Association of Nigeria Authors  Name  Professors Zaynab Alkali,Remi  Raji And JOJ Nwachukwu Agbada  New ANA Fellows

Rabiu Omaku

The Association of Nigerian Authors has named three literally icon as  the new fellows of ANA,they are Professor Raji, Prof JOJ Nwachukwu Agbada and Prof Zaynab Alkali by the advisory and the national executive council of the Association of Nigerian Authors under the leadership of Mallam Denja Abdulahi.

This was contained in a press statement issued and signed by Mallam Denja Abdulahi, the President of the Association in Abuja on Monday.

Mallam Denja Abdulahi said that the nominations of Prof. Remi Raji, Prof JOJ Nwachukwu Agbada and Prof Zaynab Alkali into the prestigious circle of distinguished elders of the Association is in recognition of their literary and scholarly excellence and their devoted service to the progress of the Association over the decades.

According to him “The ANA fellow designation reflects achievement at the highest level of writing practice and excellence; we look forward to honoring these 3 great wordsmiths and thanking them for their contributions to ANA and creative writing in Nigeria”.

The induction into the fellowship will take place at the Opening ceremony of the 38th International Annual Convention of the Association scheduled for 1st November 2019 in Enugu, Enugu State.

Remi Raji is the pen name of Aderemi Raji-Oyelade, author of six volumes of poetry including A harvest of laughters (1997), Lovesong for my wasteland(2005), Gather my blood rivers of song (2009) and Sea of my mind (2013). His poetry has been translated into French, German, Catalan, Swedish, Ukrainian, Latvian, Croatian and Hungarian. Raji has been a lllllllllllu I’ll be no/visiting professor and poet to Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, Universities of California at Riverside and Irvine, University of Cape Town, South Africa, Stockholms University, Sweden, Cambridge University, UK, and Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany. He was African editor of Drumvoices Revue – Journal of Contemporary Arts and Literature (1999-2010). His seminal publication in cultural theory and practice is entitled Playful Blasphemies: Postproverbials as Archetypes of Modernity in Yoruba Culture(2012). Remi Raji is the former President of the Association of Nigerian Authors, the largest body of writers on the African continent (2011-2015). He teaches Literature and Creative Writing in the Department of English, University of Ibadan, Nigeria.

JOJ Nwachukwu-Agbada, is a professor of English at the Abia State University, Uturu. A prolific writer and author of many books, he won the 2018 Association of Nigerian Authors, (ANA), poetry prize with his book Bombblast or Breakfast. He was educated at the Universities of Jos and Ibadan, from where he earned two degrees. He taught at the Federal Advanced Teachers’ College, Abeokuta; Anambra College of Education, Awka, Anambra State, and Imo State University, Okigwe, now Abia State University, Uturu. He was a one-time member of the governing council of the university. He had, at various times, been the head of English department; coordinator, head of the School of Humanities and director of the division of general studies of ABSU.

Zaynab Alkali is a Nigerian novelist, poet and short story writer. She is regarded as the first woman novelist in English from Northern Nigeria. Alkali was born in Tura-Wazila in Borno State in 1950. She graduated from Bayero University Kano with a BA in 1973. She obtained a doctorate in African Studies in the same university and became the principal of Shekara Girls’ Boarding School. She went on to be a lecturer in English at two universities in Nigeria. She rose to be a dean in the Faculty of arts at Nasarawa State University in Keffi, where she taught creative writing.

Some of her works include, The Stillborn, Lagos: Longman (Drumbeats), 1984, The Virtuous Woman, Longman Nigeria, 1987,Cobwebs & Other Stories, Lagos: Malthouse Press, 1997, , The Descendants, Tamaza, 2005, ,The Initiates, 2007. She also edited Zaynab Alkali, Al Imfeld (eds.), Vultures in the Air: Voices from Northern Nigeria, Ibadan-Kaduna-Lagos:¬ Spectrum Books, 1995, and won the 1985 edition of the Association of Nigerian Authors(ANA) Literary Prize.

It should be recalled that the previous fellows that have been inducted in the life of the present administration of ANA includes: Dr Wale Okediran, Prof Jerry Agada, Late Captain Elechi Amadi, Prof Idris Amali, Prof Akachi Ezeigbo and Prof Sam Ukala.