All the Memorable Moments from the first Book and Arts Festival in Sokoto
By: Taibat Omolade Alimi
The first Book and Arts Festival in Sokoto tagged SOBAFest was held on the 17th to 18th July. It was themed, “Changing the Narrative” and took the combined efforts of three literary platforms in Sokoto to bring it to fruition: Book O’clock Review, Poetry Club UDUS and Caliphate Arts and Literary Forum.
While the festival proper ran from 17th to 18th July, there had been other activities preceding it.
On 16th June 2021 at Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, what was tagged the #SOBAFestSeason, opened with an inter-school literary quiz competition, on the book Yar’fari by A’aisha Abdulkareem. The competition was among 11 secondary schools in Sokoto with two representatives each.
Three schools emerged top in the competition: Brilliant Footsteps Academy took the first prize, while Global Kids Academy and Holy Family Schools took the second and third prizes respectively. The winning schools got book prizes courtesy of Parresia Publishers, Masobe Books and Book O’clock Store. While consolation prizes were given to select students by the author of Yar’fari, A’aisha Abdulkahreem.
Following the quiz competition was a two-day virtual writing masterclass that held from the 26th to 27th of June. The masterclass was divided into two sessions: Poetry and Prose.
The Poetry class was themed “Transcribing Emotions Into Poetry” and was facilitated by award-winning poet / author of Your Crib, My Qibla, Saddiq Dzukogi while the Prose class was themed “Writing a Compelling Narrative” and was facilitated by award-winning writer, Sada Malumfashi. Both classes were interactive as participants engaged in practical online trainings and got hands-on feedback on their works.
In July, SOBAFest gained more recognition online as literary platforms started to write about it.
And then on the 10th and 11th of July, a two-day virtual book reading and chat was held with two contemporary authors: Azizah Idris on her book, A Sackful of Wishes and Abubakar Adam Ibrahim on his latest collection, Dreams and Assorted Nightmares.
Fine sessions as they both led the audience to the behind the scenes of their masterpieces.
Amidst virtual and live events, rehearsals for poetry and drama performances, a SOBAFest trailer going viral on all social media platforms, the festival proper would begin with series of physical events on Saturday, 17th July at the University Auditorium, Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto.
The event commenced at 11 am with a conversation between Umar Yandaki and Prof. Atiku Ahmad Dunfawa on the topic: “The Caliphate and its Artistic and Literary History". The chat exposed the audience to learning that arts and literature have always been at the heart of Sokoto. The founding people of the state were themselves very invested in the art, Prof. Dunfawa said in the course of the conversation.
Next to it was a book reading and chat with Prof. Asabe Kabir on her novel, “Destinies of Life". The session was moderated by the creative director of Book O’clock Review, Uchenna Emelife and they both discussed the book and literatures from northern Nigeria generally.
A play staged by the Usmanu Danfodiyo University Playhouse followed. It was such a beautiful one as it aptly communicated the theme of the festival.
The most anticipated event of the day, the Poetry Slam was ushered with sessions of spoken words by various artists. Two secondary school students of Brilliant Footsteps International Academy sold the crowd with their beautiful rendition of Dike Chukwumerije’s poem.
The slam would then begin and indeed meet all of the hype that surrounded it. The ten slammers gave it their best shots but as it is with every competition, there is always a winner. Abdulbasit Hussein was that winner. He got a cash prize, a plaque and books courtesy of Parresia Publishers and Masobe Books and the runners-up got same, but in lesser proportions.
The first day of the festival proper would come to a close with informal networking, face paintings, random photography, browsing of festival arts and books and more fun activities.
Day 2 of #SOBAFest21,18th July was both a virtual and a physical event.
It began by 12:30 pm with a virtual book reading with A’aisha Abdulkareem on her book Yar’fari, a session moderated by Hamza Aisha Maishanu. They discussed Yar’fari and the importance of literatures in addressing social issues. It was a fine session as the audience gleaned insights into the book.
What followed closely by 2PM was a virtual panel discussion moderated by Uchenna Emelife on "How Contemporary Arewa Voices Continue to Break Stereotypes". The panelists were Nasiba Babale, Sada Malumfashi and Salim Yunusa. Another fine conversation that had close to 50 people across the world, paying keen attention to the points raised by the panelists.
Jude Idada, award-winning writer and author of children’s text, Boom Boom was featured next for a book reading and chat at 4PM. The session was moderated by Taibat Omolade Alimi and for two hours, the duo discussed Boom Boom and the importance of children literature to the progress of a society.
The inaugural edition of Sokoto Book and Arts Festival wrapped up with the Night of Performance — a physical event featuring an all night open stage of performative arts. There was music, poetry, spoken words, dance, comedy, and much more.
Going by the success of this maiden edition, the narrative has indeed changed and is still changing.
Follow SOBAFest on all social media platforms to keep tabs with future activities. Medium= SOBAFEST, Instagram/twitter: @sobafest, Facebook: Sokoto Book and Arts Festival.
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Taibat Omolade Alimi is a 300 level undergraduate student of Literature in English. She is also a writer and a member of Book O’clock UDUS — the first book club in Usmanu Danfofiyo University, Sokoto.
