— President plans re-launch of Bring Back the Book initiative
The Pan African Writers’ Association (PAWA) plans to institute some programmes in honour of the literary icon and author of the famous Things Fall Apart, Professor Albert Chinualumogu Achebe, and the Secretary-General of the association, Professor Atukwei Okai, said yesterday.
Okai said this in Abuja when the association paid a courtesy call on President Goodluck Jonathan so solicit the federal government’s support to endow a literary prize of international standing to be called The Chinua Achebe Prize for Literature.
He also informed the president that the association plans to hold this year’s International African Writers’ Day in honour of Achebe in recognition of his giant strides in literature.
He said: “The International African Writers’ Day was established by the African Union to be celebrated annually throughout the continent to afford all the African people a moment to pause to reflect on the contributions of the African writer to the continent’s development. On these occasions in the past we have honoured writers like Nadine Godimer, Professor Ali Mazrui, Woke Soyinka and Professor Femi Osofisan. This year, it is the turn of Chinua Achebe.”
He also congratulated the president and the Rivers state government on the designation of Port Harcourt as the International Book Centre for 2014 by UNESCO.
Responding, Jonathan thanked the association for considering him as the Chief Guest of Honour at the event scheduled to take place in November in Accra, Ghana.
He asked the association to formalize the invitation by bringing letters to his office, and pledged to support the association by mobilising funds from Anambra sons and daughters for the Achebe literary prize.
He said: “Anything about Chinua Achebe will be easy for us to mobilize funds. The money may not necessarily come from government coffers but I will be able to coordinate some friends especially from Achebe’s home state, Anambra, which has very vibrant young men and women who can support robustly if they are properly carried along, which I can play that role. We will bring them on board to assist.
“Achebe has made the name, not just for Nigeria but also for the continent and writers like you should be able to promote the name further.”
Jonathan said his administration was trying to encourage Nigerian youths to cultivate the habit of reading and writing, and would re-launch the Bring Back the Book initiative and inculcate it into the national educational programme.
“We have also been thinking of how to bring that Bring Back the Book concept to make it a national programme so that young boys and girls in primary and secondary schools can develop a reading and writing attitude,” he said.
