Glowing space between humanity & Literature: My ANA 2021 Convention Experience
At dim 5pm, Wednesday, 3rd November, I arrived partly stranger to so many great minds at Mamma Vatsa Writers Village, Mpape, Abuja, to register for the 40th Anniversary/Convention of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA). It's forty years of resilience, four decades of unrewarding commitment to nation building and fourteen thousand, six hundred (14, 600) days of remarkable raw contributions to African and global literature.
I first came to the now edifice May 2021, and it was just an array of bushy views; uncompleted structures looking at each other with intense attention like co-wifes; left to right, front and back. I and some few others were taken on a tour around all the boundaries of what belonged to ANA by Hyacinth Obunseh of blessed memory. We were told that in 1985, General Mamman Jiya Vatsa donated over sixty (60) hectares of what is now thirty-six hecters of land to the writers' body, to build a national headquarters for Nigerian writers and perhaps, to host writers across the globe.
The headquarters according to the building blueprint would include a conference hall, office and hotel apartments and residency for writers, in order to boost literary creativity. Thirty-six (36) years after, the dream still looked unachievable. The land has also been grabbed and released by the administration of Olusegun Obasanjo to less than thirty-seven (37) hectares. Late Hyacinth Obunseh disclosed that a large hall yet to be completed would host the 40th Anniversary/Convention of the Association. We marvelled at the insanity of his dreamy submission.
Over the years, I have always wanted to discuss my writing life with individuals, who have accomplished so much in the pen profession; to tell me what I am doing, whether I am on the wrong or right track and what more I need to do more. In the past few years, I have met a couple of writers at different occasions, but they were always too busy, or the time was too short for them to discuss with me after their official sessions. Some created time afterwards; which I appreciate, no matter how haphazard. But like Oliver Twist, I want more, I need more in this vast sphere of creativity as a budding writer.
I have heard of ANA Conventions too often to miss this of 2021. I registered and was given the convention pack. Items remain undisclosed; I want to avoid hearing you need some of them. It was just 7pm when Dr. Wale Okediran walked in sport wears; joggers, sneakers, polo shirt and a small bag containing some publications of the Pan-African Writers Association (PAWA), an organization he serves as the Secretary General. I rushed to welcome the former Nigerian lawmaker, I last met five years earlier. He smiled and we shook hands, warmly. "Selfie", I beckoned. "No problem", he responded as we posed together. Okediran had flown in from Accra, Ghana with a stop at Lagos that night and has no trace of tiredness in his firm structure, that's why I needed not to engage him that night before so many who would also need his attention squeeze their face in angst. I watched him, like a child watching his mother traveling, found his way too a few others who were waiting, all smiling. Few minutes later see the arrival of some prominent Nigerian writers and scholars - Femi Osofisan, Remi Raji, Akachi Ezeigbo, Mary Nwoye, etc. I looked at them not knowing whom to pester first like a hungry man lost in assorted dreams.
Hyacinth Obunseh's prophecy came to the past; I was the one looking insane now. One thousand-capacity conference hall was completed beyond magic, it's as if God took the uncompleted one and brought the gigantic structure, and it's ready to host delegates from every part of the Nigerian states. World-class conference hall. No wonder, it is named after one of the best storytellers to have ever walked the earth -Chinua Achebe. The first and second floors would bear offices of all the state chapters of the Association and affiliated bodies. Power and water supply, constant; interior decoration and sound system, top-notch. We were all seated for the night's event. I was seated among those I have longed to see; those I have known all my life through books. We were all there for the same purpose - the developmental role of mother literature.
I saw how easy it was to meet literary icons without bottlenecks; how free they were in the midst of others; how friendly they were with younger writers; and how willing they were to engage in literary discussions. I could recall how I approached Osofisan to crack a joke about his epic play text, WOMEN OF OWU, and the broad and sophisticated smile he put on to respond. Furthermore, I saw the unity of purpose demonstrated by writers of different generations, who share a common philosophy of a betterment of humanity. ANA 2021 Convention/Anniversary was the event I saw and met Chukwudi Eze, the author of THE RETURN OF HALF-SOMETHING, a novel with so much creative ingredients, cutting across different literary epochs of African history. I was honoured by his rapt attention to my insights on his work; how he wished we had the time to continue our discussion that night.
I saw how sociocultural diversity can be used to better and champion a common goal. I awed how writers were friendly to one another, mindless of age and experience at the event; all you needed to say was "ANA Nasarawa" or any state ANA you came from. I saw for the first time how ANA elects her executives, with maturity, decorum and based on competence, and not language, region, nor religion. Also, I saw how everyone participated in the electioneering processes; how Prof. Idris Amali and his electoral committee was patient with the impatience of the young writers who needed more clarifications on the procedure. Likewise, I learned from different panel discussions, drama, poetry, spoken word poetry, dance, poetry slam, Fellow Investiture, ANA Prizes ceremony and the official commissioning of Chinua Achebe International Conference Centre.
Association of Nigerian Authors has been contributing enormously to the development of African continent by blowing its trumpet through literature and 2021 Convention/Anniversary was a reaffirmation of this commitment.
Uthman Qasim
Abuja
uthmanqasim5@gmail.com
