Former Women Affairs Minister Maryam Ciroma fired up authors at ANA Abuja’s end-of-year dinner, calling on Nigeria’s wordsmiths to wield their craft as weapons against patriarchy—writing histories that spotlight women’s struggles, push equal governance shots, and educate the girl child to propel the nation forward.
Speaking at the Mamman Vatsa Writers’ Village event themed “A Celebration of the Spoken Word and the Written Craft,” Ciroma slammed abysmal female reps falling short of the 35% National Gender Policy quota, begging for the Reserved Seats Bill to lock in women’s legislative slots and fulfill Beijing pledges—since Obasanjo’s era, we’ve lagged, with state assemblies often woman-free when laws impact us all.
ANA Abuja Chair Chukwudi Eze boasted exploding membership from 57 to over 1,000 via mentorships, star dialogues with Obasanjo and others, and “ANAtainment” honors—keynote Prof. Emeka Aniagolu and activist Prof. Udenta O. Udenta joined in celebrating spoken word, awards, and youth vibes for an egalitarian literary surge.
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