ANA/Yusuf Ali Nationwide Literary Awareness Campaign: ANA Distributes Cheques to 11 chapters

 

ANA/YUSUF ALI NATIONWIDE LITERARY AWARENESS CAMPAIGN: ANA DISTRIBUTES CHEQUES TO 11 CHAPTERS

 

By: Wole Adedoyin

The Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) has announced the distribution of cheques to 11 of its state branches for the 2023 edition of ANA/Yusuf Ali nationwide literary awareness campaign. The sum of N3million was secured earlier this year by ANA under the leadership of Mr. Camillus Ukah. The initiative aims to promote literary awareness in Nigeria and support local Chapters of ANA across the country.

ANA's General Secretary, Maik Ortserga, released a statement announcing the beneficiaries of the grant. The selected state branches are ANA Ondo, ANA Oyo, ANA Kogi, ANA Imo, ANA Kaduna, ANA Rivers, ANA Bayelsa, ANA Benue, ANA Edo, ANA Niger, and ANA Nasarawa. The grant will be used to promote literature in these states, with a particular focus on increasing awareness and readership.

The cheques were presented to the selected state branches on the 14th day of April, 2023, during the ANA Chairmen and Secretaries Meeting held in Ilorin. This meeting provided an opportunity for ANA to engage with its State Chairmen and Secretaries and discuss ways to promote literature and ANA’s activities in Nigeria. The distribution of the Yusuf Ali Grant’s cheques was a significant step towards achieving this goal.

ANA's President, Mr. Camillus Ukah, expressed his delight at the distribution of the cheques to the selected state branches. He noted that the grant was a testament to the commitment of Yusuf Ali to the promotion of literature and reading culture in Nigeria. He also thanked ANA Chapters for their hard work and dedication to promoting literature in Nigeria.

According to him, the Yusuf Ali grant will provide a significant boost to the literary activities of the selected state branches. The state branches will be able to organize literary events, promote reading culture, and support the growth of their chapters and members. This will contribute to the growth of literature in Nigeria and promote a greater appreciation of Nigerian literature both locally and internationally.

The ANA/Yusuf Ali nationwide literary awareness campaign is an initiative aimed at promoting literary awareness campaign in Nigeria. The campaign is designed to promote a greater appreciation of literature and encourage the growth of reading culture in Nigeria. The campaign has been a success in previous years, and the 2023 edition promises to be even better, thanks to the Yusuf Ali Grant.

The Yusuf Ali Grant is a testament to the commitment of Yusuf Ali to the promotion of literature in Nigeria. The grant will provide much-needed support to the selected state branches, enabling them to promote organize readings and support the growth of their chapters. This is a significant step towards achieving ANA's goal of promoting literature in Nigeria.

ANA is committed to promoting literature in Nigeria and is always looking for ways to support the growth of local writers. The distribution of the cheques to the selected state branches is one of the many ways ANA is supporting the growth of literature in Nigeria. ANA remains committed to promoting literature in Nigeria and will continue to work towards achieving this goal.

The literary community in Nigeria is pleased with the distribution of the Yusuf Ali Grant to the selected state branches. This is a significant step towards promoting literature in Nigeria and supporting the growth of local writers. The literary community looks forward to the ANA/Yusuf Ali nationwide literary awareness campaign and the literary activities that will be organized by the selected state branches.

The ANA/Ondo branch chairman, Mr. Sunday Grabriel Afolayan, who received the cheque on behalf of his chapter, expressed his appreciation to ANA and Yusuf Ali Foundation for their continued support for writers in Nigeria. He noted that the funds received would go a long way in promoting literary awareness and supporting local writers in Ondo state chapter.

ANA National President, Mr. Camillus Ukah, finally expressed his delight over the successful distribution of cheques to the 11 state branches. He noted that the ANA/Yusuf Ali nationwide literary awareness campaign has been a success over the years, with the program reaching thousands of writers, schools and readers across Nigeria.

Authors Meet In Ilorin, Discuss Developmental Literature

 

AUTHORS MEET IN ILORIN, DISCUSS DEVELOPMENTAL LITERATURE

 

By EDOZIE UDEZE On Mar 20, 2022

 

Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, came alive for literature penultimate weekend. It was the gathering of members of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) where the national executive council and the state chapters chairmen and secretaries held sway. The topical issues of discourse centered mainly on how to deepen literature and then pay proper attention to the development of children literature. EDOZIE UDEZE was there.

 

Penultimate weekend, in Ilorin, Kwara State, literature came alive.  Literature resonated in many ways to ignite the town and set writers on the road to write more.  It was a moment of intense literary razzmatazz when the national executive council of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) met to deliberate on ways to widen the grip of literature on the society.

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State chairmen and secretaries came from different states and locations.  Their aim was clear – to look into the annual programmes and see how to set the ball rolling.  The objective this year is to concentrate on the development of the literary minds and the reading acumen of children.  ANA president, Camillus Ukah put it more succinctly. “It is to catch them young and not necessarily to make each child to aspire to be a writer, but to have the keenness about reading, about studying, grasping the essentials of education right on the dot of time”.

And so it therefore became much easier to tag the project a child a week a book project.  The target is to ensure that books are made available to schools in states where the project is in operation this year.  About a hundred books per secondary school in which case that by end of one year, a child may have been able to read at least 52 books.

It seemed a tall order.  But it worked before and ANA hopes it will continue to work, so that the new crop of secondary school children will have a rethink about books, about scholarship and enlightenment.  Apart from the reports by the members of the national executive council of the association concerning the state of literature in Nigeria and beyond, state chairmen and secretaries were in cheering good moods about efforts to keep prospering literary awareness at the grassroots.  In the throes of it all, Kwara State chapter of ANA, as usual, was tagged the doyen of ANA executive meetings.  This is so because in the past years, even when it seemed unfathomable, the state had hosted these meetings.

This year’s was also done with pomp and pageantry amid great hilarious acclaims by writers.  Hosted at Usman Mustapha’s Imodoye Writers Enclave, located at Fate-tanke, Ilorin, the cozy, quiet ambiance was apt.  Even the usual Ilorin hot weather, intense this time of the year, did not deter writers.  As the sun blazed at its highest height, the atmosphere inside the hall remained intellectually charged as authors sat in clusters geared up for the business of the day.

Three issues preoccupied their minds more.  The first was the children book project which took more time to thrash out.  Oh yes, states were given cheques to handle the project and to also monitor it to its logical conclusion.  And because more states than was envisaged showed interest this year, the amount of money allotted was made to go round, serving the same purpose.

So, the schools are taken as the pilot schools.  Reports from states showed that former exercises in this regard have fared well.  While some states have done far too well, others were chided to improve upon their past records.  But generally, it was clear that this project occasioned by Yusuf Ali’s (SAN) yearly monetary largess to ANA has come to stay, has come to make literary acquisition by children a reality, a plausible option to illiteracy.

The second issue was the state of ANA writers village, Mpape, Abuja.  This was clearly tied to the 40th convention anniversary of ANA last year.  Briefings from those closely connected to the issues gave kudos to ANA members for the huge success of the 40th anniversary.  Yet, it was clear that part of the structures at the centre have been altered.  Where it was supposed to be writers chalets, it has now been turned into hotel rooms.  Ukah said, “You know hotels yield revenue fast.  And we need more money to continue to fund the project.  Once the hotels are completed and in use, we begin to realize revenue from it for ANA”.

Amid this, it was time to thank the members who endeavoured to attend.  Ukah put it this way: “I thank you all for the efforts to be here in spite of the general insecurity in the land.  The times are difficult, but to you all, literature must thrive, authorship has to be given a priority attention.  Therefore, we are here not only to discuss the business of writing, but to also see to it that this association is totally devoid of constant rancor and avoidable divisive tendencies.”

https://thenationonlineng.net/authors-meet-in-ilorin-discuss-developmental-literature/

In Ilorin, ANA Kickstarts 2022 Reading Campaign

 

IN ILORIN, ANA KICKSTARTS 2022 READING CAMPAIGN

 

By Henry Akubuiro

 

It has become a yearly ritual. Each year, the national leadership and chapter chairmen of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) converge on Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, to deliberate on the future of the association and literature and also pay obeisance to Yusuf Ali, SAN, who has been financing the association’s annual reading campaign since 2012. But this year’s pilgrimage to Ilorin had a bonus.

 

On the eve of the 10th ANA National Executive Council (NEC) meeting, the national body, last  Friday, March 4, donated one-thousand (1000) books to Queen Elizabeth’s School, Ilorin. ANA President, Mr Camilus Ukah, handed over the books to the Principal of the junior section of the School, Alhaja Rihanat Sholagberu, who received them with gratitude.

Addressing the management of the school, Mr Camilus Ukah said the 1000 free books given to the school were the works of thirteen different authors drawn from poetry, prose and drama genres.

Mr Ukah, an award winning writer, specified that each student of the school  was expected to read thirteen books in thirteen weeks, for thirteen weeks made up of a term in the elementary school.

He stressed: “Each student is expected to finish a book in one week, four books in one month, and fifty-two books in one year.” He enjoined the students to use the books to better their lives and shine as stars always.

Lending his voice, former Kwara-ANA Chairman and Founder, Imodoye Writers’ Enclave, Dr Usman Oladipo Akanbi, urged the students to cultivate the habit of reading good books, noting that “reading makes one a complete being.”

The ecstatic Principal of Queen Elizabeth’s Junior School, Alhaja Rihanat Sholagberu, thanked ANA for the gesture, while promising that their students would make judicious use of the books to fulfill the association’s purpose of ensuring and promoting reading culture in foundational schools in the country.

Accompanying the ANA President on the visit were Kwara-ANA’s Chairman, Mr Babayemi Opeyemi; Secretary, Mr Braimah Abdulrazak; Financial Secretary, Mrs Rofiat Abdulkareem-Seidu; and Auditor/Ex-officio II, Mr Abdulhafeez Oyewole.

The doll-out books were part of the A-Book-A-Child project of the Association under the Nigerian Writers’ Series, powered by KMVL.

Lest we forget,  Yusuf Ali, SAN, last month, donated 3 million naira to the national body to prosecute its reading campaign, a gesture he has been doing to Nigerian writers since Dr. Wale Okediran, former ANA President, convinced the book-loving barrister to fund the annual reading campaign 10 years ago.

Little wonder, the ANA entourage visited the legal luminary at his Ghalid Chamber, Ilorin. In his statement, Ukah qualified the senior advocate as a rare shining star, recalling that, as a young boy, he used to see the sky dotted with stars and also read a poem about twinkling little stars, which were hard to find these days.

He thanked the SAN for what he had been doing for the association over the years, reiterating that it was a solid investment, because it was an Investment in development. “The development of the mind which the literary awareness campaign facilitates is the best development that can happen to us now. It also extrapolates to national development,” he said.

He informed the legal luminary that, this year, the focus of the literary awareness campaign would be on A-Book-A-Child-A-Week project, and the fund donated by him would be utilised to that effect.

He explained further, “The whole idea is that, for a child to develop mentally, a child needs to read one creative literature book every week, four every month and two every year, and, if a child is able to do that, the child will shine as a star, and not like a star, because it’s assumed a child would have become a star.”

In his response, Yusuf Ali said it was a rare honour and privilege to partner with ANA, and was delighted that the association had thrown its leadership crisis behind it, and was moving forward. The famous lawyer joked that the crisis only went to show that writers were also humans with foibles.

He commended the writers for getting over the problems as quickly as possible for the continuous existence of the writer’s tribe, stressing “that’s the only way our country will make progress.”

He thanked God for helping him to meet up with his commitment of funding the annual reading awareness campaign all these years. He promised that, God helping him, he would keep on sponsoring it.

The SAN said he was committed to developing young minds himself, given his investment in their education. He remarked that not everybody was gifted to be involved in money making businesses, and creatives should, therefore, understand that theirs was a major, important work they were doing for the development of the nation.

This year, 14 ANA chapters benefitted from the 2022 Yusuf Ali Literary Awareness Grant, including ANA Kogi, ANA Osun, ANA Kwara, ANA Abuja, ANA Imo, ANA Abia, ANA Oyo, ANA Kaduna, ANA Rivers, ANA Benue, ANA Ebonyi, ANA Edo, ANA Nasarawa and ANA Niger.

The NEC meeting, which was the major business of the day, was hosted by the Imodoye Writers Enclave (IWE), Ilorin. Flanked by Mrs Farida Lawan, the Vice CHAIRMAN of ANA, during the meeting on Saturday, February 6, the association’s president handed over cheques to all  the beneficiaries.

The convergence reviewed what the national body of ANA had done so far since last year’s meeting in the Kwara State capital, where it was resolved that the 40th anniversary of the association would hold in Abuja, which was successfully held; as well as the 10-city tour across the country, which was also done.

The association, however, noted that what it wasn’t able to achieve among the set targets last year was tidying up membership data, which the meeting had taken as a new assignment this year before the forthcoming convention in Abuja.

The NEC meeting stressed the importance of writers understanding their callings at a critical period like in Nigeria with mounting socio-political problems. The emphasis should be on creating a new state, as the readers had had enough of lacrimal writings. Writers, the meeting added, should concentrate on experimental writing, tales of how they want the country to be.

The chairmen and secretaries of the chapters, who relate with writers in their domain, were charged to go back home and spread the news, for “this is the time for writers to take their art seriously.”

It was echoed that science and technology depended on creative ideas, and those ideas stemmed from the exploration of imagination, so writers must concentrate on fruitful exploration of the imagination.

https://www.sunnewsonline.com/in-ilorin-ana-kickstarts-2022-reading-campaign/

Yusuf Ali Literary Campaign Grant: Utilization of the Funds by ANA since 2012 Till Date

 

YUSUF ALI LITERARY CAMPAIGN GRANT

UTILIZATION OF THE FUNDS BY ANA SINCE 2012 TILL DATE

 

2012 -2014

In 2012, all state chapters of the Association received sub-grants, at various times, between 2012-2014, for local literary awareness campaigns involving secondary schools across the country.

2015

In 2015, the grant was applied by the then National Executive Council of ANA to host a workshop on fiction writing in Abuja in which about 25 students, drawn from tertiary institutions across the country via a competitive process, participated.

2016

In 2016, the Denja Abdullahi-led National Executive Council of ANA took the literary awareness campaign a notch further by focusing on innovative literary awareness campaign among tertiary institutions across the country through the state chapters.

2017

The grant was used in 2017 to publish three children’s literature titles under the Nigerian Writers Series (NWS), which have been distributed to chapters of ANA nationwide to power ANA ‘s A-Book-A-Child nationwide project that was flagged off at the association’s 36 th International Convention, which held in Makurdi, Benue State, in October, 2017, and the Phase 2 of it launched by the wife of the Governor of Ekiti State, Erelu Bisi Fayemi, at the 37 the International Convention of the Association held in Ikeja, Lagos, last year.

2018

The 2018 grant was deployed to facilitating a comprehensive media supplement on the projects executed with the yearly grants over the years and an intensive workshop for 15 selected chairmen of ANA chapters focusing on “Innovations in Contemporary Literary Awareness Campaigns” to deepen the execution of the project in the coming years.

2019

The association under the national leadership of Mallam Denja Abdulahi has devolved the fund to some selected state chapters of ANA to carry out innovative and cutting edge literary awareness campaigns in their domains as contained in the capacity building workshop held in Ilorin in 2018

 

ABOUT YUSUF OLAOLU ALI SAN

 

Yusuf Ali Esq.; SAN started his early life by been enrolled in a local Quranic school and in a formal school in 1960. After his primary education, he went to a secondary modern school for three years, he worked briefly before he gained admission to Ibadan Boys High School, Ibadan, where he passed his school certificate with grade one. He was the labour prefect .

He again worked briefly as a clerical officer in the old Oyo state Ministry of Finance as a tax officer posted to Igboora in 1977.

He gained admission to the University of Ife, now (Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife) in 1978 and graduated with a 2nd Class Upper Division for his Bachelor of Laws degree.

He was a winner of the prestigious Federal Merit Award for undergraduates and a University Scholar while an undergraduate at Ife. He attended the Nigerian Law School, where he also passed with a 2nd Class Upper Division

About a decade after graduation, Yusuf Ali went back to his alma mater for his Masters programme which he completed with flying colours in 1991 when he bagged his LLM. He was appointed by the Chief Justice of Nigeria in 1989, as a Notary Public

He attained the highest professional honor at the Nigerian Bar in 1997, when he was conferred with the prestigious and honorable title of Senior Advocate of Nigeria , S.A.N. Yusuf Ali has been in active legal practice for over three decades.

He joined the law Firm of Adegboyega Awomolo & Co in 1983 and rose to become a partner before he left to found his own law firm in June 1994.

He is the Principal and Founder of the Law Firm, Yusuf O. Ali & Co, Ghalib Chambers, with offices at ILORIN, Lagos and Abuja with Ilorin as the head office .

Yusuf Ali SAN is a member of many professional bodies such as:

1. Nigerian Bar Association
2. International Bar Association
3. American Bar Association
4. Commonwealth Lawyers Association; among others.

He has won and conferred with many fellowships such as:

1. Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, (FCIArb) (UK).
2. Fellow Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIArb) (Nigeria)
3. Member Chartered Institute of Taxation Nigeria (CITN)
4. Fellow Society for Peace Studies and Practice (FSPSP).
5. Fellow Dispute Resolution Institute (F. DRI)
6. Honourary Fellow, Nigerian Minning And Geosciences Society.

Yusuf Ali SAN also served and is still serving on boards of many Companies and Institutions. He was the Chairman Kwara State Law Reform Committee. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of Al-Hikmah University Ilorin. He was the pioneer Chairman, Council of Public Defenders Kwara state. He is the Chairman Board of Directors Apex Microfinance Bank Ltd

Yusuf Ali SAN held and still holds many professional offices including but not limited to :

1. Sole Judge of the Kwara State Local Government Election Petition Tribunal 1996
2. Member Kwara State Local Government Election Appeal Tribunal 1997
3. Life Member, Body of Benchers
4. Member National Executive Committee, Nigerian Bar Association
5. Former Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of Nigerian Bar Journal
6. Former Chairman of the NBA Committee on the Rule Of Law
7. Pioneer Chairman, Nigerian Bar Association Section on Legal Practice (SLP)
8. Pioneer Chairman of the NBA Anti-corruption Commission.
9. News Letter Editor International Bar Association Committee on Damages and Negligence.
10. Member of Council, Commonwealth Lawyers Association.
11. Member Legal Practitioners Disciplinary Committee of the Body of Benchers.
12. He is the Vice Chairman of the International Bar Association committee on Damages and Negligence.
13. He is a member of the NBA ILORIN Council of Elders.
14. He was co opted into the Council of the University of ILORIN in 1995 to probe the bursary of that university.
15. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the ILORIN Central Mosque.
16. Chairman Alanu Trust Fund of the University of Ilorin Teaching Hospital.

Mr. Yusuf Ali SAN is a Patron and Legal Adviser to many professional and socio cultural groups all over Nigeria. He is also an Associate Lecturer, at the Faculty of Law, University of Ilorin. He has delivered more than Two Hundred papers on different and diverse topics at various foray, including the International Bar Association Conferences, Commonwealth Law Association conferences , Annual Conferences of the Nigerian Bar Association, among others.

He had contributed more than 17 Chapters to various legal books and has to his credit more than 40 published learned articles in learned journals in the field of litigation, Commercial Law, jurisprudence , practice and procedure, constitutional law in local and international law journals. He had represented many state governments, high net worth Individuals, Corporate and Institutional Clients before all the superior courts of record from the high court to the Supreme Court in many landmark cases.

Yusuf Ali has been awarded more than 100 honours from within and outside of Nigeria. He is listed in the American Biographical Institute's Who is Who, as well as in Nigeria's Who is Who.

A few of the over 100 awards conferred on him are:

1. Lifetime Achievement Award by the Governing Board of Editors of the American Biographical Institute
2. West Africa International Golden Award for Excellence in Enterprise
3. Award of Excellence presented by AIESEC ILORIN
4. Award of Excellence as a Doyen of Legal Luminary in Nigeria by Nigerian Vogue
5. Special Award by FIDA KWARA
6. Award of Excellence by the National Association of Muslim Law Students, National Headquarters, Abuja.
7. Distinguished Personality Award presented by the Faculty of Law, University of Ibadan
8. Merit Award by the Nigerian Institute of Management, Kwara State Branch
9. Award of Excellence by the National Association of Polytechnic Students
10. Award of Excellence by the Students' Union of the University of Ilorin
11. Award of Exemplary Leadership and Service by Rotary Club, Ilorin
12. Merit Award by the Ibadan Boys High School Old Boys Association
13. Merit Award by All Nigeria Confederation of Principals of Secondary Schools, Osun State Branch
14. Kwame Nkrumah Leadership Award of 2010 Africa Legal Icon by All Africa Students' Union
15. Award by the NBA Women Forum for Immense Contribution and Activities to the Forum
16. Police Friendly Award 2009 by the KWARA State Police Command
17. Kwame Nkrumah Leadership Award on Education Per Excellence/Icon of Societal Development by the West African Students' Union
18. Commander of Great IFE , (COI) by the OBAFEMI Awolowo university national Alumni.
19. Honorary Degree of Doctor Of Letters (Honoris Causa) of Al HIKMA University .

He is very passionate about philanthropy and using the vehicle of YUSUF ALI FOUNDATION of which he is the Founder and sole Financier so far, had intervened in many public institutions by donating:

1. A Twin Dormitary to the University of ILORIN.
2. An Eighty bed Hostel to the OSUN State University.
3. A Ten Bed Advanced Trauma Centre to the University of ILORIN Teaching Hospital.
4. Thirty unit ICT center to the Faculty of Law OBAFEMI Awolowo university ILE IFE.
5. Thirty unit ICT center to the College of Law, Crescent University ABEOKUTA OGUN state.
6. Endowment of the Crescent University College of Law Building.
7. Forty unit ICT center to the KWARA state polytechnic , ILORIN.
8. A brand new Kia Rio 2014 Model to the University of Ibadan for the use of the Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies of the university.

In the recent past, in order to enhance the work of the KWARA state police command, he donated a well equipped patrol van and some units of motorcycles .

The Yusuf Ali Foundation does a lot of other charity work like award of scholarships to indigent students in secondary and tertiary institutions both in Nigeria and outside, provision of wells and boreholes to communities, medical financial assistance to patients both within the country and outside and the development of literary awareness in secondary schools all over the country by entering into an annual sponsorship with the Association of Nigerian Authors.

Yusuf Ali is a well travelled man and has visited all the continents of the world for professional and educational purposes.

He has published many learned articles in learned journal and contributed chapters to many books.