I’ve derived no personal benefits as ANA president – Denja Abdullahi

Malam Denja Abdullahi, poet and playwright, has been the president of the Association of Nigerian Authors since 2015. Ahead of the 2017 convention this October and his re-election bid, he reflects on his achievements in his first term and his experiences in office.

Two years as ANA President, how would you assess your tenure?

In my manifesto titled “The Pragmatic Deliverables”  as at the time I was seeking this office, I had a 14 point Agenda, and as I speak, I have delivered fully and partially on about 12 out of the 14 , so you can go ahead and score my performance with that. The manifesto I talked about is a public document within the Association. To ascertain the truth of what I have said about the deliverables in my administration of ANA, you can get hold of that document and review it alongside the scorecard of my tenure so far, which is available on our website www. ana-nigera.com. 

I have within a year of my tenure as President delivered two legacies projects, the ANA documentary film and The Strategic Plan (2017-2022) for the Association. I have given the Association clear focus, more visibility, consolidated on the past achievements of previous executives, democratize its operations, improve on its internal governance and have fast tracked the development of the writers’ village in Mpape, Abuja. It has been an eventful and impactful tenure by my reckoning and I have heard people say that we have done too much within two years. 

Why then are you keen on running for another two years?

It is not a matter of being keen on running, the constitution of ANA allows me to run for another term of two years which is final, if I am elected. In the last AGM of the Association last year in Abuja, the general talk voiced out by some members was that the two year tenure was too short and that elections were too frequent in the Association. 

They were advocating for a single tenure of four straight years. What do you think was the sub-script behind that advocacy? My own reading of it was that they are experiencing an administration that has lived up to and beyond their expectations and they would rather have it stay its full term. My response to that at that time was that tenure review is a matter for constitutional amendments. Personally, I believe it is better to subject people to periodic elections after two years, so that you can validate anyone working well for the Association and throw out anyone that is not living up to his or her office rather than being stuck with mediocrity for four straight years. 

To go back to answer your question of why I am seeking another two years, I still have more to do for ANA as President and going by the Strategic Plan in place, I cannot exhaust the possible “doables” for ANA in another two years. I can only do my bits and leave the space for others to continue.

What have been the biggest challenges in the last two years?

One of the greatest challenges has been that of funding which is always not available to cover for all overheads, recurrent and to execute major proposals or projects.  The other is the unavailability of anyone working for the Association on a full term basis. The administrative pattern of the Association is based on “ad-hocism,” we are all in it on a part-term basis and we do it voluntarily (because we are not paid for it) and that greatly affects the sustainability of most things we do. The status of the Association currently suggests it is ripe to have a full time compliment of  staff to man its secretariat and run its affairs from day to day. 

Presently, we only have one paid clerk in the Lagos Secretariat who is there only to receive correspondence and do other minor tasks. ANA is ripe to have an Executive Secretary and other staff that will be working for it to follow up on earmarked projects and programmes. All other challenges to the operations of the Association are tied to these two major lacks. That is why my administration is concentrating in putting in place structures that will help ANA overcome these two challenges.

It has been a tradition that half of the EXCO fall off the grid once elections are concluded. How did you cope with this in your administration?

It is normal for that to happen. In any committee of whatever number, you cannot expect everyone to work with optimal capacity. People seek offices for various reasons. When eventually elected, mostly into other supporting offices, the tendencies is there for them to go to sleep, get distracted, engage in needless subterfuge or deliberately refuse to extend themselves in service for the overriding objective of the collective; particularly when they cannot see any considerable gains to their persons. I have been coping because I have deployed my skills as an administrator of arts and culture at the federal level. I lay out the vision and vital objectives and work with those ready to give selfless service while I manage others the best way I can. I also realize that I am the one that must not flag even if every other person does. I am the leader, the watchman and the servant. If I do not do my own job and do it quite well, every other thing will suffer. I also know how to identify talents and deploy them to serve the Association in whatever capacity. That has helped in overcoming noticeable gaps in our human capital.

Why do you think this always happens both at the state and national level?

It happens because of what I have said before, the spirit of “ ad-hocism.” I am not being paid to do it and there are no resources attached to my functionality so I can do it anyhow or not do it at all. There are always ready excuses for non-performance and under-performance. ANA itself needs restructuring to  ensure the right caliber of people with the requisite proven records of service and demonstrable capacity  are elected into offices and there must be operational clauses in the constitution to ensure measurable performance while in office. ANA also must remove the bandwagon effect, where people get elected because they have lined up behind someone. 

Everyone seeking office must be scrutinised on their own individual merit. ANA must restructure in line with modern requirements of running a not- for-profit NGO. The way ANA is now in terms of administration, too much strain is being put on the points men, who are the Chairmen at the state level and the President at the national level. But the good thing is that the restructuring needed has been factored into our strategic plan and what we need to do is just to implement the plan. 

One of the projects you worked on is the Nigerian Writer’s Series with the second volume, children stories, released under your watch. The first series had ten books, this one had three. What happened along the way?

Lack of resources crept in along the way. We had N10m to do the first 10 books in 2014. The first 10 books were published with about N7 million naira inclusive of every other administrative cost of the project and has to date generated an income of less than N300,000 naira. 

This is a project designed to be self-sustainable. When I came on board as President in 2015, there were no funds in place for me to continue with the series, so we had to rework the idea behind the series if it must continue. We decided to focus on children’s literature, which we all know is a brand that can sell if well packaged. We called for manuscripts and at the end we got barely 3 worthy of publication out of the 13 submitted. We had to even wire part of the annual Yusuf Ali grant given to ANA for nationwide literary awareness campaign to publish the 3 titles.

The writers in the first series complained about poor promotion of their books and non-payment of royalties. Have these issues been addressed by your administration especially since you were directly in charge of this project?

The books in the first series were published by four consultant publishers and the publishers were to assist in the marketing and promotion. ANA on its part did some promotion and marketing at our conventions, and in the traditional and social media. We have been relating with the publishers since that time and they have been doing what they could, given the peculiar  operating environment of the book industry. 

The individual authors too have done their bits. ANA,  during my tenure, even had to take custody of three titles from Jemie Ventures( after the CEO of the company died) and moved them to AMAB books for promotion and marketing under a new contract. 

On royalty payment, we have records of every single book sold under that series, as provided by the publishers, and we have in the past asked the authors to submit their bank account details for royalty payment. Some of them refused to send across the details we needed because they felt the royalties involved were negligible. We can only pay for what has been sold and from what we have received from the publishers; that is the stark reality.

What measures have you taken to ensure that the writers in the second series will not suffer the fate of the first?

The Second Series has been designed to be self-sustaining and marketable. We have tied a nationwide project around it called A-Book-A-Child project which is expected to cause the massive distribution of the texts across the country. We are already seeking individuals, government agencies and private corporations to partner with us on the project. 

The wife of the Governor of Imo State, Ugo Nneoma Nkechi Rochas Okorocha has accepted to be the key facilitator and brand driver of the first phase of the project to be flagged off at our forthcoming 36th Convention this October in Makurdi. We have other schemes tied up to drive the sales and distribution of the books under the second series of NWS and so the books will go places and the authors will get their due recompense. We are directly in control of the books under the NWS publishers, an imprint of ANA.

While declaring your ambition to run for a second term, you mentioned that the job is a thankless one. Why then do you still want to run for the office again?

It is thankless because you work and get nothing material in return. Rather, what you get is needless abrasive criticism from some quarters for putting your daily job, time and personal resources on line to serve the Association. ANA has no material resources to give anyone in its service because there are none lying anywhere for anybody to gobble up in self-aggrandisement. 

You work hard to whatever you bring into the Association. If you are not ready to hard work, you should be ready to have a commensurate mediocre and uneventful tenure. What you get from serving ANA is intellectual fulfilment and the satisfaction in seeing some of your visions and dreams for the literary and cultural community achieved. I am running again because of this; I want to leave my own indelible legacies of service to the Association and my nation by implication.

What new things do you think you can bring on board that you haven’t in the last two years of your administration?

There are many things still undone. We are creative people, our ideas are boundless. Go check our Strategic Plan, it is also available for download on our website, you will see that there are so many projects and programmes yet undone. I cannot finish those laid down objectives even in another two years. I have many new things to offer the Association in another tenure of two years but what I will focus seriously on in the next two years, if elected, is to deliver a fully built Writers’ Village in Abuja within my tenure, a dream we have been nursing for the past 30 years. We have started by laying the foundation and commencing real development this year. It is a project that is big and land marking enough to devote the next two years to.

As an individual, what benefits would you say you have derived as ANA president?

Nothing material but intellectual and spiritual fulfilment for the fact that I have the opportunity to serve at the highest capacity. My books are not selling more than others because I am ANA president, neither do I have more time or resources to write because I am president. I do not earn any salary or allowance as ANA President and ANA does not in any way pick my daily bills or family obligations. I have often joked with people that the only thing you benefit as ANA President is being given the best suites or hotel rooms at ANA Conventions, meetings or activities; where you hardly even get two hours of peace or sleep because of the countless matters and meetings you have to attend to. I may have gained more visibility by being ANA President, but that is also due to what I am able to bring to bear on the office. The office of the President of ANA does not confer anything on you, as it is, you have to make the office visible and relevant.

You say one of your achievements is the development of the ANA land in Mpape. How is this project being financed?

The project is being financed through a development agreement entered into since 2012 with KMVL, a real estate development company. We are working within the laid down agreement; the only thing is that we are fast tracking the whole thing through proper monitoring and by ensuring that the developer adhere to newly laid out project timelines as given by the ANA Land Development Committee.

Do you think the plan of developing this land as it is a feasible one? If yes, when do you think this project will be completed?

Visit the land presently and you will see that it is coming to reality. It is very feasible and we are on course. As we speak, a temporary ANA National Secretariat Office is being roofed. That will serve until the whole project complex is completed. From January 2018, our address will change to Mamman Vatsa Writters’ Village, Mpape, Abuja. The whole project has been phased in our strategic plan. We are on phase one entering into phase two. By the end of 2019, the project should have been completed or near total completion.

Your home chapter, ANA Abuja has been embroiled in controversy leading to attempts by members of the EXCO to remove the incumbent chairman. What is the state of affair presently and as president what interventions have you made?

Every chapter of ANA sometimes throws up its peculiar leadership controversies. To stem that or nip them you have to adhere to rules as enshrined in the constitution. If you play by the rules in sincerity and honesty, you will not have any long drawn problem. The state of affair in the chapter is not unusual and I have waded in by meeting with the parties in the conflict and I have directed them to sheathe their swords and reconcile. They are doing as directed as we speak.

During your campaigns the first time, you promised to reinvigorate ANA at the state level. If this has been done, it hasn’t made much difference because many of the state branches have been redundant. What do you think went wrong there?

I disagree vehemently with you on this. Leadership in ANA chapters nationwide has been re-invigorated with new executives elected into offices in most chapters, even in places where elections have not been held for years. The Yusuf Ali annual grant has ensured that every year since 2012, chapters are challenged to come up with novel activities. ANA has viable chapters in 34 states of the federation including the FCT. Chapters do organize regularly activities, readings and many outreach programmes. I have just asked chapters to turn up report of their activities for 2017 and many of them have done that with photographic evidences. 

Some of these chapter activities I have been part of with many of my national executive council members. There may be two or three chapters not fully functional because of some peculiar constraints but on the average ANA chapters have been effective and impactful within the very limited resources at their disposal. ANA Katsina just recently held a successful Northern Nigerian Writers’ Summit with the theme “Literature and National Integration: The Role of Writers as Bridge Builders” and ANA Kogi just held last friday the Grand Finale of its Literary Competitions among secondary schools in Kogi State. These are just two examples of independent programmes and projects that our chapters execute quietly in their domains nationwide. My administration has given the chapters a renewed vision and we work closely together with them to deliver on objectives.

You promised to make ANA conventions more vibrant. In what way would you say you have done that and how much different would the upcoming convention in Makurdi be?

The 35th Anniversary Convention held in Abuja last year was unarguably the best in recent times in terms of organisation, innovation and corporate buy-ins. The forthcoming convention in Makurdi this October will witness more remarkable innovations in terms of organisation and highlighted events. The increasingly harsh economic climate may tamper some of our drastic plans to overhaul convention organisation but I can assure those that are planning to attend the convention that they will experience something new and thrilling. Some few weeks backs, I led a team of my National Executive Council to visit Makurdi for facilities check and review of strategies connected to convention organisation. This is to ensure we improve on our convention each time and if sustained, I can tell you in years to come, ANA Convention will be very different from what we know it to be today.