Denja Abdullahi: I have no need to lead ANA if I can’t improve it

Denja Abdullahi: I have no need to lead ANA if I can’t improve it

 Denja Abdullahi is a Director at the National Council for Arts and Culture as well as the Vice President of ANA. IN this interview, the poet spoke about his ambition for ANA as he guns for the presidency.

You are contesting for the presidency of ANA, after being the vice president for the last two terms. What do you think you will bring that is different from what this administration has had to offer?
The Hausas and the Yorubas do have an identical saying which can be roughly translated as “ten kings, ten different milieu.”  There is a clear difference between being a vice president and a president. I have my set agenda or manifesto, which is already a public document; and when you go through it you will see the difference I intend to make if elected ; of course with the support of  my fellow executives and cooperation of the entire membership of the Association. Let me mention just a few. ANA, under my watch, will lead an active advocacy, with other associations in the creative industry, for the establishment of the national endowment funds for the arts. I intend to unbundle and re-package the annual convention of the association by pulling out some events to stand on their own outside the convention and make the convention more of a literary fiesta, which it should be. I am going to set up a think tank that will come up with an 8 year strategic plan (2016-2013) for the Association that will cover all its operations, programmes and projects. I intend to also galvanise strategic support locally and internationally for the Association as well as redefine the operations of the Association so as to overcome the funding and capacity gap that have been hampering our full flight as a body that has done a whole lot, though largely unsung, for Nigerian literature and culture. My ability to bring about the difference you seek rests on the solid fact that I have played an active role in the achievements already recorded, which I  intend to even surpass, or else there will be no need to attempt to mount the leadership saddle.

Having served in various capacities in the association, have you ever considered stepping aside for new names to take over the affairs of the association?
I have not been serving alone. I have been serving along with others and we have all played our various roles at various times for the overall progress of the Association. I have also not violated the constitutional provisions governing the tenure of the various offices in which I have served. And most importantly, elections were held to fill up those offices and each time I presented myself, I was always elected and at times returned unopposed. In 2001, ANA Abuja, led by Mallam Haruna Penni, presented me to go into the National Executive Council and I was elected as an Ex-officio member at the Port Harcourt Convention. In 2003, I was nudged to step up to the position of the Assistant General Secretary, when the incumbent did not make the Convention in Makurdi, and I contested and was elected. In 2005, I actually was not thinking of contesting but the leading presidential aspirant then, Dr Wale Okediran, who we were all rooting for, who himself had been a General Secretary under the Abubakar Gimba led executive (1997-2001), made it a condition that I must run for the office of the General Secretary, if he were to accept to vie for President. The group behind our aspirations endorsed me and luckily we both contested and won our positions at the Kano Convention. In 2007, at the Owerri Convention,I was re-elected unopposed to the same position. In 2009,at the Minna Convention, I reverted to the position of an ex-officio, by constitutional provision ,after completing my two term tenure as General Secretary. In 2011, I barely made it to the Abuja convention as I was away on pilgrimage, but I was prevailed upon to come on board as VP.I again contested and won. I have gone to this length to give you this narrative to let you know my trajectory in the Association’s executive and to show you I had always been willing to allow others come on board but I kept being called upon to serve. It is all about service and winning the confidence of the members on your ability and capability to deliver on the job you take on yourself.

Considering the huge potential of ANA in terms of its enormous man power, would you say that the association has failed to live up to its expectations?
It will be clearly against the run of the achievements of the association in the about 34 years of its existence to come to that conclusion. Given its organizational dynamics as a purely voluntary association with no binding right of corralling all practising creative authors into its membership or the enjoyment of a regular in-flow of funds as check-off dues like a typical union and the fact that its affairs are run on a part-time, absolutely volunteering basis; the association should indeed be commended for having achieved so much. The Association has, in my assessment, lived up to the expectations behind its establishment by the late Chinua Achebe and others and has been operating in line with its founding ideals. It has sustained interest in Nigeria literature, it has fought at various times for the interests of Nigerian writers, it has established schemes and ventures to promote and project Nigerian writings and writers and has most importantly added its voice regularly to the building of an egalitarian Nigerian society.
Even in the face of all these, there is still room for improvement and fine tuning of its operation in line with new trends, necessitating regular renewal of leadership and vision.

You are running against your longtime friend, BM Dzukogi. Is it possible that one of you could step down for the other?
Yes, it is possible but this possibility must be predicated on experience, length of service, ranking and widespread acceptability among members of the association. Ironically, I and BM Dzukogi in the recent history of the association have been jointly the chief advocates of consensus building at periods of leadership renewal. In the past, we have helped resolved, through active consultation and consensus building, what would have amounted to perilous contests for leadership at both the national and states’ levels. If we had successfully done that many times over in the past with the use of the tools of fairness, justice, precedence and objective assessment, then why should we have this situation between us? Definitely, something somewhere is not adding up. However, there is still room for mending fences as people do say.
This administration, of which you are part, came onboard on the premise of developing ANA’s most precious possession, the land at Mpape, Abuja. What is the situation of that development now and how do you think, should you be voted into power, pursue it further?
 ANA is gradually waking up from its slumber on the Abuja land matter. We have won the court case on the land since 2012 and paid the necessary damages due to a developer whose intent was to hold us hostage to his lack of capacity. We have a new agency on the land that has helped us fight off vicious trespassers, encroachers and land grabbers. Preliminary or take off infrastructures are currently being laid on the land on a very challenging topography. Under my watch, I will ensure there will be no deviation from the original plan for the land to be a writers’ resort with layers of facilities that will house important edifices and generate income for the Association. I will also ensure a business model is adopted for the development of the land and the running of its facilities so that the Association will derive from there at least 50% of its running cost while the remaining 50% is sourced from membership dues and sponsors for necessary programmes and projects.

One of your cardinal campaign catchphrases is “quality leadership”. How do you intend to deliver this to ANA?
Quality leadership in ANA and even everywhere else entails having the right experience, competence and capability to lead people. It must also be imbued with the right mix of the abrogation of self for communal objectives while being mindful of the legacies you want to leave behind. I intend to deliver this quality leadership by remaining faithful and committed to the ideals, causes and objectives of the association as I have always done. This quality leadership in an association like ANA must go with one having the right temperament and the security to inspire and challenge others to come forward to contribute their talents, expertise, time and resources in the service of the association. A leader in ANA and elsewhere must always be ready and willing to give everyone his or her due without feeling diminished or eclipsed.

What informed the choice of Camilus Uka as your running mate? What does he bring to the team?
I have not announced officially any running mate but people seem to have chosen one for me already. Remember in ANA, no one runs on the ticket of another, you must face the congress and be elected on your own merit. Nevertheless, I have full confidence in Camilus Ukah becoming a good vice president to me as president if we are so elected. Camilus Ukah is a highly experienced member of the Association like me, though he has never been in the national executive. He has been a one-time chairman of the Imo State chapter and I have had the opportunity to experience firsthand his selflessness, doggedness, determination and capacity for hard work in the affairs of the association when Imo State successfully hosted ANA national convention in 2007 during his tenure as chairman while I was General Secretary. Camilus is a team builder, a bridge builder, a literary entrepreneur who has over 10 quality novels to his credit. He has helped nurture many writers, literary associations and ANA chapters in the South-South and South-East of Nigeria.  In Camilus Ukah, I will have an effective vice president, not a ceremonial spare- tyre kind of vice president to put it in the Nigerian popular political parlance. As VP myself, I have not been a spare tyre and I like I said In my manifesto: “in a voluntary organization where every expertise and sacrifices are needed to pursue and sustain avowed objectives; there can be no spare tyre, as all tyres are needed to keep the vehicle running.”
How do you think ANA can reposition itself to serve the need of its members and what makes you think you are the man to deliver?
ANA must move with the times and keep re-inventing itself for optimum performance while not sacrificing the fundamental ideals of its existence. ANA also needs to restructure to introduce some permanent structure into its administrative capacity. I can deliver because with me you cannot be re-inventing the wheel as I have been there long enough to know what works and what has never worked. I am also amenable to innovation and willing to encourage contributions and support initiatives without prejudice and as long as you will roll up your sleeve to work towards achieving set goals. At present, I have quite a span of institutional memory on the workings, activities and affairs of the association that cannot be wished away in taking the right steps at all time.

Denja Abdullahi: I have no need to lead ANA if I can’t improve it

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Category: The Arts

Published on Sunday, 21 June 2015 05:01

Written by Abubakar Adam Ibrahim

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Denja Abdullahi is a Director at the National Council for Arts and Culture as well as the Vice President of ANA. IN this interview, the poet spoke about his ambition for ANA as he guns for the presidency.

You are contesting for the presidency of ANA, after being the vice president for the last two terms. What do you think you will bring that is different from what this administration has had to offer?
The Hausas and the Yorubas do have an identical saying which can be roughly translated as “ten kings, ten different milieu.”  There is a clear difference between being a vice president and a president. I have my set agenda or manifesto, which is already a public document; and when you go through it you will see the difference I intend to make if elected ; of course with the support of  my fellow executives and cooperation of the entire membership of the Association. Let me mention just a few. ANA, under my watch, will lead an active advocacy, with other associations in the creative industry, for the establishment of the national endowment funds for the arts. I intend to unbundle and re-package the annual convention of the association by pulling out some events to stand on their own outside the convention and make the convention more of a literary fiesta, which it should be. I am going to set up a think tank that will come up with an 8 year strategic plan (2016-2013) for the Association that will cover all its operations, programmes and projects. I intend to also galvanise strategic support locally and internationally for the Association as well as redefine the operations of the Association so as to overcome the funding and capacity gap that have been hampering our full flight as a body that has done a whole lot, though largely unsung, for Nigerian literature and culture. My ability to bring about the difference you seek rests on the solid fact that I have played an active role in the achievements already recorded, which I  intend to even surpass, or else there will be no need to attempt to mount the leadership saddle.

Having served in various capacities in the association, have you ever considered stepping aside for new names to take over the affairs of the association?
I have not been serving alone. I have been serving along with others and we have all played our various roles at various times for the overall progress of the Association. I have also not violated the constitutional provisions governing the tenure of the various offices in which I have served. And most importantly, elections were held to fill up those offices and each time I presented myself, I was always elected and at times returned unopposed. In 2001, ANA Abuja, led by Mallam Haruna Penni, presented me to go into the National Executive Council and I was elected as an Ex-officio member at the Port Harcourt Convention. In 2003, I was nudged to step up to the position of the Assistant General Secretary, when the incumbent did not make the Convention in Makurdi, and I contested and was elected. In 2005, I actually was not thinking of contesting but the leading presidential aspirant then, Dr Wale Okediran, who we were all rooting for, who himself had been a General Secretary under the Abubakar Gimba led executive (1997-2001), made it a condition that I must run for the office of the General Secretary, if he were to accept to vie for President. The group behind our aspirations endorsed me and luckily we both contested and won our positions at the Kano Convention. In 2007, at the Owerri Convention,I was re-elected unopposed to the same position. In 2009,at the Minna Convention, I reverted to the position of an ex-officio, by constitutional provision ,after completing my two term tenure as General Secretary. In 2011, I barely made it to the Abuja convention as I was away on pilgrimage, but I was prevailed upon to come on board as VP.I again contested and won. I have gone to this length to give you this narrative to let you know my trajectory in the Association’s executive and to show you I had always been willing to allow others come on board but I kept being called upon to serve. It is all about service and winning the confidence of the members on your ability and capability to deliver on the job you take on yourself.

Considering the huge potential of ANA in terms of its enormous man power, would you say that the association has failed to live up to its expectations?
It will be clearly against the run of the achievements of the association in the about 34 years of its existence to come to that conclusion. Given its organizational dynamics as a purely voluntary association with no binding right of corralling all practising creative authors into its membership or the enjoyment of a regular in-flow of funds as check-off dues like a typical union and the fact that its affairs are run on a part-time, absolutely volunteering basis; the association should indeed be commended for having achieved so much. The Association has, in my assessment, lived up to the expectations behind its establishment by the late Chinua Achebe and others and has been operating in line with its founding ideals. It has sustained interest in Nigeria literature, it has fought at various times for the interests of Nigerian writers, it has established schemes and ventures to promote and project Nigerian writings and writers and has most importantly added its voice regularly to the building of an egalitarian Nigerian society.
Even in the face of all these, there is still room for improvement and fine tuning of its operation in line with new trends, necessitating regular renewal of leadership and vision.

You are running against your longtime friend, BM Dzukogi. Is it possible that one of you could step down for the other?
Yes, it is possible but this possibility must be predicated on experience, length of service, ranking and widespread acceptability among members of the association. Ironically, I and BM Dzukogi in the recent history of the association have been jointly the chief advocates of consensus building at periods of leadership renewal. In the past, we have helped resolved, through active consultation and consensus building, what would have amounted to perilous contests for leadership at both the national and states’ levels. If we had successfully done that many times over in the past with the use of the tools of fairness, justice, precedence and objective assessment, then why should we have this situation between us? Definitely, something somewhere is not adding up. However, there is still room for mending fences as people do say.
This administration, of which you are part, came onboard on the premise of developing ANA’s most precious possession, the land at Mpape, Abuja. What is the situation of that development now and how do you think, should you be voted into power, pursue it further?
 ANA is gradually waking up from its slumber on the Abuja land matter. We have won the court case on the land since 2012 and paid the necessary damages due to a developer whose intent was to hold us hostage to his lack of capacity. We have a new agency on the land that has helped us fight off vicious trespassers, encroachers and land grabbers. Preliminary or take off infrastructures are currently being laid on the land on a very challenging topography. Under my watch, I will ensure there will be no deviation from the original plan for the land to be a writers’ resort with layers of facilities that will house important edifices and generate income for the Association. I will also ensure a business model is adopted for the development of the land and the running of its facilities so that the Association will derive from there at least 50% of its running cost while the remaining 50% is sourced from membership dues and sponsors for necessary programmes and projects.

One of your cardinal campaign catchphrases is “quality leadership”. How do you intend to deliver this to ANA?
Quality leadership in ANA and even everywhere else entails having the right experience, competence and capability to lead people. It must also be imbued with the right mix of the abrogation of self for communal objectives while being mindful of the legacies you want to leave behind. I intend to deliver this quality leadership by remaining faithful and committed to the ideals, causes and objectives of the association as I have always done. This quality leadership in an association like ANA must go with one having the right temperament and the security to inspire and challenge others to come forward to contribute their talents, expertise, time and resources in the service of the association. A leader in ANA and elsewhere must always be ready and willing to give everyone his or her due without feeling diminished or eclipsed.

What informed the choice of Camilus Uka as your running mate? What does he bring to the team?
I have not announced officially any running mate but people seem to have chosen one for me already. Remember in ANA, no one runs on the ticket of another, you must face the congress and be elected on your own merit. Nevertheless, I have full confidence in Camilus Ukah becoming a good vice president to me as president if we are so elected. Camilus Ukah is a highly experienced member of the Association like me, though he has never been in the national executive. He has been a one-time chairman of the Imo State chapter and I have had the opportunity to experience firsthand his selflessness, doggedness, determination and capacity for hard work in the affairs of the association when Imo State successfully hosted ANA national convention in 2007 during his tenure as chairman while I was General Secretary. Camilus is a team builder, a bridge builder, a literary entrepreneur who has over 10 quality novels to his credit. He has helped nurture many writers, literary associations and ANA chapters in the South-South and South-East of Nigeria.  In Camilus Ukah, I will have an effective vice president, not a ceremonial spare- tyre kind of vice president to put it in the Nigerian popular political parlance. As VP myself, I have not been a spare tyre and I like I said In my manifesto: “in a voluntary organization where every expertise and sacrifices are needed to pursue and sustain avowed objectives; there can be no spare tyre, as all tyres are needed to keep the vehicle running.”
How do you think ANA can reposition itself to serve the need of its members and what makes you think you are the man to deliver?
ANA must move with the times and keep re-inventing itself for optimum performance while not sacrificing the fundamental ideals of its existence. ANA also needs to restructure to introduce some permanent structure into its administrative capacity. I can deliver because with me you cannot be re-inventing the wheel as I have been there long enough to know what works and what has never worked. I am also amenable to innovation and willing to encourage contributions and support initiatives without prejudice and as long as you will roll up your sleeve to work towards achieving set goals. At present, I have quite a span of institutional memory on the workings, activities and affairs of the association that cannot be wished away in taking the right steps at all time.

Why I want to be ANA president —Denja Abdullahi

Why I want to be ANA president —Denja Abdullahi

Denja Abdullahi, the current vice president of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), is contesting for the association’s presidency. In this interview with ADEWALE OSHODI  he speaks on why he wants to lead the writers’ body, and what he intends to achieve if elected. EXCERPTS:

•Denja Abdullahi

YOU are currently in contention to become the president of ANA; what do you hope to achieve if elected?

I intend to galvanise the talents, expertise and different pockets of competence the association is blessed with in its membership to reposition it. In my long period of service to the association, I have discovered that you can only achieve anything significant, in the midst of the perennial paucity of funds, by leveraging on and harnessing the potentials in members and other lovers of literature for identified aims and objectives. I will also create working synergy between ANA and other associations and bodies in the creative sector to fight for common goals that will improve the lot of the sector such as ensuring the establishment of the national endowment funds for the arts and the like. I will internationalise the operations of the Associations and stake its claim in the scheme of governance in Nigeria. I am also going to develop an eight-year strategic plan and blueprint for the operations of the association from the year 2016 and well into the future.  My manifesto is long on what I will do to reposition ANA if elected, but these are just a few of them and they are all translatable into pockets of programmes, projects and activities.

As vice president of the association, what are those things you have done which could serve as an advantage for you in your quest to lead the association?

As   Vice President, I have loyally and faithfully served the cause of the association in very many areas. I was the head of the team that audited the ANA Prizes and recommended on the streamlining executed. I was ANA pointsman on the National Transition Committee that ensured that a befitting burial was given   to the late founder of the association, Prof Chinua Achebe, in 2013. I also played a major role as a member of the committee that celebrated Arrow of God@50 across eight cities in Nigeria in 2014. I was the co-coordinator of the Nigerian Writers Series (NWS) of ANA , where I oversaw the publications of ten fictional titles under that imprint. I also followed to the end ANA’s winning of its land case at an Abuja High Court in February 2012, having been the sole and principal witness in the case for ANA between it and Home Securities Ltd, which ran from 2008-2012. I also at various points stood effectively for the president of ANA at important occasions and supported him adequately to administer the association. Before my being elected VP, a position I have held for close to 4 years, I have been an ex-officio member(2001-2003), Assistant General Secretary(2003-2005),General Secretary(2005-2009),ex-officio again(2009-2011) and VP(2011 to date); all at the national level, apart from my local service to about four state chapters of the association. If these years of proven staunch service to the Association and the experience garnered do not stand me in good stead for my quest, I wonder what else will.

You are contesting against Mallam BM Dzukogi, who is your friend; can’t you both reach a consensus, thereby making one to step down for the other?

From what I have recounted above, concession can be reached but will have to be predicated on the fact of experience, ranking, length of service and widespread acceptability among members of the association. It is also widely known among ANA members as far back as even four years ago that I was on the track to becoming ANA president eventually someday in the near future. I have even been nudged to give it a shot times in the past, some by even aspirants who later became presidents. By my nature, I will not go for an office when I feel I am not ready for it, nor play the opportunistic card just for the sake of occupying a position. I will rather support someone for an office if I know at a particular time that the person will be better at it than me rather than going for it myself. I have done that in ANA a couple of times. Right now as we speak, I am prepared and ready to lead the association and I know I will not fail. I am not saying leading ANA is my birthright. It is not, anyone can aspire and even get there. I am aspiring like any other person and I am ready to present myself to the congress for election. Let them decide if I am competent to lead the association or not.

One of the problems ANA is facing is fund generation, and the last convention in Ibadan almost did not hold but for the intervention of the Goodluck Jonathan administration. If you are elected, how would you make ANA rely less on government for funding?

 I have said in my manifesto that I will take the hard-nosed decisions that will wean the association from over-dependence on government patronage with regards to funding of conventions and other programmes and projects. We will do this by actively cultivating individuals, corporate bodies, local and foreign grant-giving agencies and foundations for institutional supports. We will also ensure that members live up fully to their responsibilities of membership. I will also create platforms for the facilitation of creative support to the association through payment of dues by members at all times and other voluntary financial contributions for the running of its affairs. I will ensure that the Mamman Jiya Vatsa Writers’ Resort in Abuja is eventually built and operational with all the income generating facilities placed on it and subsequently run like business so that the association will become financially solvent.

It was former Governor Muazu Babangida Aliyu who assisted the association with the take-off grant for the Nigerian Writers Series; what is the fate of the project now that Dr Aliyu is no more in power?

The project was designed to outlive the initial grant given by the former governor. The project was designed to be self sustaining with aggressive marketing and profit from initial runs and prints ploughed into subsequent releases. We have done the first phase of the project (call for manuscripts, assessment, publication and presentation) we are now on the second phase where we will know if the model we have for it will work or not.

You are a member of the outgoing Remi Raji presidency; how would you rate the performance of the administration?

The administration has done well. It has introduced some modernity. quality and order into the affairs and activities  of the association. I rate the Remi Raji’s administration very well above average. My rating is modest and restrained, let the people we serve rate us.

I’m Committed To Creating A Better Writers’ Union, Says Abdullahi

·         By Anote AJELUOROU on June 14, 2015

What are your plans for repositioning ANA?
I intend to galvanize the talents, expertise and different pockets of competence the association is blessed with in its membership to reposition it. In my long period of service to the association, I have discovered that you can only achieve anything significant, in the midst of perennial paucity of funds, by leveraging and harnessing the potentials in members and other lovers of literature for identified aims and objectives. I will also create working synergy between ANA and other associations and bodies in the creative sector to fight for common goals that will improve the lot of the sector such as ensuring the establishment of the National Endowment Funds for the Arts and the like. I will internationalize the operations of the associations and stake its claim in the scheme of governance in Nigeria. My manifesto is long on what I will do to reposition ANA if elected but these are just a few of them and they are all translated into pockets of programmes, projects and activities.

ANA has since lost its voice in the national space. Will you help reclaim it under your watch?
I do not think it is completely right to say that ANA has lost its voice in the national space. The association has a dynamics that is different from some other associations that jump all the time into public discourse. The association has to be true to its founding ideals, spirit and inherent character. Writers by nature must exhibit some objective distance from what is happening around them so that they can review same and make appropriate interventions when necessary. The association is essentially a craft union, established to promote the interests of its members while participating in the building and maintenance of an egalitarian society. Much of these tasks are done without much media noise and that is why it can easily be assumed that the association is lost in the public space.

Also, different times call for different approaches in the way the public space should be engaged. During the military era, you will recall that the association played an activist part along with other groups till democracy was won. During the various times our democracy was to be derailed, particularly in the period of the third term debacle, I remember signing a public document as General Secretary, on behalf of the association, rejecting that anomaly. We have at various points added our voices to the call for rectitude, propriety, constitutionality and common sense in the governance of our land. I will maintain all these under my watch and even improve on making the association more relevant to the society and in public discourse. I will give a strong voice to the association without making that voice sound pedestrian.

ANA Prizes don’t seem attractive anymore with The Nigeria Prize (USD$100,000) for Literature sponsored by Nigeria Liquified Natural Gas Ltd and Etisalat Prize for (African) Literature (15,000) that give out c ash prizes in U.S. dollars and pound British sterling. Will you overhaul ANA prizes for more competitiveness?
What many people do not know is that ANA prizes, right from inception, have a developmental philosophy governing them. ANA prizes were instituted originally to announce new writers and new voices into the public space; it is to sort of groom talents for later literary greatness. If you study and review the history of the prizes you will see that many who won the prizes years back later went on to win other glamorous literary prizes at home and abroad, sometimes with the same books or with other books. ANA prizes were designed to build confidence in writers and boost their literary careers.

However, I agree that the ANA prizes have lost their shine, first with their abandonment by those who endowed them such as Cadbury’s, Chevron, NDDC, Literamed, Spectrum, etc, due to a myriad of economic reasons, and second, with the coming of mega prizes such as The Nigeria Prize for Literature, Caine Prize and Etisalat Prize for Literature. I was at the head of a team instituted by the present ANA National Executive to review the prizes and suggest possible ways of overhauling them. The team recommended the streamlining of the prizes, knocking off those that have outlived their usefulness and those whose administration have become difficult due to sponsors’ disinterest and fatigue. These recommendations were upheld and implemented and we now have fewer prizes we are managing very well. I intend, under my watch, to review further the administration of ANA literary prizes with a view to beefing up their profiles as well as seek the establishment of new prizes that will be developmental and sustainable. We must attract back to the prizes big sponsors and shore them up to achieve their purposes for the winners and the sponsors. ANA as a body has the expertise for literary prize administration in Nigeria more than any other group having been in the business for over three decades.

ANA land in Abuja seems in limbo after a lengthy litigation. How do you plan to convert the land into a proper asset so as to reduce dependence of ANA conventions on government patronage?
ANA is gradually waking up from its slumber. We have won the court case on the land since 2012 and paid the necessary damages due to a developer whose intent was to hold us hostage to his lack of capacity. We have a new agency on the land that has helped us fight off vicious trespassers, encroachers and land grabbers. Preliminary infrastructure is being laid on the land on a very challenging topography. Under my watch, I will ensure there will be no deviation from the original plan for the land to be a writers’ resort with layers of facilities that will house important edifices and generate income for the association. I will also ensure a business model is adopted for the development of the land and the running of its facilities so that the association will derive from it, at least 50% of its running cost, while the remaining 50% is sourced from membership dues and sponsors for necessary programmes and projects.

But beyond the rituals of conventions, how do you propose ANA should engage writers more in your tenure?
I intend to unbundle the annual international convention of the association and repackage it to make it more of a writers’ affair where books, authors and creativity will be fully celebrated. We will pull out some activities within the annual convention to stand on their own as full-fledged events within the year. That will increase our visibility all year round. We will also intensify efforts towards holding developmental literary workshops and schools outreach programmes, including tertiary institutions, celebrating landmark literary events and authors with colloquia, international literary exchange programmes, supporting residencies and generally raising the profile of literary activities.

DENJA FOR ANA PRESIDENT

ABOUT DENJA  ABDULLAHI

Denja  Abdullahi  is  a  poet,  playwright,  literary  essayist  and  culture technocrat. Born at Idah, he hails from Agbaja in Lokoja Local Government Area of Kogi State. He has been writing poetry for over 20  years  since  his  days  as  a  student  of  English  and  Literature  at  the University of Jos, Nigeria, where he was the best graduating student of the1990 set. He also has a Masters in Literature-in-English, acquired at the University of Ilorin, Nigeria in 1992. His poems and other literary pieces have appeared in anthologies such as A Volcano of Voices (1999), Uncle Bola’s  Promise  (2003),  Confluence  Blues  (2004),  Abuja  Acolytes(2000),  Five  Hundred  Nigerian  Poets  (2005),  Camouflage  (2006), Pyramids (2008) and  in  several  other  newspapers,  journals  and magazines.  His  first  published  poetic  volume  Mairogo:  a  Buffoon’s Poetic Journey Around Northern Nigeria  (2001) received honorable mention  for  the  prestigious  ANA/CADBURY  2001  Poetry  Prize.  Denja Abdullahi  published  two  poetry  volumes  in  2008,  The  Talking  Drum(February, 2008) and Abuja Nunyi (This is Abuja)(May,2008).His last two creative pieces are A Thousand Years of Thirst published in August, 2011and Death and the  King’s  Grey Hair, recently  released in  March,2014. He also  co-edited  the  book  Themes Fall  Apart  But  The  Centre  Holds, published in 2009 in commemoration of the 50 years Anniversary of Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, which was celebrated worldwide in 2008. Denja Abdullahi has held several Executive Council positions in the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA).  He was the founding Chairman of the Kebbi State chapter of ANA from 1993-1998 when he was lecturing at the Waziri Umaru Federal  Polytechnic,  Birnin-Kebbi; has  held  several  positions  at  the  Abuja Branch at  various  times  since  1998;  and  was  Ex-officio  at  the  National level (2001-2003), Assistant  General  Secretary (2003-2005),  General Secretary( 2005-2009)  Vice President (2011 to date). As General Secretary of ANA, Denja Abdullahi helped to organize literary activities of all kinds in Nigeria  amongst  which  were  the  20  Years  of  The  Nobel  Prize International Colloquium held in honor of Wole Soyinka in 2006  ,The  50  Years  of  Things  Fall  Apart  celebratory  activities  across Nigeria in  2008,  The  Abubakar  Imam  and Adebayo  Faleti International  Colloquia  on  Promoting  Writing  in  the  Indigenous Languages  held  in  Kaduna,  July  2009  and  in  Ibadan,  August  2009 respectively. Denja Abdullahi, apart from teaching and other public service vocations,  has  also  practiced  active  journalism  with  The  News/A.M

SOME HARD DECISIONS I WILL TAKE TO SALVAGE ANA’S FINANCIAL INSOLVENCY – ABDULLAHI

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.

THIS WEEK’S GUEST: DENJA ABDULLAHI,

Poet, author, culture technocrat, literary activist, avid reader, public servant,  journalist.

It is Broadcaster and Compere Benjamin Ubiri who in discussing my multi-genre gift in writing describes me as a jollof writer. No one qualifies more for that title than my brother and friend Denja Abdullahi whose antecedents in his various literary journeys precede him. His poetry sparkles off the page and his friendship is warm and genuine. As a family man he is unparalleled, a die in the wool civil servant and an astute literary administrator. His favorite books are a collector’s edition. Enjoy!

Denja  Abdullahi  is  a  poet,  playwright,  literary  essayist  and  culture technocrat. Born at Idah, he hails from Agbaja in Lokoja Local Government Area of Kogi State. He has been writing poetry for over 20  years  since  his  days  as  a  student  of  English  and  Literature  at  the University of Jos, Nigeria, where he was the best graduating student of the1990 set. He also has a Masters in Literature-in-English, acquired at the University of Ilorin, Nigeria in 1992. His poems and other literary pieces have appeared in anthologies such as A Volcano of Voices (1999), Uncle Bola’s  Promise  (2003),  Confluence  Blues  (2004),  Abuja  Acolytes(2000),  Five  Hundred  Nigerian  Poets  (2005),  Camouflage  (2006), Pyramids (2008) and  in  several  other  newspapers,  journals  and magazines.  His  first  published  poetic  volume  Mairogo:  a  Buffoon’s Poetic Journey Around Northern Nigeria  (2001) received honorable mention  for  the  prestigious  ANA/CADBURY  2001  Poetry  Prize.  Denja Abdullahi  published  two  poetry  volumes  in  2008,  The  Talking  Drum(February, 2008) and Abuja Nunyi (This is Abuja)(May,2008).His last two creative pieces are A Thousand Years of Thirst published in August, 2011and Death and the  King’s  Grey Hair, recently  released in  March,2014. He also  co-edited  the  book  Themes Fall  Apart  But  The  Centre  Holds, published in 2009 in commemoration of the 50 years Anniversary of Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, which was celebrated worldwide in 2008. Denja Abdullahi has held several Executive Council positions in the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA).  He was the founding Chairman of the Kebbi State chapter of ANA from 1993-1998 when he was lecturing at the Waziri Umaru Federal  Polytechnic,  Birnin-Kebbi; has  held  several  positions  at  the  Abuja Branch at  various  times  since  1998;  and  was  Ex-officio  at  the  National level (2001-2003), Assistant  General  Secretary (2003-2005),  General Secretary( 2005-2009)  Vice President (2011 to date). As General Secretary of ANA, Denja Abdullahi helped to organize literary activities of all kinds in Nigeria  amongst  which  were  the  20  Years  of  The  Nobel  Prize International Colloquium held in honor of Wole Soyinka in 2006  ,The  50  Years  of  Things  Fall  Apart  celebratory  activities  across Nigeria in  2008,  The  Abubakar  Imam  and Adebayo  Faleti International  Colloquia  on  Promoting  Writing  in  the  Indigenous Languages  held  in  Kaduna,  July  2009  and  in  Ibadan,  August  2009 respectively. Denja Abdullahi, apart from teaching and other public service vocations,  has  also  practiced  active  journalism  with  The  News/A.M

What book are you currently reading?
 Brigadier -General Godwin Alabi Isama’s The Tragedy of Victory:On- the -Spot Account of the Nigerian-Biafran War in the Atlantic Theatre (I am on the very last pages) and Dr Bukar Usman’s The Stick of Fortune(a collection of folktales  from his language group somewhere in Borno State, retold in English).

What was the last book you bought?
The Great Pond by Elechi Amadi in Port Harcourt a few weeks ago

What book did you never finish?
The Life and Time of Tristam Shandy by Laurence Sterne . I could not finish it because it was from the beginning neither here nor there. It was as if it was written to violate the conventions of novel writing or story telling; more like the extreme use of the stream of consciousness technique popularized by a writer like James Joyce in Ulysses.

What book most impacted you as you were growing up?
I would rather mention a series of books: The Pacesetters Series for their populist realism; D.O Fagunwa’s books for their magically composite description of reality and the African Writers Series for their pan-African creative vision.
FIVE FAVOURITE BOOKS
a. Weep Not, Child by Ngugi Wa Thiongo  - I am attracted to the book because it was one literary text that we rigorously analysed at my literature class when I was a student at the Government Secondary School, Ilorin, Kwara State in the early 80s.Our teacher then, Mr Edward Olobayo,who was on National Youth Service, made me to fall in love with literature as a subject, through his very passionate teaching of the book. Other than his teaching, the book made a lot of impression on me with the story of the Mau Mau uprising against the British colonialists, their expression of love for their motherland and the story of the naive Njoroge ,who though small, grew up quickly to take care of his family and dream of a better future in the midst of deaths, destruction and desolation caused by war.

b. An African Night Entertainment by Cyprian Ekwensi - The story was my earliest literary engagement with the Northern Nigerian landscape with its folkloric splendour, magic, dreams and their interpretations, wish, longing, fulfillment, loss, anger, wickedness,revenge, quest and all sorts of emotions and descriptions that made the book a really entertaining literary piece. At the Abuja Carnival of 2008,many years later after my first reading, I brought the book to life when I wrote and co-directed a piece entitled “ An African Night Entertainment,” which was staged to celebrate Ekwensi’s literary oeuvre.

c. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe - The book is one of my favourites for all the reasons that readers and critics over the years have mentioned as signposts of its greatness. It is a path finding work with a lot of cultural resonance; it has a simplicity and complexity to it that are continually being unraveled. I like it for it is all at once the story of one man, a community, a people and a race.

d. Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt - It is a book I stumbled onto at a roadside pavilion which I bought based on the fact that on its cover it announced that it had won a Pulitzer prize .On plodding in I found the novel irresistible in its description of monumental poverty in the Irish countryside and how the wealth of the human spirit rose with determination to escape its vice-like grip.

e. Roots by Alex Haley - The book is epical in its sweep and the recounting of the saga of slavery as it affects a family across generations until the attainment of freedom. I like the story for it is an African story and it fictionalizes the hideous facts of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade in a way that make you as an African to become angry at first, pine after what could have been that was lost and later get reassured that the human spirit can be unbroken even after the extremes of negative situations.

ME AND MY BOOKS: MY POETRY IS ALL ABOUT PROFUNDITY

Denja Abdullahi, a poet and award-winning writer is the vice-president of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA). His collection of poems include Mairogo: A Buffon’s Poetic Journey Around Northern Nigeria, Abuja Nunyi, The Talking Drum, A Thousand Years of Thirst, among others. In this interview with Edozie Udeze, he says that poetry is the mother of all genres of literature

Who are your favourite authors in the world and why?

The writing world is diverse with unique styles, subject matters and brilliance that it is difficult for me to have favourites. Let us just say all good writers I have read are my favourites, and even those I am yet to read but hopeful of eventually reading.

What sort of books do you like most?

Books that explore people’s historical and cultural experiences in an epical sweep; whether poetry, plays or novels. I like profundity when it comes to books. Profundity of theme and style. There are too many books out there on the shelves and online begging to be read; anyone that catches my attention must have something unique about it.

When you read a book, what are the salient things you look out for?

What it says about the human experience, the underlying hilarity, the power of language in freshening even stale old concepts and larger-than-life characters that are in reality often life-like.

When and where do you like to read?

I read whenever and wherever I can have some moments to myself, away from work, family and the fulfillment of the rigours of existence. Those moments are getting fewer by the day, I must say. I read before going to bed, on the verge of sleep, in transit; by road and air, when I am not the one doing the driving or piloting (that is even when the journey is bereft of recklessness and turbulence) and whenever I am out of station, away from my usual habitué.

What is your preferred literary genre?

I have written more of poetry, so should I say poetry is my preferred genre? I love all the genres, I do not discriminate in my choice of genre.

As a child, what books tripped you most?

As a youngster, the pacesetter series greatly influenced me to contemplate the infinite world of the imagination. They were very realistic portrayal of life and living on the African continent in the popular sense. The stories and characters of that series, including even the authors, were engraved in my adolescent memory for such a long time that I penned one myself but I later lost the manuscript. The titles of the series still echo in my mind till today: The Undesirable Element, Stop Press: Murder!, Bloodbath at Lobster Close, Sweet Revenge, Sisi, Evbu My Love, Christmas in the City, etc. I later on discovered the African Writers Series and feasted on the titles accordingly.

What book or books have had the greatest impact on you; why and how?

Roots, by Alex Haley, for its epical sweep of the trauma of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. I was angry about the plight of the black race as I read the book. And this feeling was aggravated as I read the book at the time the TV series was first shown on national television. The African Night Entertainment, by Cyprian Ekwensi, with its quest motif, dreams, magic and expose into the northern Nigerian clime also was definitive in my reading career; so also the phantasmagoric world of D.O Fagunwa’s novels.

At what point in your life did you begin to nurse the idea of being a writer?

In my first year in the university, after experiencing a culture shock with the almajiri system at the Jos Main Market some many years ago; though my writerly sensibility goes way back before that encounter.

How has writing shaped or moulded your life?

It has made me conscious of the fact that words are double-edged, they build and destroy; their employment for either purpose is what our lives are all about.

If you met your favourite author(s) face-to-face, what would you ask him/her?

How did you get to do that? What the hell was going through your mind?

Of all the works you’ve read, which character strikes you the most?

Many are swirling in my head right now, but I will readily pick Mohun Biswas in V.S. Naipaul’s A House For Mr. Biswas. He is such a comically tragic character in a struggle of existence, like that of the average man who does not want to die in obscurity.

What do you plan to read next?

The much-hyped The Accidental Public Servant by Nasir El-Rufai, I just want to get it out of my reading view and of course the dashing account of the Nigerian Civil War as executed by the Third Marine Commando in Alabi Isama‘s The Tragedy of Victory. Of course if you ask me the one I would like to read first, I will go for Isama’s.

Are you a re-reader and how often?

There are so many good books out there still unread than to indulge in the luxury of leisurely re-reading. I only re-read strictly for academic or research purposes, and this takes various forms.

How do you arrange your books in your private library?

Mercifully on the shelves in the office; books for research on their own, unread stuff together in their own territory and already read ones that can be loaned out to curious friends and acquaintances at their own end. Of course, one does not have the resources of the Library of Congress. So, many other books, more than the one on the shelves, are in re-enforced Ghana-must-go bags at a dedicated depository at home, competing with other bricks and bats and getting on the nerves of madam all the time.

What does writing mean to you?

Writing is my alternate career that has in its way defined my main career. Writing takes you above the ordinary; it confers on you a sage-like quality and raises you above the common throng. If you are lucky to have written anything good, be sure it will endure and confer on you immortality.

How do you get your inspiration to write?

I am inspired most to write not by solitude or a serene atmosphere that most writers cherish, but by great activity around me, market place noises, festive music and other such ambience. When people and things are uninhibited, I derive inspiration from that and that is where I hit on some great writing ideas.

You have written more of poetry, at least the published pieces. Why?

It is so because poetry is the mother of all literary forms. Let me deal well first with the mother before I start dealing with the sons and daughters. I write other genres too which are largely unpublished. There was a time I declared in a published interview after my last published poetry collection A Thousand Years of Thirst that with that I had paid my debt to poetry, meaning I want to take a break from poetry. Niyi Osundare, the renowned poet who I have had an over two decades relationship with, which began with him being my subject of research as an undergraduate, read that interview and sent me a private email saying “Denja, how dare you!” He was more like, you cannot pay the debt you owe poetry. I replied that I was only joking literarily; that I was only expressing my wish to bring out my writings in the other genres and that poetry will always be part of me. Presently, I am working on a play and another collection of poetry; this time with a religious theme.

What was the most important book to you in 2012 and which one for 2013?

There Was a Country by Chinua Achebe for all the reiteration of the role of the writer in the society contained in it and for the issues it raised regarding the dynamics of perspective in narrating lived experiences. For 2013, none yet.

DEATH & THE KING’S GREY HAIR & OTHER PLAYS by Denja Abdullahi (a review by Salamatu Sule)

TITLE: TITLE: DEATH & THE KING’S GREY HAIR & OTHER PLAYS
AUTHOR: Denja Abdullahi
GENRE: Drama
REVIEWER: Salamatu Sule

Death and the King’s Grey Hair and other Plays is a collection of three plays written by Denja Abdullahi, an award-winning poet, essayist, cultural enthusiast and technocrat.
It is not a historical play, but a play based on an oral mythology attributed to the Jukun people of the north central. The playwright explains in the preface that he does not bother himself to go into any search for the facts of the story but feels the need to weave bare myth into dramatic fiction.

The play is centered on the king of the land of Shakaga, King Esutu who defies the tradition of his people that says the throne is for ‘young kings and short reigns’; as the kings in that land are normally given poison to drink and die to be reborn into a lion at the sprouting of the first grey hair on their royal heads. Like it is with such typical tradition, all is not well with the people of Shakaga at the beginning of the play. The attempt by the King to willfully defy tradition in search of absolute power and the people’s resistance to that form the conflict framework of the play. The play is noteworthy for its cultural setting.

All three plays in the collection are experimental plays. ‘Death and the King’s Grey Hair’ shows to us the effect of the abuse of power and total disregard for tradition. The playwright explains to us that power is “power” no matter the period of time a leader rules. King Esutu of Shakaga and the man of the cave in the ancient period are not different from the modern man who can go to any length to remain on the throne.

In the second play titled Truce with the Devil, Abdullahi brings to the table his experiment with Marxist ideology as opposed to capitalism. Through this theatre of experiment, the playwright says it is nearly impossible to dethrone capitalism and enthrone Marxism. He uses real characters in fictional perspectives. Suleiman, a devotee and advocate of Marx and Engels is oppressed by his capitalist uncle; he gets expelled from Jarasite University as a result of his crusade for the proletarians.

Like Ngugi Wa Thiongo’s I will Marry When I Want, the principle of collectivism cannot work as most people are oppressed by poverty and joblessness. Suleiman submits to capitalism because he cannot fend for his siblings and he explains to Dapo how he only needs to play the devil’s advocate to get what he wants.

‘Fringe Benefits,’ the third play, is written through the eyes of the playwright as a participant- observer. Here, Abdullahi explains the social realities of life in tertiary institutions and the society at large and the benefits that accompany the job we do. Imagine if we have to go to library where books are non-existent, to do a research or where the only way out is to buy handouts or take our lecturer’s order? Imagine if the only better option for us is to go beyond the shores for a greener pasture due to the economic situation of the country.

The plots of the plays are unique as the playwright succeeds in crafting out the conflicts and providing good resolutions with good characterization and dialogue that blends with the period and situation of the time. I like the poetic rendition of the character of Gabisi the poet and guardian of words:

The first play is in movements and broken in to seven movements while the second play is in Act and the third in scene. Pretty much different from the usual Act and Scene style of play writing.
I will suggest this book be recommended for tertiary institutions, secondary schools and also for the theater. It is a classical collection of plays filled with great humor.