Three to set Abuja literary scene alight

The August 27 edition of the Guest Writer Session will feature Chido Onumah, Musa Idris Okpanachi and Zainab Sule, at Abuja.

Chido Onumah , whose latest book “We Are All Biafrans,” is stirring a lot of public interest, is a Nigerian/Canadian journalist, author, blogger and rights activist. He worked for over two decades as a journalist, rights activist and media trainer in Nigeria, Ghana, Canada, India, the US, the Caribbean and Spain.  He sees his book as…“ not a call to action; it is not a call to support the Biafra agitation, it is just a reminder that we have so many problems in Nigeria and that time has come for us to sit at the table of nationhood to address these problems.”

Onumah studied at the University of Calabar and received an MA in Journalism from the University of Western Ontario.

He is a doctoral candidate in communication and journalism at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain (UAB) and has won a number of journalism related awards.

His other publications include Nigeria is Negotiable (2013) and Time to Reclaim Nigeria (Essays 2001-2011) 2011.

Onumah is coordinator of the African Centre for Media and Information Literacy (AFRICMIL), and interim chair of the Pan-African Alliance for Media and Information Literacy (PAMIL).

A multiple award-winning poet and scholar, Dr. Musa Idris Okpanachi, who hails frpom Kogi State, teaches at the Federal University, Dutse, Jigawa State.

Okpanachi’s new volume of poems, “Music of the Dead”, can be regarded as continuation of the exploration of power and its abuses, which characterise his two previous collections, “Eaters of the Living” and “From the Margins of Paradise.”

According to Eugenia Abu, Okpanachi’s  verses are deep, trenchant, jolting us to the reality of our times …(and) he uses all the words in his literary jaw juxtaposed with themes of today, philosophers of old and themes of yesteryears to get us to listen. For lovers of poetry, it is an incredible collection…. For the uninitiated, it is an education.”

Zainab Sule is a Nigerian musician, fondly known to both friends and fans as the Queen of Soft Rock.

For the past five years, Zainab has slowly but steadily won new fans and gained audiences in and outside Nigeria, firmly engraving her music in their hearts with her intense, yet laid back style.

Zainab points her early influences to Bryan Adams, Coldplay, Prince and more, while she has been compared to acts like Natalie Imbruglia, Dido, and Tracy Chapman. She has also been featured on several national dailies and other local newspapers.

Asides music, Zainab holds a degree in Mathematics from the University of Jos, and 3 CIW Certifications in Web Design.