By Joshua Olomu

The Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) has called on the Federal Government to provide support in form of funding and other intervention initiatives for creative writers to productively deploy their works for nation building.

Its president, Dr Usman Akanbi, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the sideline of a book presentation on Thursday at the Mamman Vatsa Writers Village in Abuja.

NAN reports that the book tittled, “Ibale:The Broken Pot”, is authored by Esther Adelana, Public Relations Officer of ANA FCT chapter, and was formally presented by the association.

According to Akanbi, ANA exists to promote Nigeria’s cultural heritage, diversity, literary enterprise and protect the rights of writers in order to build a vibrant and responsive body of creative writers.

He said to effectively engage Nigerian authors toward building egalitarian and progressive nation, there was need to support them as obtainable in other climes.

The ANA helmsman noted that over the years federal government was providing support and incentives to other genre of arts and creativity, with no deliberate intervention programmes for the Nigerian authors.

“I am imploring them to extend a hand of fellowship to us, especially from the Federal Ministry of Arts, Culture, Tourism and Creative Economy.

“Let them work in partnership with us to see how we can bring greater good, not just to Nigerian writers, but to the youth, because writing is an area of endeavour.

“For example, when they are doing book festivals, it is not just about books; it is about culture, about tourism and about things that will project the society in a positive light.

“That is essentially what ANA has even come to assume in the society because it is the only organisation that has professionals from different fields, but sharing that passion for creating art and writing generally.

“So, we need continuous support in terms of funding for writers and other incentives and enabling environment that will drive creativity,” he said.

Earlier, Adelana, the author of the book, said the book is a drama that brings to fore gender-based cultural practices in Africa.

“I wrote ‘Ibale’ out of the desire to address the issue of gender and culture in Nigeria, and during my study, I discovered that it is a global issue.

However, in Africa, it is more prominent, and something that is being promoted in our society unconsciously, and so, I wrote this cultural play.

“For example, why perpetuate rape and at the same time demand virginity from women, so, Ibale is a cultural text that projects African culture and raises questions about women.

“At the same time, it proffers solutions to this problem,” she said.

In her presentation, the book reviewer, Salamatu Sule, said the play vividly portrays the enduring African tradition regarding the status of women and their ongoing struggle for liberation and recognition.

“Ibale is a multilingual play with seven acts and up to five scenes that provide narration about two brotherly, warring communities.

“The play is set in two traditional Yoruba fictional communities of Iluobe and Ilukoro in an era that a reader may take to be ancient times.

“Esther Adelana provides a thrilling end that reclaims the woman’s dignity and her resilience by pointing at the need to do away with bad cultural practices.

“The themes of love and retribution are captured as well as war and peace which leaves the reader to judge whether or not the play is a tragedy,” she said.

Earlier in his keynote speech, Prof. Sunday Ododo, lauded the author for working hard to write a masterpiece that contributes to the issue of gender equality.

“Modern African writers now assume the role of the consciousness and the conscience of the community and we are happy ANA is striving to ensure that we have new writers.

“Today, Esther Adelana, through Ibale, has also lent her voice to that discussion and conversation and I think she is going to be a motivation for other background writers to emerge,” he said.

Also, Chukwudi Eze, Chairman, ANA Abuja, and host of the event, said the association was championing initiatives that encourage young people to read and become authors.

“ANA FCT is essentially made up of about 70 percent to 75 percent of young people and we encourage and sponsor them to read and write.

“Our people have a proverb that says that our children will be greater than us and nothing makes me prouder being the chairman of ANA Abuja, to celebrate excellence and the energy of youth.

“Esther Adelana is gifted and very enterprising in terms of the written craft and her leadership capacity, especially kind of role she has played in ANA Abuja,” he said. (NAN) (nannews.ng)

Edited by Folasade Adeniran