, Birnin-Kebbi. I moved to a public service career in 1998 and revolutionized the operations of the Association in the FCT where I have become one of the pillars of the Association.
In 2001, I was elected into the National Executive Council of ANA as an ex-officio member; in 2003 I was elected as Assistant General Secretary; in 2005 I was elected as the substantive General Secretary and returned unopposed for the same position in 2007; between 2009 to 2011 after the expiration of my very eventful tenure as General Secretary under the Dr Wale Okediran Presidency, I reverted to the position of an ex-officio member by constitutional provision; and in 2011, I was invited to contest for the position of Vice President, which I won.
So you could see that it is only natural I aspire to be the next President. I have served the Association in so many capacities; I have been the longest serving member of the Association in the National Executive Council; I have rendered innumerable services to the Association and I have been faithful to the ideals and causes of the Association and it is only natural and a matter of duty for me to offer myself to serve again at the highest level.
Having come through the ladder, from Ex-Officio to Asst Secretary to Secretary General then VP in the last four years should qualify you as the longest serving ANA Executive. Should you emerge the next ANA President, what should be the expectation of the literary community? What would you be doing differently?
The literary community should expect an all-inclusive administration where every member will be given the chance to contribute his or her talents and expertise to the development of the Association. ANA is a voluntary organization with no war chest funds lying out there for it to use or pay staff to mind its affairs daily. In that kind of set up and from my experience, it is only freely given, sincere and committed outpouring of self that gives vibrancy to the Association’s activities.
I will also take the hard-nosed decisions that will wean the association from dependence on government patronage with regards to funding our Conventions and other programmes.
Rather, I will stake ANA’s claims to legitimate support from the government at all levels. I will advance this by intensifying along with other like creative associations the advocacy for the establishment of the national endowment funds for the arts, so that the creative sector can access funds for viable programmes and projects.
I will also internationalize the operations of the Association by collaborating with other writers’ unions across Africa and the world. I am already talking to the Pan African Writers’ Association (PAWA) with headquarter in Accra, Ghana on how to galvanize Africa through the literary and cultural fronts as it was in the 60s but in line with the contemporary world.
ANA under my watch, will return to its fundamental objectives of being a writers’ craft union that will be committed without fail to the advancement of the interests of its members within the overall pursuit of building and maintaining an egalitarian society.
Of course, the developmental objectives of the association such as hosting of workshops, seminars, conferences and celebratory activities will not be relegated to the background. Lastly, I have plans to repackage the annual convention to make it more of a writers’ affair where books, authors and creativity will be fully celebrated. We will pull out some activities within that annual convention to stand on their own as full-fledged events.
How does your Presidency intend to solve the problem of funding which has been a major headache of the association in recent time? What are your plans for the association?
I have mentioned some of the ways in which we can overcome the perennial problem of funding in my earlier response.
Ensuring that we overcome the problem of funding will start by members paying their dues and even extending that by making voluntary contributions. We shall create platforms for the facilitation of that so that we do not have to wait for the year end at Conventions for members to pay their dues. You must pay your dues to the Association whether you attend the yearly Conventions or not or you cease to be a member.
I told you of some hard decisions that must be made to attain financial solvency. Members may have to reasonably pay their way to the annual conventions and through them though a subsidy regimen will still be in place. ANA will also approach individuals, corporate bodies, local and foreign grant giving agencies and foundations for institutional supports that will free us from the problem of funding our projects and programmmes.
I told you earlier of staking our claim for institutional support from the government at all levels; as somebody who has a lot of experience working in government, I know where this pool of support lies and how to access them. I also know that ANA has done more than enough all these years for the society in the area of arts, literature and culture to be in good stead to ask for such support.
I will also ensure a business model is introduced to the running of the Association’s financial and economic affairs and that will be premised on the Mamman Jiya Vatsa Writers’ Resort we are working on in Abuja.
I will ensure that Resort is eventually built with all the income generating facilities that are being thought-out, placed on it and subsequently run like business so that the Association will at least become financial solvent to run 50% of its operation without looking outward.
You are a public servant and a cultural activist, are we likely to see a change in ANA’s attitude towards national issues in the last four years. ANA is supposed to be a pressure group but not much has been seen in this direction of the Association.
Yes, there will be a change. ANA is a craft union and it is given as writers that we will always be on the side of the people. ANA will always be pro-people as it has been no matter the period. ANA can also engage in advocacy in line with its founding objectives.
We will put pressure on governments and institutions where our interests and that of the generality of Nigerian people are threatened or violated. We will also not wait for that to happen as we will be working not to even get to that stage.
My conception of the writing business is not that of a recluse standing aloof from the society, looking on with disdain on happenings and maintaining a hypocritical sanctimonious self. No, we will be involved in subtle and direct ways in shaping a working society as envisioned by us and others.
With the rise of various literary prizes like the NLNG and Etisalat Prizes among others, don’t you think there is need to review ANA prizes in terms of its monetary value and general appeal?
The review of ANA prizes has started with this administration.
I was at the head of a panel set up to review the prizes and our recommendations led to the abrogation of Prizes that have long been abandoned by the endowers with ANA just maintaining the prizes for the sake of it.
I am referring to the erstwhile NDDC Prizes and others. We have a manageable prize regimen that we administer now, so what we need to do in the near future is to further audit them and repackage them in line with contemporary expectations. New prizes will also be introduced that will be meaningful, developmental and sustainable.
What do you make of the current political climate in the country? What is the role of the writer/ANA?
We are in perilous times with agents of darkness working round the clock to subvert the progress of this country. What is good for all of us, whatever are our political associations, religious inclinations and ethnic derivations is to allow the people to exercise their sovereign rights to elect their leaders as provided for in our constitution and laws.
We should all support INEC to deliver a credible 2015 elections and whatever is the true outcome of that process, we should be ready to live by it. The writers’ role is to work towards ensuring that this happens and we should not join hands with those canvassing for this not to happen.
