Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Off to the ALA conference and the detention of Kaduna writer Friday John Abba

I am off to the African Literature Association conference in West Virginia tomorrow, so I probably will be out of immediate contact until the end of the weekend. I'm traveling with several people from my department, and despite having never owned a car and having not driven in five years, I am signed on as a driver, so pray that I make it back to Blogville alive....! This time I'm not presenting, just hanging out and listening to papers, which will be refreshing. I will also be meeting Helon Habila! Yay!

After that brief preface, here is a more serious matter via the Jos-ANA listserve that I'm on that I have been wanting to blog on for a while, but I was waiting to find out more of the details. Over a month ago, the vice-chairman of the Kaduna chapter of the Association of Nigerian authors , Friday John Abba, went missing. After some investigation, it was found that he had been arrested by the SSS, and has been held in Abuja without any access to legal representation or to communication with his family. The Association of Nigerian Authors EXCO had a meeting scheduled with the national SSS director in Abuja today, and I will post an update when I hear what happened. In the meantime, here is a press release from Kaduna ANA.

And finally, here is a very interesting statement by Yar'Adua about his plans for Nigeria should he be elected.

2 comments:

Simply Gorgeous said...

Sannu Carmen, Ya ya aike? I don't know how effective Yar'adua can be in power. Realistically, even if he wants to deny it he is not well enough to run. Granted, he has had a successfulkidney transplant, but obviously it still takes a toll on his body.

I am happy with the work that you have been doing. Have you heard that Sani Musa Danja is supposed to be touring?

Sai Anjima,
C.T.

Talatu-Carmen said...

Hi Simply Gorgeous,

Yes, I have heard the news of Sani Danja's trip. It's exciting, and I really hope that I will be in the U.S. when he gets here.

Do I know you? Or is it just that you have read my Hausa posts? If I know you, could you give me a little hint? or let me know in a comment that I will delete without posting?

Thanks for the comments. Since I can't vote, I'm sort of a sidelines observer to the election process, but I am impressed that Yar'Adua seems to be making an effort to actually communicate and discuss people's needs. See http://yaraduagoodluck.info/ But would this translate into effective national leadership? Who knows?

TC