thepenpusher
03-28-2009, 03:37 PM
why i want to be ANA President - Yahaya Dangana
by Benjamin Ubiri
Alh. Yahaya Dangana (Ratifin Nupe) is from Bida, he schooled at Kaduna Polytechnic and in the USA where he read engineering. When he came back to Nigeria he worked as a civil servant at various levels. After retirement, he served in various capacities as secretary and member of boards. He delivered the concept of the opening and closing ceremonies of the COJA games where he served as secretary and artistic director and was behind the creativity at the same ceremonies during the last Kada 2009 games.
His last book, The Right Chambers. A play has become a celebrated play staged during the COJA and Kada games, the national sports festival and a few other public functions.
Dangana is a multi-genred writer who has about 17 books to his credit ranging from novels, plays travelogues etc in this exclusive interview with BENJAMIN UBIRI, he speaks for the first time, on his well guarded ambition of becoming the next president of the Association of Nigerian Authors.
How would you describe the Literatti as well as the "book industry" in Nigeria; are you satisfied with what we are doing?
What we must look at, are more than just the books, we must consider the use of the book the quality of the book, the psychology and reformation they intend to convey, especially their effect on our children etc. During the last ten years in our history as a nation, we have neglected our books, either in their use or in their production. We have suffocated the benefits that should accrue to lovers of literature. It all appears to be thrown away. The book industry has not helped Nigeria enough, most of our printers are mere printers and not publishers, most of the publishers do not publish the books they should publish, and if they dare publish, the books do not get publicized enough to attract correct and large readership. They do not take the books to bookshops, they prefer to take their books to schools for WAEC and NECO and if you write a book outside this category, you get black listed from sales.
The local film industry which also ought to be our partners also has given us a great cause of worry. In other advanced countries, books written by great writers are picked and translated into movies but in Nigeria, our film makers do not consider this, rather, they prefer to improvise on new issues laced with grammatical errors, exhibiting terrible language from badly written scripts. They have shelved proper literature that would teach morals and preserve our culture or even reproduce those books written by local authors on science fiction.
What about the activities of pirates, does it not also account for part of the problems?
Even when the good films and books are produced, the pirates do not help the publishers to thrive I agree. To some extent however the pirates are good for the industry, because they help to push the book to those areas where your publishers could not have gone. While they may be responsible for stunted profit, they also help to promote the book, because it is only when the book is read that readers access the author and want to read another of his works.
It is ironical that most of the books we have around are pirated books, and unfortunate also but as you can see it has its own benefits. If you ask one. Unless our publishes .. to their budding in the area of pricing, book production and distribution; the pirates may from take over their jobs.
Let us look at the Association of Nigerian Authors, a lot of people think strongly that you are going to contest for ANA presidency this year, others however say that forces in ANA Niger may have prevailed on you to "be a good host" and not contest as you will be part of those to host the contingents in Minna, these two notwithstanding, you have continued to be silent. When do you intend to talk?
I will just say my fingers are still crossed. What people want is what I will do. If majority of ANA members feel that I can deliver as president, then I will, especially with the things I have done before. People are judging me by my past records and that is why they feel that if I came in, I will do things differently.
If you are ANA president, what will you do differently?
If I am ANA president, I will do what has not been done before positively. I will make sure that the association has a befitting National Secretariat in Abuja, even if it takes me the whole of my four years to do that. It is unfortunate that the land given to ANA by the federal government a long time ago has had to go through series of encroachment, count cases and all that yet nothing concrete has been done to actualize the proposed writers' village in Abuja. I was part of the team that celebrated the release of ANA land. I even planted a tree there. It is unfortunate that for a long time now nothing has been done to develop the land.
I am exposed to fund raising, when it comes to mobilizing individuals and organizations, I can do it very well. I am also linked to may international agencies, with which I have credibly worked in the past. It is not difficult to make them make adequate fund available for the development of ANA land or for the support of ANA programmes.
I was a chairman of ANA Niger in 1991 and later publicity secretary for the north, and the record I set as at that time has never been beaten. I am sure that if I become president, I will use my tract record and experience garnered over the years to better ANA during my tenure as president of ANA Niger I set a record which has not been eroded and I am sure it is apart of the reasons why they ask me to came back but this fine as national president. And let me assure you, I will not disappoint them. I have never failed in anything that I set out to do. ANA is very large but my pedigree and experience will hold it together. We shall develop a creative writing resort, and a befitting secretariat worthy of the status of ANA, if I become president.
New Page Nigeria (http://www.newspageng.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1997&Itemid=61)
by Benjamin Ubiri
Alh. Yahaya Dangana (Ratifin Nupe) is from Bida, he schooled at Kaduna Polytechnic and in the USA where he read engineering. When he came back to Nigeria he worked as a civil servant at various levels. After retirement, he served in various capacities as secretary and member of boards. He delivered the concept of the opening and closing ceremonies of the COJA games where he served as secretary and artistic director and was behind the creativity at the same ceremonies during the last Kada 2009 games.
His last book, The Right Chambers. A play has become a celebrated play staged during the COJA and Kada games, the national sports festival and a few other public functions.
Dangana is a multi-genred writer who has about 17 books to his credit ranging from novels, plays travelogues etc in this exclusive interview with BENJAMIN UBIRI, he speaks for the first time, on his well guarded ambition of becoming the next president of the Association of Nigerian Authors.
How would you describe the Literatti as well as the "book industry" in Nigeria; are you satisfied with what we are doing?
What we must look at, are more than just the books, we must consider the use of the book the quality of the book, the psychology and reformation they intend to convey, especially their effect on our children etc. During the last ten years in our history as a nation, we have neglected our books, either in their use or in their production. We have suffocated the benefits that should accrue to lovers of literature. It all appears to be thrown away. The book industry has not helped Nigeria enough, most of our printers are mere printers and not publishers, most of the publishers do not publish the books they should publish, and if they dare publish, the books do not get publicized enough to attract correct and large readership. They do not take the books to bookshops, they prefer to take their books to schools for WAEC and NECO and if you write a book outside this category, you get black listed from sales.
The local film industry which also ought to be our partners also has given us a great cause of worry. In other advanced countries, books written by great writers are picked and translated into movies but in Nigeria, our film makers do not consider this, rather, they prefer to improvise on new issues laced with grammatical errors, exhibiting terrible language from badly written scripts. They have shelved proper literature that would teach morals and preserve our culture or even reproduce those books written by local authors on science fiction.
What about the activities of pirates, does it not also account for part of the problems?
Even when the good films and books are produced, the pirates do not help the publishers to thrive I agree. To some extent however the pirates are good for the industry, because they help to push the book to those areas where your publishers could not have gone. While they may be responsible for stunted profit, they also help to promote the book, because it is only when the book is read that readers access the author and want to read another of his works.
It is ironical that most of the books we have around are pirated books, and unfortunate also but as you can see it has its own benefits. If you ask one. Unless our publishes .. to their budding in the area of pricing, book production and distribution; the pirates may from take over their jobs.
Let us look at the Association of Nigerian Authors, a lot of people think strongly that you are going to contest for ANA presidency this year, others however say that forces in ANA Niger may have prevailed on you to "be a good host" and not contest as you will be part of those to host the contingents in Minna, these two notwithstanding, you have continued to be silent. When do you intend to talk?
I will just say my fingers are still crossed. What people want is what I will do. If majority of ANA members feel that I can deliver as president, then I will, especially with the things I have done before. People are judging me by my past records and that is why they feel that if I came in, I will do things differently.
If you are ANA president, what will you do differently?
If I am ANA president, I will do what has not been done before positively. I will make sure that the association has a befitting National Secretariat in Abuja, even if it takes me the whole of my four years to do that. It is unfortunate that the land given to ANA by the federal government a long time ago has had to go through series of encroachment, count cases and all that yet nothing concrete has been done to actualize the proposed writers' village in Abuja. I was part of the team that celebrated the release of ANA land. I even planted a tree there. It is unfortunate that for a long time now nothing has been done to develop the land.
I am exposed to fund raising, when it comes to mobilizing individuals and organizations, I can do it very well. I am also linked to may international agencies, with which I have credibly worked in the past. It is not difficult to make them make adequate fund available for the development of ANA land or for the support of ANA programmes.
I was a chairman of ANA Niger in 1991 and later publicity secretary for the north, and the record I set as at that time has never been beaten. I am sure that if I become president, I will use my tract record and experience garnered over the years to better ANA during my tenure as president of ANA Niger I set a record which has not been eroded and I am sure it is apart of the reasons why they ask me to came back but this fine as national president. And let me assure you, I will not disappoint them. I have never failed in anything that I set out to do. ANA is very large but my pedigree and experience will hold it together. We shall develop a creative writing resort, and a befitting secretariat worthy of the status of ANA, if I become president.
New Page Nigeria (http://www.newspageng.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1997&Itemid=61)