The Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) has urged the federal authorities to place a human face on its financial reforms, warning that many Nigerians are combating rising hardship and declining residing requirements.
ANA’s National President, Usman Akanbi, made the decision in his opening tackle on the affiliation’s forty fifth International Convention, held on 30 October on the Mamman Jiya Vatsa Writers’ Village in Mpape, Abuja.
Mr Akanbi acknowledged what he described as the federal government’s daring structural reforms and efforts to enhance infrastructure however stated their success needs to be measured by their impact on residents’ welfare.
“Today, many Nigerians are facing an acute economic crunch and a nose-diving standard of living,” he stated.
“Reforms, however well-intentioned, must not be perceived as punishment.”
The ANA president stated the federal government must prioritise insurance policies that restore public confidence and provides younger Nigerians causes to imagine in a greater future.
“No nation can grow when its young people have lost hope,” he stated. “And without hope, no reform can succeed.”
Drawing from Thomas Jefferson’s place that the pursuit of residents’ happiness was the respectable responsibility of presidency, Mr Akanbi stated public welfare ought to stay central to policymaking.
Insecurity, poor roads
The ANA president additionally urged the federal authorities to accentuate efforts to handle insecurity, saying writers and different Nigerians who travelled by highway remained uncovered to kidnapping, armed theft and different risks.
He described journeys to Abuja by way of a number of hinterland roads as troublesome and unsafe, citing collapsed bridges and deteriorating highway networks.
Mr Akanbi argued that whereas proposed coastal and border roads might need long-term advantages, roads connecting farms, villages, markets and cities deserved higher consideration.
“The ordinary Nigerian feels that the hinterland roads the roads that connect farms to markets, villages to towns, and our state chapters to the centre should have been given far greater consideration and priority,” he stated.
“A nation is fed and held together by its hinterland.”
Warning forward of 2027 elections
Mr Akanbi additionally cautioned politicians and their supporters towards inflammatory conduct as preparations intensify for the 2027 basic elections.
He urged political actors to train restraint and keep away from turning electoral competitors into hostility or violence.
“We must ensure that the 2027 elections are conducted in an environment devoid of rancour, bitterness and ill will,” he stated. “Our politics must not become a war.”
The ANA president maintained that constructing a practical nation required cooperation between residents and people entrusted with public workplace.
“Nation-building is a collective task. Government cannot do it alone, and citizens cannot thrive without responsible government,” he added.
Insecurity ‘censoring imagination’
The conference was themed “Literature, Security and the Place of Nigeria in the World.”
Explaining the selection, Mr Akanbi stated insecurity affected not solely lives and livelihoods but additionally creative expression and mental growth.
He described insecurity as “the greatest censor of the Nigerian imagination,” noting that creativity and studying might not flourish the place farmers might not entry their farms, merchants had been afraid to journey, and youngsters might not attend college safely.
Mr Akanbi stated Nigerian writers additionally had a accountability to inform the nation’s story, particularly when worldwide narratives about Nigeria had been typically dominated by insecurity and worry.
He urged authors to reclaim that narrative by way of works that acknowledged the nation’s challenges with out dropping sight of its prospects.
ANA’s restoration from inner disaster
Reflecting on the affiliation’s historical past, Mr Akanbi recalled that ANA was established in 1981 underneath the management of novelist Chinua Achebe to defend freedom of expression, promote literary excellence and foster unity by way of writing.
He stated the affiliation had since established literary prizes, publications and annual conventions whereas supporting generations of Nigerian writers.
However, he acknowledged that ANA had additionally endured vital challenges, together with inner divisions following its 2019 conference in Enugu.
According to him, the disaster fractured the affiliation, led to authorized disputes, and threatened its continued existence as knowledgeable physique.
Mr Akanbi credited ANA’s trustees, elders, fellows and state chapters with serving to the organisation overcome the dispute.
“You held the line. You are the true heroes of this renaissance,” he instructed them.
READ ALSO: Criticise government, but don’t incite violence, Akume tells writers
Plans
The ANA president stated the affiliation’s plans would concentrate on institutional growth, writers’ empowerment and stronger engagement with the federal government.
He stated ANA supposed to finish and totally utilise the Mamman Jiya Vatsa Writers’ Village as a world inventive resort and sanctuary for writers.
The affiliation additionally plans to offer workshops and publishing help for established and rising authors whereas reviving literary golf equipment in colleges.
Mr Akanbi stated ANA would additionally search a extra energetic function in nationwide orientation, cultural diplomacy and the inventive financial system.
He thanked the federal authorities for allocating the land for the writers’ village in 1986. He acknowledged the Nigerian Copyright Commission’s function in serving to authors profit from the copy of their works.
The ANA president stated the affiliation would proceed to defend writers’ pursuits whereas contributing to conversations about Nigeria’s growth, safety and worldwide picture.
Discover extra from Premium Times Nigeria
Subscribe to get the most recent posts despatched to your e mail.
