Leah Sharibu in focus as Senator Sampson joined Ifowodo in Abuja reading, conversation
By Samuel Udoma
IT was an evening of delightful, yet thought-provoking poetry as writers, activists and eminent personalities gathered at the Roving Heights Bookshop, Garki, Abuja, for poetry readings from Dr. Ogaga Ifowodo’s newest collection, Why Does God Need A Gun?. The evening’s conversation bothered on the themes of faith, violence and power, and was moderated by the literary promoter, Salamatu Sule.
The author, Ifowodo, is an award-winning Nigerian poet, lawyer, scholar and human rights activist. He is a winner of ANA Prize for Poetry and the PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award.
Poet-Senator Ekong Sampson, representing Akwa Ibom South, Ambassador Albert Omotayo, former Nigerian Ambassador to Mozambique, Professor Jibrin Ibrahim, a prominent political scientist and writer, poet Dike Chukwumerije, Mallam Garba Shehu, a former Spokesman to late President Muhammadu Buhari, Dr. Chido Onumah, were among the notable names at the gathering.
As the session progressed, the case of Leah Sharibu and other issues of insecurity took centre stage. Ifowodo, in his well-crafted lines, re-imagined the fate of the Leah Sharibu and what it means to resist, while standing on the honour of her faith against intolerant assailants. Ifowodo also read from another of his collections, A Good Mourning.
In the presentations that followed, the plight of Sharibu – a Nigerian schoolgirl who was abducted by terrorists from Government Girls Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe State, on February 19, 2018, was discussed at length by speakers. Leah who was 18 at the time, was reportedly held back by the terrorists, while others were released, following her refusal to denounce her Christian faith and convert to Islam.
Senator Sampson, in his presentation, bemoaned the fate of Sharibu and others who have been caught in the vicious web of insecurity. The lawmaker who has had a sustained advocacy against insecurity in the country, often raising the issue at Senate Plenary, said that “insecurity is like a virus, you are either infected or affected,” a position corroborated by Sule and others present.
Sampson, while contributing, read from one of his latest poems ‘The Missing Gap Tooth,’ and also from ‘Masks.’ He called for collaboration by all and sundry towards tackling the menace of banditry and terrorism in Nigeria. Sampson noted that it was time the people took ownership of the country’s security architecture, so they can best protect their lives.
The top parliamentarian noted further that it was imperative that writers be taken more seriously for predicting the future, adding that the renowned writer, Cyprian Ekwensi wrote prophetically about banditry in The Passport of Mallam Ilia, an eighty-page novel published in 1960.
Senator Sampson used the occasion to announce that Uyo Book Club for which he is as patron has been actively promoting reading culture in Nigeria and stirring critical conversations. Speaker after speaker offered their insights on the discourse, as they commended Ifowodo on his latest addition to his line of anthologies.
Last Saturday’s gathering for Ifowodo and the tribe of writers offered yet another vista on the conversation around faith, tolerance and human rights in contemporary Nigeria.
Senator Ekong Sampson (left); Dr. Ogaga Ifowodo and Salamatu Sule after the reading and conversation… in Abuja
