Sule, Obi-Obasi, Abdullahi Herald ANA’s A-Book-A-Child project

Sule, Obi-Obasi, Abdullahi Herald ANA’s A-Book-A-Child project

 

By Florence Utor 

Nigerian Writers Series 2 books, dedicated to children’s literature, are out. It is a culmination of over a year’s process of competitive call, sifting through manuscripts and arriving at a group of three adjudged publishable by the series editors.

For this outing, a special appreciation goes to Yusuf Ali, whose 2017 grant to ANA financed the publication, the series editors, Prof. Uwemedimo Iweketok, Ikeogu Oke and Omowunmi Segun and Osorobu Igudia, Managing Editor, NWS Publishers, an imprint of ANA. With these books, ANA’s A-Book-A- Child nationwide project is set to run.

The association has also congratulated the three writers, Salamatu Sule (Oma the Drummer Queen), Chinyere Obi-Obasi (The Loyal Queen) and Kabiru Abdullahi (The Golden Girl of Galma), for creative efforts that saw them being found worthy of selection.

President, ANA, Denja Abdullahi, explained the concept behind ANA’s A-Book -A-Child nationwide project as “being designed to get an ennobling general interest book of cultural relevance into the hands of every school-going Nigerian child from the ages of 5 – 12. Since last year, ANA organised a manuscript submission competition for possible children-centred books that would be published to power the project. 13 manuscripts were received, which were passed to the series editors, who are experts in children’s literature. Three manuscripts were adjudged publishable, which we have published under the Nigerian Writers Series (NWS) of ANA through ANA’s publishing outfit, NWS Publishers.

“The three books are The Golden Girl of Galma by Kabiru Abdullahi, Oma the Drummer Queen by Salamatu Sule and The Loyal Queen by Chinyere Obi Obasi. Incidentally, all the three well-illustrated books dwell on the matter of girl-child empowerment and female-oriented issues. The books were published with the fund received from Yusuf Ali as part of his annual grant to the association. We are presently distributing the books to bookshop outlets nationwide but our major design is to distribute nationwide through our chapters.” 

Mr. Abdullahi also said the association has found a worthy partnership with the First Lady of Imo State, Mrs. Nneoma Nkechi Rochas Okorocha, on how to distribute the three books through her foundation.

According to him, “We are presently talking to the First Lady of Imo State Mrs. Okorocha, who has indicated interest in partnering with us on the project through her WODI Foundation for the massive distribution of the books to schools across the country. We are also going to seek out the cooperation of corporate bodies and well-meaning individuals to get at least a copy of the book into the hands of the given targeted school-going children.

“Also, government agencies regulating and facilitating the introduction of good books into the school curricula are also our targets. We are doing this because we feel as writers, we have a great role to play in making our children get access to well-written books that will inspire them to be good citizens of this country.”

IN the same vein, the Association of Nigerian Authors International Convention 2017 will hold in Makurdi, Benue State capital from Thursday, October 26 through Sunday, 29, 2017. It has as theme ‘Canons, Prizes and Boundaries: African Writers and Writings in World Literature.’ The keynote speaker will be Professor Saleh Abdu Kwami, who is currently Dean, School of Postgraduate Studies, Gombe State University, Tudun Wada, where he is serving his Sabbatical Leave.

Kwami was born in 1957 in Kwami, a Bolewa town located to the North-West of Gombe, in North-east Nigeria. He is the founding Dean, Faculty of Humanities, Management & Social Science, Federal University, Kashere, Gombe State. Before joining the latter institution in 2012, Kwami was Head, Department of English and Literary Studies, Bayero University, Kano. 

https://guardian.ng/art/sule-obi-obasi-abdullahi-herald-anas-a-book-a-child-project/

A hard look at NWS children’s literature

A hard look at NWS children’s literature

By Nathaniel Bivan | Publish Date: Sep 2 2017 2:00AM

https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/a-hard-look-at-nws-children-s-literature.html

Recently, the Nigerian Writers Series (NWS), an imprint of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) released three books in its Children’s Literature series. These include ‘The Loyal Queen’ by Chinyere Obi-Obasi, ‘Oma the Drummer Queen’ by Salamatu Sule, and ‘The Golden Girl of Galma’ by Kabir Abdullahi. Bookshelf takes a look.

The Golden Girl of Galma

This book, written by Kabiru Abdullahi has an attractive cover illustration, thanks to the handwork of two artists, Mustapha Bulama and Akila Jibril. But perhaps the artwork should have been allowed to spread to the back, just as it is in page twenty-two and twenty-three on the inside. 

Anyway, ‘The Golden Girl of Galma’ begins with suspense, certainly a necessary ingredient in any story. Where did Atine, the kidnapped girl come from and why was she kidnapped? Where did her kidnapper come from and why did he kidnap her? Apparently, Atine was married off to an illiterate herdsman by her captors, a choice she would never have made. But where is this story headed?  There’s a flashback, and a reader is taken to a time when Atine, who is a princess, rejected all the men paraded before her by her father, the king. She had chosen none of them and treated them with disrespect because, among other things, they couldn’t read or write. 

There are a number of things totally wrong about this story. One of them is the fact that Atine’s kidnappers and husband come out victorious at the end of the story (even if he, the so-called husband, did apologise). This is not a good lesson for children, especially at a time when kidnapping is a great challenge in Nigeria and Boko Haram terrorists kidnapped the Chibok Girls. An experience that doesn’t necessarily involve a crime may have served better to teach Atine a lesson on pride or why she shouldn’t look down on others.

Also, in this technology age, children are actually smarter than this writer may imagine. Atine’s behaviour while in captivity is very unrealistic. Why didn’t she attempt to run away, even once? Why did she simply accept her predicament as though it’s a trivial matter to be forced to marry and sleep with a stranger under the same roof? 

Again, there’s the issue of faulty use of language in the work. Perhaps better editing could have easily solved this. For example, the first paragraph in page 19 reads: They too, sometimes, looked admiringly at her. She had her mother’s ‘good look’ (instead of good look(s)) except that her mother’s face had wrinkles due to age.

From page 34: For two hours, Atine and the man lived together in ‘a difficult circumstance.’

Fair attempt and good luck to Abdullahi, but this book sure needs a lot of work.

Oma the Drummer Queen

Salamatu Sule is a book reviewer and literary agent. Her story, ‘Oma the Drummer Queen’ narrates how Oma, a girl takes over from her father the masculine role of drummer in the kingdom of Ebedi Iseyin and becomes a star. 

The cover art of this book, handwork of Akila Jibril, is commendable. A story like ‘Oma the Drummer Queen’, which shows how a girl achieves her dream in a male-dominated environment is timely. Unfortunately, Oma’s father remains the central character for most part of the story and Oma appears more as a secondary character after his death. Children would identify more with Oma if she had appeared in the story from the beginning.

A few omissions and confusion of tenses reduced the strength of this work, especially because it’s a work targeted at children. For example, in page 33, drummer was spelt ‘drumer’. 

From page 34 to 35 the use or mixture of tenses are confusing: One night, Asake and her daughter sat outside over a meal of Amala and Ewedu when they heard the cries of the king’s town crier. ‘Gwom! Gwom! Gwom! He beats his gong in announcement. He beats it three times. 

Still, children would be inspired by this tale which is a good effort.

The Loyal Queen

This book has an unattractive cover art. Although the story is an attempt to show, through the character of Ochugbo, the king’s barren first wife, that one could rise above her situation, a major error ruined the tale. 

The king, in search of an heir, gets married to several wives, based on the story. However, from page 9 to 12 there’s repetition. Ifeoma is said to be the king’s second wife. She’s also described as a gossip. The seventh paragraph on page 9 reads:

Eventually everyone came to know she was a gossip and stopped telling her things. But being a very clever lady, she had a way of asking her questions and getting the answers she wanted. She would start by showing so much sympathy and love and before you knew it, you have revealed your secrets to her. 

Again from the last paragraph of page 11, Okwuchi is said to be the king’s fourth wife and is described almost exactly the way Ifeoma was:

Everybody understood she was a gossip, as she freely shared whatever information she had. She would always make you believe that you were the only one she was telling so she would say, ‘please keep it to yourself. You are the only one I am telling this.’ Eventually everyone came to know she was a gossip and stopped telling her things. But being a very clever lady, she had a way of asking her questions and getting the answers she wanted. She would start by showing so much sympathy and love and before you knew it, you have revealed your secrets to her.

These significant errors and the poor illustrations in this book would make it hard for children to follow and enjoy it. This is sad, but a second edition could save the day because the author clearly has a lesson to pass across. Ochugo is the example of a strong woman who is secure in a situation where many in her shoes wouldn’t be.

https://www.dailytrust.com.ng/a-hard-look-at-nws-children-s-literature.html

ANA releases Nigerian Writers Series (2)

ANA releases Nigerian Writers Series (2)

After close to  a year of painstaking activities, the Association of Nigerian Authors [ANA] is pleased to release the list of successful manuscripts and authors for the second phase of its Nigerian Writers Series [NWS] programme, drawn from submissions received from across Nigeria.

It would be recalled that the call for submission for the second phase of the Series which was earmarked for the children’s literature genre was announced on the 25th of May,2016 with a deadline set for 15th July,2016. The deadline was later extended to 5th August,2016 .

The Association announced three Series Editors—Prof. Uwemedimo Enobong Iwoketok, Omowunmi Segun  and  Ikeogu Oke— after  its National Executive Council meeting in February,2017. A total of thirteen (13) submissions were received after the expiration of the final deadline.

Following an exhaustive assessment of each manuscript received, it is the independent opinion of the Series Editors that the following manuscripts merit consideration for publication in the second phase of Nigerian Writers Series.

LIST

1. The Golden Girl of Luba by Kabir Abdullahi
2. The Loyal Queen by Chinyere Obi-Obasi
3. Oma, the Drummer Queen by Salamatu Sule

PUBLICATION SCHEDULE

01/03/2017 – 30/03/2017 – Short listing of manuscripts for the project

01/04/1017 – 15/04/2017 – Contact of authors of shortlisted manuscripts for information and         other necessary requirements for the publications.

16/04/2017 – 15/05/2017 – Editing, page-planning, graphic designing, proofreading, etc.

16/05/2017 – 30/05/2017 – printing of the books

07/06/2017 – Delivery of stock.

The  National Executive Council of ANA  has indicated its commitment towards ensuring a qualitative outcome with this second phase of the  Nigerian Writers Series project which will be published by ANA’s publishing subsidiary, NWS publishers. The final products will be used to power the Association’s proposed nationwide A-Book-A- Child project.

http://thenationonlineng.net/ana-releases-nigerian-writers-series-2/

ANA Releases Nigerian Writers Series 2 Books

ANA Releases Nigerian Writers Series 2 Books

August 22, 2017

Nigerian Writers Series 2 books dedicated to children's literature are out. This is a culmination of over a year process of competitive call, sifting through manuscripts and arriving at a group of three adjudged publishable by the series editors. For this outing, many thanks to Yusuf Ali( SAN), whose 2017 grant to ANA was used to finance the publications; the series editors( Prof Uwemedimo Iweketok,Ikeogu Oke and Omowunmi Segun); and Osorobu Igudia , the Managing Editor, NWS Publishers, an imprint of ANA. With these books, ANA's A- Book-A- Child nationwide project is set to run. Congrats to the authors, Salamatu Sule,Chinyere Obi-Obasi and Kabiru Abdullahi.

Denja ABdullahi
President, ANA

https://www.ana-nigeria.com/news/ana-releases-nigerian-writers-series-2-books