By Ibrahim Ramalan
All is set to celebrate with Ahmad Gidan Dabino on the conferment of merit award of Member of the Order of Niger (MON) by President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, coming up on October 26 at the famous Munbayya House, Kano.
According to the information made available to Blueprint by the Chairman Committee of Friends, Nasir Wada Khalil, the theme of the event will be: “Embodiment of Ado Ahmad Gidan Dabino” and the event will be chaired by Prof. Dandatti Abdulkadir, former Vice-chancellor of BUK and former ambassador of Nigeria in Libya while Wambai of Kano, Alh. Aminu Ado Bayero will be the Royal Father of the day.
At the plenary session of the event, papers will be presented by friends and eminent individuals at the occasion.
On the motive of the event, the chairman pointed out that considering the antecedents of the awardee and his contributions across the country, they feel obliged to organize such an event for him to enjoy that feeling of sense of belonging. He said:
“For somebody like Ado Ahmad Gidan Dabino to take himself to school at the age of 20, considering the environment he found himself where western education was dearth way back around 1984, and graduated around 2004 and has been impacting positively on the lives of many Nigerians, I think such a person needs to be congratulated.
“Ado Ahmad Gidan Dabino is one of the most prolific Hausa novelists in northern Nigeria. His efforts have revolutionized the reading habits of the Hausas in recent time. He wrote so many Hausa novels, dramas and poetry. He published over ten Hausa novels among which, two were translated into English. The Soul of My Heart (In Da So Da Kauna-translation) Nemesis (Masoyan Zamani-translation). An award winning writer who won the 1st priz position, 2009 Engineer Mohammed Bashir Karaye Prize in Hausa Literature (Play Category).
“Ado is a prominent contributor of articles to daily newspapers/magazines and presented a great number of papers in a seminars and workshops, national and international. He was the first Vice President and one of the founders of ANA Kano. Publisher, film producer, director and journalist.
“Presently, he is the Chairman/CEO of Gidan Dabino Inter Nig. Ltd. And he was a Former Chairman Association of Nigerian Authors, (ANA) Kano State Branch and currently he serves as a Caretaker Chairman, Kano State Filmmakers Association. Also he is a member, Motion Picture Practitioner’s Association of Nigeria, (MOPPAN) and Association for Promoting Nigerian Languages and Culture,” he said.
