A stop at the CAVIC Festival of Creativity and Technology 2025, Abuja
By Paul Liam
ON Novemver 8, 2025, after moderating a panel discussion at Israel Ezekiel’s (E.I. Emeka) No Nation book launch at Sweetsound Event Centre, Eden Garden, Utako, Oko Owi Ocho Afrika, Sanchitagi Ndakitabu Qasim and I dashed out to Agadez Crescent, Wuse 2, where Salamatu Sule was curating a conversation with some authors as part of the CAVIC Festival of Creativity and Technology, 2025. It turned out to be a most memorable adventure.
Upon arriving there, we were received by the beautiful murals decorating the CAVIC centre. As we made our way to the section where the reading and conversation was taking place, we bumped into the director of the festival and founder of CAVIC, the legendary Mr. Philip Agbese. But just before we met him, Afrika was telling us proudly how CAVIC was founded by his ‘Idoma-brother’ who he had not yet met or visited the centre. Though we had all heard, seen and read about the brilliant work by CAVIC, we hadn’t visited. ‘Why haven’t you brought me here?’ I asked Afrika, who responded by saying that it was also his first time. We were still on this banter when a tall man in a black T-shirt and grey trousers walked towards us, beckoning on Afrika and saying something about him and Salamatu, I can’t recall now. He then turned to me and said, ‘You are Paul Liam; I have only seen you on Facebook. Let’s put faces to the name.’
We introduced ourselves, shared brief laughter before we were led to the hall behind the main building where the reading and discussion had already started, as Salamatu was already making the introductory remarks as we entered. We exchanged greetings with Abuja literary grandma, Dr. Lizi Ben-Iheanacho and the publisher of AMAB Books, Nurdin Busari, who were sitting at the back.
We found seats in the front behind the first row and sat down, I in the middle, Afrika by my left and Qasim by my right, holding the yellow snacks packs we had been given at the previous book event. I scanned the room and saw another major literary figure, Mallam Denja Abdullahi, sitting a few rows behind us in the middle of the hall. Farther to the right, I noticed the Alago prince and poet, whom I hadn’t seen since the maiden Abuja International Poetry Festival, Hader Otaki.
Guests at CAVIC Festival of Creativity and Technoly 2025 Abuja
The guest authors and moderator sat facing the audience, as Salamatu introduced them and their works. The guest authors: Habiba Alkali-Nur, author of Phantom Army, Nana Sule, author of Not So Terrible People, and Dr. Kabura Zakama, author of Chants of the Angry. The room was quiet and expectant, waiting to listen to the authors we had come to celebrate.
Starting with Dr. Zakama (Chants of the Angry), the only male author on the panel, the guest authors took turns to share the inspiration behind their works and the social conditions surrounding them. Dr. Zakama revealed that he found poetry as a potent means of expressing his rage with the dysfunction in society. He also remarked that writing poetry kept him alive and sane. He also shared some personal stories about his growing up and how the anger around affected him, particularly the abuse of his mother by his father and how it made him develop unconditional sympathy towards women and girls. He noted that his life is centred around enabling the empowerment of women and young people with potential. His was a chilly revelation about the darkside of life many people are often not aware or too reluctant to share. In the end, the moral of his story was that we all have background stories that others are not aware of. But we can do better and become people regardless of our sad experiences.
Alkali-Nur (Phantom Army), on the other hand, informed of the destruction caused by Boko Haram and how those who lived in Maiduguri were well aware of the plots leading to the onslaught of terrorism that has now become a cankerworm in the nation’s fabric. She said she decided to take notes of the events that were happening as entries in her diary, knowing that they could become resources for the future since most people didn’t seem to do anything about what was going on before the attakcs started happening. To protect her life, she fictionalised the actual characters represented in her non-fiction book, while emphasising that the book is a factual account of some of the background events leading to the breakout of Boko Haram.
What was surprising from her revelation was that while the government and everyone active in the centre of the then emerging terrorism knew those involved and the plots, including the training of future terrorists that were taking place in forests in Borno State, the government couldn’t arrest the situation before it escalated and became what it is today. Hers was also a telling revelation about the hard truths about Boko Haram and the birth of insecurity in the Northeast and other parts of the country as we know it today.
Sule (Not So Terrible People) equally shared that while growing up and schooling in Demonstration Secondary School, Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, Kaduna State, she witnessed the manifestation of jins in some students who were said to be possessed by spirit beings that sometimes manifested in strange ways. Thus started her fascination with spirituality and mysticism, the nerve centre of her work. She also enthused that it is her belief that people aren’t inherently bad or good. So, her work partly seeks to highlight the dualities of life by juxtaposing the known and the unknown in the formation of a creative work that reimagines the complexities of the human experience. Her nuanced explication of the core of her work fostered a deeper appreciation of the depth of her artistic vision as a writer.
The guest authors also read excerpts from their works and responded to questions from the audience. The reading and conversation soon came to an end as Mr. Agbese gave a brief remark about the festival, opportunities and collaborations that creatives and innovators could benefit from. It was a beautiful experience of artistic immersion and networking.
Sadly, I couldn’t stay back to enjoy the rest of the programmes as I had other engagements to attend to. So, Qasim and I left, leaving Afrika behind to enjoy the rest of the programme on our behalf. But I hope to visit the CAVIC centre soon to deepen my understanding of what they do and explore opportunities for collaboration. I hope Afrika would agree to take me there now that he has finally established contact with his ‘Idoma-brother’, who is doing wonderful things for the art and creative sector in Abuja.
November 8, 2025, will certainly be remembered as a memorable day when we discovered the CAVIC centre and shared laughter in its womb.
