COMMUNIQUE
OF THE NATIONAL EXECUTIVE COUNCIL MEETING OF THE ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIAN
AUTHORS (ANA) HELD AT GRANGEHILL HOTEL, MPAPE, ABUJA ON SATURDAY 26 JANUARY
2019
Rising
from its 4th National Executive Council Meeting held at Grangehill Hotel,
Mpape, Abuja, the leadership of the
Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), after rigorous debates on a variety of
issues affecting the Association and the nation resolved as follows:
1. That
the current leadership of the Association is committed to its inaugural
objectives of building on the values of the founding fathers of the association
in upholding and maintaining its status as the foremost and authentic umbrella
body of all creative writers and literary persons in the country and therefore
will continue to pursue programmes and initiatives that will unify and build
the capacity of writers and strengthen the bonds that has sustained the nation
as a whole.
2. That
the online database project and documentation of the membership of the
association towards the development of a data and statistical resource base to
enhance the implementation of the the vision and objectives of the Strategic
Development Plan will be pursued to a viable conclusion and therefore all
chapters and members are requested to immediately forward the membership forms
and fill the online registration forms on the ANA webpage and submit same to
the national secretariat on or before 30th March, 2019. Failure to do so will
automatically lead to the de-registration of defaulting chapters and exclusion
from benefiting from subsequent national
projects and initiatives.
3. That
the Yusuf Ali Literary Campaign initiative this year shall be open to chapters
with innovative literary programmes and projects involving educational
institutions in the host states and with the collaboration of key stakeholders
in the field. Such chapters MUST also
have complied with the membership database documentation project as in 2 above
to be considered at all.
4. That
chapters that have failed to conduct elections or change its leadership for many
years and chapters that are moribund are hereby mandated to handover the
leadership to sole administrators to be appointed by the National Executive
Council who will be mandated to conduct
elections and get the chapters back to operation within three (3) months for
effective functioning of such chapters.
5. That
the 38th International Convention of the Association has been slated for the 31st
October -3rd November, 2019
with the theme: “Literature, Nationalism and the Poetics of National Integration.” The
hosting state will be announced later.
6. That
the ongoing development of the ANA’s Mamman Vatsa Writers’ Village in Mpape, Abuja is intensifying with a view to
commissioning some aspects of the project later in the year. The National
Executive Council therefore enjoins the developer and all persons connected to
the project to keep to the terms of the
existing memorandum and promise to deliver on target.
7. That
chapters should continue to envision and implement programmes and projects that
will ensure the creation of a robust environment for the realization of the
creative dreams of writers and members in their chapters.Such projects and
programmes should be adequately reported to the National Secretariat for record
purposes.
8. That
Nigerian writers should continue to engage their writings as tools of tackling
rising dislocations and banes of our national development including corruption,
terrorism, bigotry in high places, herdsmen atrocities, ethnic militia
formations, degradation of social standards, ritual killings, maltreatment of
pensioners, the elderly, women and children, instability in tertiary
institutions among other issues with a view to drawing the attention of the
government to stemming their tide, outright stoppage and regeneration of the
confidence of the masses in the State.
9. That
the National Executive Council of ANA hereby expresses consternation at the
desperation that has settled into our political arena whereby those angling for
political power to be secured during the forthcoming General Elections have
resorted to discrediting the process even before it began and employing all
sorts of self-help methods ; all geared towards opportunistic ends. Like we
asked before, where will all these leave the people of Nigeria?.Careless and
inciting utterances and disorderly conduct by political
players in the country constitute a threat to the peace and harmony in our nation at a time like this. The Association calls on
concerned agencies and the government to work towards curbing this ugly
development by ensuring strict adherence to due process, rule of law and the
constitution of this country.Politicians are advised to go about their campaigns and
electioneering in ways that will not release further heat on the polity and
allow the will of the people as will be expressed at the polls to prevail.We
appeal to the politicians and power players in and out of government to allow
us have a country after the elections.
Mallam
Denja Abdullahi Dr.
Ofonime Inyang
National
President
General
Secretary
