By  Ifeanyi Ndukwe, Awka

Nigerian writer and journalist, Izunna Okafor has been awarded the Outstanding Indigenous Language Media Content Creator of the Year in the 2022 Anambra Media/Movie Excellence Awards.

The annual award event, which held in Awka, Anambra State capital on Sunday night, was organized by the Association of Digital Media Core Advocates (ADMCA) and also saw other individuals and media firms emerge winners in different categories.

Speaking at the event, Founder and National President of the Association of Digital Media Core Advocates (ADMCA), Comrade Harris Chuma-Odili said the Association is at the centre of changing the narrative in the media landscape by engaging ethics, transparency and integrity in the media ecosystem; while the Anambra Media/Movie Excellence Awards, which is currently in its 4th edition, recognizes and rewards media professionals who are doing outstandingly well in the media industry.

Earlier speaking, the Director-General of ADMCA, Comrade (Mrs.) Ada Nwanagum, who hinted that media and movie practitioners are respected for the values they add to the society, further explained that awardees for this year's edition were drawn from both media and movie industries, as well as some outstanding individuals who were given Special Recognition awards.

The well-attended event, which also featured a paper presentation by Ostende Udoka, had many dignitaries, top government functionaries, media experts, Nollywood stars, and other members of the public in attendance.

Aside Izunna Okafor, who was awarded the Outstanding Indigenous Language Media Content Creator of the Year 2022; other awardees and awards announced at the event include a federal lawmaker, Hon. Chris Azubogu (Best Media-Friendly Lawmaker of the Year, 2022); Benneth Nwankwo (Outstanding Movie Maker 2022); ABS FM Radio Awka (Best Radio Station 2022); Engr. Dr. Agbili Martin Agbili (Special Recognition Award); TEET Dept. AIRS (Best Online Media Team 2022); Amb. Clemson Cornell (Special Recognition Award); Comr. Onwuzulike John Udemezue (Best Journalist 2022); Innocent Nduanya (Special Recognition Award); Ikeanyionwu Love Nma (Outstanding Social Media Influencer); Emeka McPherson Ernest Maduka (Upcoming Actor of the Year 2022), among others.

Addressing newsmen shortly after receiving the Award, Izunna Okafor, who is also a diglot writer, the 2015 Winner of Nigerian Writers Award and a 2022 Fellow of Ebedi International Writers Residency, said the newest award made it a total of 35 national and international awards he has won in journalism and creative writing.

While appreciating the organizers of the Award, Okafor, who has authored and edited many books in Igbo and English languages, with over a thousand online publications, said the Award would spur him to do more, especially in the area of writing in Igbo language.

Recall that Okafor is the Founder of Chinua Achebe Literary Festival and Memorial Lecture, as well as the Editor-in-Chief of Chinua Achebe Poetry/Essay Anthology, which is an international poetry and essay anthology published in honour of Chinua Achebe.

At the Anambra Newspapers and Printing Corporation where he works as journalist, he is a reporter in both English and Igbo languages, as well as the Anchor of Ka Ọ Dị Taa newspaper, which is the only  Igbo language newspaper currently in existence anywhere in the world.

He is also the Managing Editor of Igbo Radio, an online newspaper headquartered in Canada; and a freelance journalist for many local and international news platforms.

Books are treasure chests for in them are ancient and modern wisdom which can help one become better and achieve more in life. One of the hallmarks of a good book is that the book reads you, that is, it exposes your true self and state to you. Today, Ignatius Obinna Onuoha have given us such a book – one that is not only nicely written, but also has the ability to relate to our circumstances, and advise us as true friends would.

The Model Man is written with such a passion, responsiveness and mastery that you are able to feel the writers’ heartbeats in it. There is a release of energy based on optimism in this book, with stories that will motivate the reader into gaining relevance and building legacy.

Do you truly want your life to change for the better? If  yes! Then buying and reading this book: The Model Man by Ignatius Obinna Onuoha is one of the best investments you can make with your money and time in this season for the reward is beautifully amazing. Get your copy, read it, re-read it and you will be glad you did; I am sure of this.

Book Reviewer: Ifeanyi Enoch Onuoha

Ifeanyi Enoch Onuoha is an inspirational writer, public speaker, ghostwriter, creative content developer, avid reader, thought leader, idea editor and published author of life-enriching books who helps writers and other creatives in their journey to becoming better brands.

LOVE IN LOVE

(A 2021 Special Valentine Poetry Collection)

Editor's Note:

In the word of Robert Frost, we love the things we love for what they are. 

In consummate concordance with this age-long apothegm, a group of poets decided to give the 2021 Valentine Day a poetic essence, literarily out of their love for what it is. 

Exploring the theme of Love, these eight poets and poetry lovers, in pursuance of their ardency, lent their voices, by donating stanzas of poetic condiments, which congealed into a concise masterpiece, entitled "Love in Love"

In its third edition now, this Special Valentine Poetry Collection which started in 2019 contains these romantic lines of epopees by these muses and inamoratos.

Compiled and edited by Izunna Okafor, this (though very concise) collection also holds the message and unfold the expressions of these gallant poets to and for the world, the lovers and the Love itself, as the 2021 Valentine Day stages.

They write:

Pure as crystal

Mature and unskeptical

Love beyond love

Love in love

And like a molten gold

My love oozes warmth

Even in the cold we are

Love in love!

Life they say is a proverb

Master this verb, it's an action

Echo in echo out

Love is a lieutenant 

Love is also natural

It comes from any direction

Waters the hearted 

Renders the powerful powerless

Love in love

Love is life

In its season, all thrive

When it seizes, there's strive

Love is when you lend a helping hand

Like Italian fine wine

You taste sweeter with age

I look at you, and with praise

My heart is filled

Grateful to the Great Universe for the gift of you

Soothing gaze of the moon...you

Fresh like the morning dew

Soft work, this, Love in Love is! 

Hence on this lonely path

May we cling softly to ourselves

And make peaceful vow

Of everlasting bliss

May the rain and sun

Water & shine on this garden of love

Gently, as it grows like a nation

When we sing of love... 

we sing of a mother and her child

we sing of a book and its reader

we sing of a child and his toy;

we sing of God and mankind

We sing of many things that have feelings,

we sing of hearts and prayers,

flowers, wishes, Aspirations and Lovers...

Because love has a different name to different

people,

But it goes with the same language everywhere.

Love in love

White, red, green, colourless...

Its colours and symbols

Love in Love

Love afresh, love in the air

Love above, love in the under

Love beyond love

Love in Love.

Contributors:

Izunna Okafor

Udo Okoronkwo-chukwu

Ibiam Ude Ufiem

Nnadiekwe Chinweike

Divine Ogonna

O'star Eze

Nwokeabia Ifeanyi John

John Chizoba Vincent

(Compiled and Edited by Izunna Okafor)

It is with a thankful heart of joy that young Nigerian Writer and Journalist, Izunna Okafor excelled unto his 27th rung in the ladder of years.

This was contained in a statement issued by the celebrant, Okafor, who celebrated his silver jubilee last year, being a fellow of January 9th 1994.

Recalling and recounting how hideous it was for him in his early years, particularly in his teens; Okafor, an award-winning said his life was indeed a testimony, and also appreciated God for His marvelous work and infinite mercies.

He went memory lane to narrate how he studied his primary school (at the Community Primary School, Ebenator) and some parts of his secondary school (at the Community Secondary School, Ebenator) barefooted, and with tattered school uniform, to the credit of his family's background.

According to him, being a son of a palm-wine tapper, hunter and electrician in a rural village; he started struggling his way out early in life, precisely during his secondary days when he began to do some handiworks, such as cutting palmnut, clearing bushes for farmers, tilling the ground/farmland, packing/dumping sands (in rivers), among things.

It was from these, which he said he was doing after school hours, that he saved money to publish his first book —Ikem's Adventure— back then in 2012 during his secondary school days —a single act that did not only pave way for metamorphosis in the taste of his life story, but also eventually landed him on the track of greatness where he rides and resides till date.

Born (9th January 1994) to the family of Mr. Josephat Okafor Udeze and Mrs. Susan Okafor Udeze in Ebenator, Nnewi South Local Government Area of Anambra State, Izunna Okafor, is an award-winning young Nigerian Novelist, Poet, Essayist, Journalist, Editor, Translator, Publicist, Igbo Language Activist and an Administrator.

He graduated from the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, where he studied Public Administration. He also holds O.N.D in Public Administration from the same school.

A published and best-selling author, Izunna books include 'Ikem's Adventure' (his first book) published in Nigeria in 2012, during his secondary school; 'The Curse of A Widow' (his second novel), published in 2013; 'The Faithful Children' (his third book), published in 2014 (which received outstanding recognition in the Ezenwa Ohaeto Prize for Young Nigerian Novelists 2015); 'Ajọ Enyi,' his debut Igbo novel and fourth book, published in 2015. 

With 'Ajo Enyi', he became the first person to win the Nigerian Writers Award 2015/2016 as the Indigenous Writer of the Year. Also, with Ajo Enyi, he won the Pita Nwanna Award for Igbo Literature in 2015; and also got shortlisted for The 2015 Young Nigerian Writer of The Year, and the 2017 Nigerian Writers Award.

His other books include "African Blood" (A Short Story), "Nzúzù M Egbuo M," (Igbo novel), "Educated Illiterate," and "Teach Me Grammar."

He has been published in many anthologies, both nationally and internationally; has thousands of articles/essays as well as poems and short stories published online to his credit. 

A diglot writer, Izunna writes perfectly in Igbo and English languages, and has published widely in both languages. 

He has won and been nominated/shortlisted for a number of awards, which include:

The Nigerian Writers Award/Indigenous Writer of the Year 2015/2016

Pita Nwana Prize for Igbo Literature 2015

Society of Young Nigerian Writers Award Nigeria

Nigeria Heritage Icon Award 2016/Young Writer of the Year, Federal Republic of Nigeria

Merit Award from Society of Young Nigerian Writers (2016)

Award of Recognition from Students Union Government, Unizik (2017)

Nigerian Writers Award/Young Writer of the Year 2015/2016

SLAM Hero Youth International Award/Innovative Youth of the Year 2016

Anambra Exclusive Youth Choice Award/Youth Writer of the Year 2016

Award of Academic Excellence from the National Association of Public Administration Students (2016)

Inspire Award 2017/Outstanding Youth in Academics

Academic Icon of The Year 2017 (from National Association of Public Administration Students, NAPAS)

Anambra Campus Award 2017/Campus Writer of the Year 2017

Award of Excellence from the Society of Young Nigerian Writers 2016

The Future Award Africa/African Prize for Education, 2016.

Anambra Exclusive Youth Choice Award/Outstanding Youth of the Year 2017

Youth Writer of the Year 2016

NAPAS Essay Competition 2017

Starlett Entertainment Award/Creative Writer of the Year 2016

Young Author Award, 2018

Creative Crew Africa/Young Talent of the Year 2018, among others

Anambra Campus Award/Campus Best Writer 2018

Anambra Campus Award/Campus Best Journalist of the Year 2018

Best Secretary General of NAPAS (2018)

Young Achievers Award/Best Young Writer of the Year 2019.

Joint Winner, ANPC Best Staff of the Year 2019

Recognition Award, Anambra Through A Lens, 2020

Certificate of Award from SprinNG Literary Movement, 2020

Young Achievers Award/Most Influential Young Writer of the Year, 2020 (though yet-to-be awarded, due to COVID-19)

Certificate of Recognition, from ImpactField Global Initiative, 2018

Certificate of Award from Applex Art and Creative Crew Africa, 2018

Certificate of Completion for the SprinNG Advancement Fellowship, 2020

Certificate of Participation, Naija Haiku Poetry Workshop, 2020, among others.

At the age of 21, Izunna was nominated for The Future Award Africa 2016/African Prize For Education, which is the biggest and most prestigious African Youth Award.

He has been published in many literary magazines, websites, and blogs.

Aside being a creative writer, Izunna is also an Igbo Language Activist who has played and continued to play great roles in sustaining and promoting the Igbo Language and culture. He preaches and takes the 'gospel' of Igbo language and the need for its sustenance to ever nook and cranny, ranging from schools to churches, Radio/Television Stations, and to other public places, being part if his own contribution and strategic measures to ensure that the Igbo Language does not go extinct as predicted by the UNESCO in 2012.

He has also been featured in many radio and television stations across the country on this mission.

In addition to these, Izunna is also a renowned journalist and columnist currently working with the Anambra Newspaper and Printing Coporation, the publishers of National Light Newspaper, Ka Ọ Dị Taa —which is the only Igbo Language Newspaper in Nigeria —and Sportslight Xtra.

He also writes for Igbo Radio which is an online Igbo Language news hub with its headquarter in Canada, as well as freelance for other media/publishing houses, both the online and print media.

Izunna is the Coordinator of the Society of Young Nigerian Writers q (Anambra State Chapter), as well as the initiator, "Chinua Achebe Literary Festival," which is an annual literary event organized in memory and honour of Late Prof. Chinua Achebe, under the umbrella of Society of Young Nigerian Writers, Anambra Chapter. 

He is the Editor-in-Chief of Chinua Achebe Poetry/Essay Anthology which is an anthology annually published in honour of Nigerian literary star, Late Prof. Achebe, and which attracts entries and submissions from different countries of the world. The most recent of these anthologies is the "Achebe: A Man of the People" which was published in 2020, during the year's edition of the Chinua Achebe Literary Festival.

Izunna is the Chairman, Project Coordinator, Writers Against COVID-19 Movement, as well as the Editor-in-Chief of the "Ripostes of the Locked Down Voices" which is an international anthology of poems and essays on Coronavirus.

During his undergraduate days, Izunna was part of the editorial team of the FAMASSA Magazine.

He is Ambassador of TFA Africa in Nigeria, and the Ambassador of Read Across Nigeria in Anambra State.

An alumnus of Unizik, he is also a former Secretary General of the National Association of Public Administration Students (NAPAS), as well as the current National Secretary General of the Society of Young Nigerian Writers.

In 2019, Izunna met and discussed literature with Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, at a literary evening that climaxed the 2019 Purple Hibiscus Creative Writing Workshop, organized by the international literary figure, Adichie.

By SYNW Anambra

It was a moment of encomium and a gathering of 'who is who' in the creative and literary arts, as young writers in Anambra State hosted the 2020 Chinua Achebe Literary Festival And Maiden Memorial Lecture, in honour of a foremost Nigerian literary icon, Late Prof. Chinua Achebe.

Organized by the Society of Young Nigerian Writers (Anambra State Chapter), the literary event themed "Chinua Achebe: Our Heritage In A New Normal" and which held at the Anambra State Central Library, Awka, also was also used to mark Achebe's 90th posthumous birthday.

Delivering the Chinua Achebe Memorial Lecture, titled "If the Dead Could Speak, What Would Achebe Say of Present Day Nigeria?", the Keynote Speaker at the event, Mr. Oseloka Henry Obaze, described Achebe as "The Unacknowledged Nobel Laureate” and a legend, who will eternally be known simply his surname –ACHEBE, just like Shakespeare, Yates, Dickens, Shaw and Byron, and other great intellectuals and legends.

He said, “Achebe, as we all know, wrote extensively about Nigeria. At times, he did so presciently. In one instance, he correctly predicted a military coup. Though that happenstance was an inexplicable coincidence, he almost got himself into trouble with Nigerian authorities. In two other instances, 2004 and 2011, he rejected high national awards in protestation of the squalid “bankrupt and lawless fiefdom” Nigeria had become.

“At another time – in 1983 – Achebe wrote a pithy little seminal book, wherein he dissected with surgical precision, The Trouble With Nigeria. As they say, great things come in small sizes. There was perhaps a reason why Achebe wrote that small but mighty book.

“Before then, another pithy book, by Peter Pan Enahoro titled, How to Be Nigerian had given a unvarnished glimpse into the mindset of the true Nigerian; the mindset that led us to our present new normal and conundrum- a nation of severe and deep-seated paradoxes – where we know what is good for us, but refuse to do it; a nation where we have the best world class players in politics and sports, yet frequently elect and select Third-rate teams to represent us; a nation endowed with riches in human capital and natural resources, yet one that earned the dubious distinction of being the poverty capital of the world."

Further dissecting Nigeria's situation and challenges, Obaze who himself is an author, poet, and former Secretary to the State Government, added, "Were Achebe to speak to us from his grave, I suspect that against the backdrop of the Nigeria I have just narrated, he would say the same thing over and over."

"...In his lifetime Achebe spoke Truth to Power. Today, can those in power find it within their grasp to understand the Power of the Truth Achebe told Nigeria?" he rhetorically asked.

Earlier in his opening remarks, the Chairman of the Occasion, Sir Chuka Nnabuife, who is also an author, art curator, veteran award-winning journalist, and MD/CEO of Anambra Newspapers and Printing Corporation, noted that Achebe was not only a great writer but also a great sage, and "a man who was to some extent of his age, a vendor of knowledge of the ages before him but also a harbinger of wisdom of the age before him."

He lauded the organizers of the event, which he described as worth sustaining, as, according to him, Achebe is worth celebrating for life.

In his address of welcome, the initiator of the event and Coordinator of the Society of Young Nigerian Writers (Anambra State Chapter), Izunna Okafor noted that Chinua Achebe Literary Festival which started in 2016 is an annual literary they host in honour of Achebe on his birthday (every November 16), and through which they call for Achebe's immortalisation, immortalize him in their own way (through annual publication of Chinua Achebe Poetry/Essay Anthology), and also promote creative writing and literary arts in general.

He explained that the event was previously being hosted only as Chinua Achebe Literary Festival, but in this year's edition, being its fifth edition and anniversary, they introduced the Chinua Achebe Memorial Lecture into it, which is the first of its kind hosted anywhere in the world in honour of the legend.

He called on the Anambra State Government, private individuals and corporate bodies to recognize, reward, encourage and empower young writers in the state, and also  pleaded with them to undertake the annual sponsorship of the event, in honour of Achebe the legend, who he said, till date, is yet to be befittingly immortalized with any ‘structure'.

On his own part, the Special Guest of Honour at the event, Prof. Peter Umeadi, who is also an art enthusiast and former Chief Judge of Anambra State, urged young writers to keep writing, and never get discouraged. "Before you can put anything out, you must be courageous. You don’t have to think 'Oh! What will people say about what I have said or written',” he advised.

Others who graced and spoke at the well-attended event included the state's Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Mr. C-Don Adinuba; the Chairman of Ohaneze Ndi Igbo (Anambra State Chapter), Chief Damian Okeke-Ogene; veteran Nollywood Actor, Bob-Manuel Udokwu who is also the Senior Special Assistant to Governor Willie Obiano on Creative Media; the Senior Special Assistant to Governor Obiano on Secondary School Education, Dr Paul Ifeanyi, multiple award-winning author, Mr. Odili Ujubuonu.

Others were the Special Assistant to the Governor on Communications, Mr. Maxim Uzoatu; the Director, Anambra State Library Board, Dr. Nkechi Udeze; author and literary enthusiast, Mr. Isidore Uzoatu; and Architect Chinelo Ofoche, among others.

The event featured lectures, award presentation, Chinua Achebe Essay Writing Competition (sponsored by National Light Newspaper, for the participating secondary schools); art exhibition, discussion on the Fifth Chinua Achebe Poetry/Essay Anthology, entitled "Achebe: A Man of the People"; cutting of Achebe's 90th posthumous birthday cake, among others.

It will be a gathering of writers, intellectuals, literary activists and book lovers from different parts of the world tomorrow, Wednesday  (November 16), at Awka, the capital city of Anambra State, as the 2022 Chinua Achebe Literary Festival and Memorial Lecture holds in grand style.

The Coordinator of the Society of Young Nigerian Writers (Anambra State Chapter), Mr. Izunna Okafor, made this known in Awka while giving update on the association's preparedness for the 2022 edition of the event.

According to him, Chinua Achebe Literary Festival and Memorial Lecture, initiated in  2016 and currently in its seventh edition, is a literary event the association annually hosts in honour of Nigerian literary icon, Late Prof. Chinua Achebe, in celebration of his life, works and legacies in the literary field and beyond. He added that this year's event will (as usual) hold on Achebe's birthday, November 16, 2022, at the Anambra State Central e-Library-Library, Awka, starting at 11.am; with many dignitaries and participants in attendance.

While revealing this year's theme of the event as “Literature, Intellectuals and National Development: The Achebe Model”; Okafor further disclosed that the 2022 Achebe Lecture will be delivered by the award-winning author, journalist and literary-cum-political activist, Uzor Maxim Uzoatu; while the National Vice President of Ọhaneze Ndị Igbo, Chief Damian Okeke-Ogene, will Chair the occasion.

In his word, “The event will feature the 2022 Achebe Lecture, drama, spoken word poetry, announcement of the winners of the 2022 Chinua Achebe Essay Writing Competition (for secondary schools), announcement and recognition of outstanding entrants for the 2022 Chinua Achebe Poetry/Essay Anthology, special reading, award/certificate presentation, among other literary packages slated for the day."

He added that the occasion will feature the unveiling and presentation of the seventh Chinua Achebe Poetry/Essay Anthology, entitled “Achebe the Soul Brother”, which is the association's newest international anthology of poems and essays, published in honour of Achebe.

The annual international anthology, he explained, is one of the writers' way of immortalizing Achebe, and contains poems, essays, and reviews written and submitted by writers from different countries of the world, in response to the 'Call for Submission' earlier made by the association.

Okafor, a veteran author and journalist, said the 2022 event is expected to be graced by top government functionaries and literary enthusiasts, including the Executive Governor of Anambra state, Prof. Charles Chukwuma Soludo, who is expected to declare the event open; and the Traditional Ruler of Obosi, H.R.H. Igwe Chidubem Iweka, who is the Royal Father of the Day; among other dignitaries.

He said the open-to-all event will also be graced by arrays of literary icons from within and outside the country, who will be storming Awka to honour the legendary Achebe.

According to him, some other guests expected at the event include the presidential candidate of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) for 2023 General Election, Prof. Peter Umeadi;  former governorship candidate in Anambra State, Chief Valentine Ozigbo; 2023 Labour Party senatorial candidate for Anambra Central Senatorial Zone, Chief Victor Umeh; the senator representing the Anambra Central, Iyom Uche Ekwunife; former Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Oseloka Obaze; among others.

Born November 16, 1930, Prof. Chinua Achebe, who hailed from Ogidi in Anambra State, was a foremost Nigerian writer and critic, and author of Things Fall Apart. He died on March 21, 2013, at the age of 82.

By Ifeanyi Okonkwo

Members of the Society of Young Nigerian Writers (SYNW) have condoled with Izunna Okafor, SYNW National Secretary and the initiator of the annual Chinua Achebe Literary Festival following the death of his father, Mr. Josephat Okafor Udeze.

SYNW described Mr. Josephat Okafor Udeze’s death as painful and disheartening.

SYNW President, Wole Adedoyin, made this known in a condolence message he issued which was made available to newsmen in Ibadan on Friday, November 11, 2022. 

SYNW prayed for the repose of the soul of the departed and encouraged Izunna Okafor to take solace in the fact that his father led a life worthy of emulation.

According to the Message, “We received the news of the demise of your beloved father, Mr. Josephat Okafor Udeze with sadness, but we are consoled by the fact that he lived a life of dedicated service to humanity. From our research, your father was a strong pillar in his community, a disciplinarian and would be missed by all those whose lives he affected in positive ways.

 “We share in your sorrow and pains at this period and we pray that God will grant you and the family the courage to bear the loss, as we also pray for the repose of the soul of your departed father.

“On behalf of the entire members of SYNW, we mourn with you on the unfortunate demise of your beloved father,” he said.

SYNW also regretted that the unfortunate incident happened just six days to the 2022 Chinua Achebe Literary Festival and Memorial Lecture, which Okafor and his team were already at the peak of its preparation before the sudden news of his father.

Recall that Okafor's father, Josephat Okafor Udeze, died on Thursday, November 11, 2022. He was aged 68, and died after a brief illness, in his hometown, Ebenator, Nnewi South Local Government Area of Anambra State.

SYNW finally prayed God to give Okafor’s family, friends, community and associates the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.

By Ifeanyi Okonkwo

The Coordinator of Society of Young Nigerian Writers (Anambra State Chapter) and initiator/host of the Chinua Achebe Literary Festival and Memorial Lecture, Izunna Okafor, has announced that the 2022 edition of the event will still hold, despite losing his beloved father, Mr. Josephat Okafor Udeze, just six days to the event.

Okafor, in an interview with this reporter, described his father's death as his greatest loss and the worst news ever in his life, and said it happened at the unexpected time.

It was gathered that Okafor's father, aged 68, died on Thursday, November 10, 2022, after a brief illness, thereby throwing Izunna Okafor and the entire Okafor Family into an unexpected period of mourning.

While describing his late father as a cheerful, gallant, caring, hardworking, and benevolent man loved by all; Okafor said his Dad (popularly known Joe De Things) meant the world to him, and would be so dearly missed by all who had come across him, as he was a man of the people, always ensuring that anyone who came across him was happy and comfortable. He also attested that his father, a well-known electrician, lived a remarkable and heroic lifestyle; and prayed for the peaceful repose of his soul.

However, when asked whether the 7th Chinua Achebe Literary Festival and Memorial Lecture, slated for November 16 will still hold this year; Okafor, who is a multiple award-winning author and journalist, said the event will still hold as planned; even though he is in a mourning mood.

“Although I'm mourning my dad, and my entire family is in sorrow; but what can I do? We had begun and gone far with the planning of the event before this unfortunate news came. It is so painful, and happened just six days to the event. I must confess that it truly ‘disorganized’ me. Nevertheless, the event will still hold as planned,” he said.

Okafor further recounted that similar incident also befell him in 2016 when he was planning that year's edition of the event, as his younger brother, Elochukwu Okafor died just few weeks to the event. He, however, said that year's event eventually held as planned, despite the emotional trauma he was suffered as a result of the death of the 16-year-old brother.

“That's part of our selfless services to humanity, and our little contributions to the growth and development of literary arts and the society at large,” he concluded.

The 2021 Chinua Achebe Literary Festival and Memorial Lecture will hold on November 16, 2022 at the Anambra State Central e-Library, Awka, starting at 11.am, with many guests, writers and literary enthusiasts expected from different parts of the world.

Writers, intellectuals, literary activists and book lovers from different parts of the world will, on Wednesday, November 16, storm Awka, the capital city of Anambra State for the 2022 Chinua Achebe Literary Festival and Memorial Lecture.

The Coordinator of the Society of Young Nigerian Writers (Anambra State Chapter), Mr. Izunna Okafor, made this known in Awka while giving update on the association's preparedness for the 2022 edition of the event.

According to him, Chinua Achebe Literary Festival and Memorial Lecture, initiated in  2016 and currently in its seventh edition, is a literary event the association annually hosts in honour of Nigerian literary icon, Late Prof. Chinua Achebe, in celebration of his life, works and legacies in the literary field and beyond. He added that this year's event will (as usual) hold on Achebe's birthday, November 16, 2022, at the Anambra State Central e-Library-Library, Awka, starting at 11.am; with many dignitaries and participants in attendance.

While revealing this year's theme of the event as “Literature, Intellectuals and National Development: The Achebe Model”; Okafor further disclosed that the 2022 Achebe Lecture will be delivered by the award-winning author, journalist and literary-cum-political activist, Uzor Maxim Uzoatu; while the National Vice President of Ọhaneze Ndị Igbo, Chief Damian Okeke-Ogene, will Chair the occasion.

In his word, “The event will feature the 2022 Achebe Lecture, drama, spoken word poetry, announcement of the winners of the 2022 Chinua Achebe Essay Writing Competition (for secondary schools), announcement and recognition of outstanding entrants for the 2022 Chinua Achebe Poetry/Essay Anthology, special reading, award/certificate presentation, among other literary packages slated for the day."

He added that the occasion will feature the unveiling and presentation of the seventh Chinua Achebe Poetry/Essay Anthology, entitled “Achebe the Soul Brother”, which is the association's newest international anthology of poems and essays, published in honour of Achebe. 

The annual international anthology, he explained, is one of the writers' way of immortalizing Achebe, and contains poems, essays, and reviews written and submitted by writers from different countries of the world, in response to the 'Call for Submission' earlier made by the association.

Okafor, a veteran author and journalist, said the 2022 event is expected to be graced by top government functionaries and literary enthusiasts, including the Executive Governor of Anambra state, Prof. Charles Chukwuma Soludo, who is expected to declare the event open; and the Traditional Ruler of Obosi, H.R.H. Igwe Chidubem Iweka, who is the Royal Father of the Day; among other dignitaries.

He said the open-to-all event will also be graced by arrays of literary icons from within and outside the country, who will be storming Awka to honour the legendary Achebe.

Born November 16, 1930, Prof. Chinua Achebe, who hailed from Ogidi in Anambra State, was a foremost Nigerian writer and critic, and author of Things Fall Apart. He died on March 21, 2013, at the age of 82.

By  Ifeanyi Ndukwe, Awka

Nigerian writer and journalist, Izunna Okafor has been awarded the Outstanding Indigenous Language Media Content Creator of the Year in the 2022 Anambra Media/Movie Excellence Awards.

The annual award event, which held in Awka, Anambra State capital on Sunday night, was organized by the Association of Digital Media Core Advocates (ADMCA) and also saw other individuals and media firms emerge winners in different categories.

Speaking at the event, Founder and National President of the Association of Digital Media Core Advocates (ADMCA), Comrade Harris Chuma-Odili said the Association is at the centre of changing the narrative in the media landscape by engaging ethics, transparency and integrity in the media ecosystem; while the Anambra Media/Movie Excellence Awards, which is currently in its 4th edition, recognizes and rewards media professionals who are doing outstandingly well in the media industry.

Earlier speaking, the Director-General of ADMCA, Comrade (Mrs.) Ada Nwanagum, who hinted that media and movie practitioners are respected for the values they add to the society, further explained that awardees for this year's edition were drawn from both media and movie industries, as well as some outstanding individuals who were given Special Recognition awards.

The well-attended event, which also featured a paper presentation by Ostende Udoka, had many dignitaries, top government functionaries, media experts, Nollywood stars, and other members of the public in attendance.

Aside Izunna Okafor, who was awarded the Outstanding Indigenous Language Media Content Creator of the Year 2022; other awardees and awards announced at the event include a federal lawmaker, Hon. Chris Azubogu (Best Media-Friendly Lawmaker of the Year, 2022); Benneth Nwankwo (Outstanding Movie Maker 2022); ABS FM Radio Awka (Best Radio Station 2022); Engr. Dr. Agbili Martin Agbili (Special Recognition Award); TEET Dept. AIRS (Best Online Media Team 2022); Amb. Clemson Cornell (Special Recognition Award); Comr. Onwuzulike John Udemezue (Best Journalist 2022); Innocent Nduanya (Special Recognition Award); Ikeanyionwu Love Nma (Outstanding Social Media Influencer); Emeka McPherson Ernest Maduka (Upcoming Actor of the Year 2022), among others.

Addressing newsmen shortly after receiving the Award, Izunna Okafor, who is also a diglot writer, the 2015 Winner of Nigerian Writers Award and a 2022 Fellow of Ebedi International Writers Residency, said the newest award made it a total of 35 national and international awards he has won in journalism and creative writing.

While appreciating the organizers of the Award, Okafor, who has authored and edited many books in Igbo and English languages, with over a thousand online publications, said the Award would spur him to do more, especially in the area of writing in Igbo language.

Recall that Okafor is the Founder of Chinua Achebe Literary Festival and Memorial Lecture, as well as the Editor-in-Chief of Chinua Achebe Poetry/Essay Anthology, which is an international poetry and essay anthology published in honour of Chinua Achebe.

At the Anambra Newspapers and Printing Corporation where he works as journalist, he is a reporter in both English and Igbo languages, as well as the Anchor of Ka Ọ Dị Taa newspaper, which is the only  Igbo language newspaper currently in existence anywhere in the world.

He is also the Managing Editor of Igbo Radio, an online newspaper headquartered in Canada; and a freelance journalist for many local and international news platforms.

By Chinwendu Uzoatu

The organizers of the Anambra Media/Movie Excellence Awards have unveiled a Nigerian Federal Lawmaker, Chris Azubogu; a Nigerian writer and journalist, Izunna Okafor; social media handle of Anambra State Governor, Soludo TV, and others, as some of the winners of the 2022 edition of the Award.

The National President of the Association of Digital Media Core Advocates (ADMCA), Comrade Harris Chuma-Odili made this known in a full list of the 2022 awardees made available to newsmen in Awka, the Anambra State capital.

According to him, the annual award which is being organized by ADMCA, recognizes and rewards media professionals, and is currently in its 4th edition, having started in 2019 with a plethora of winners and success stories. He further noted that the 2022 edition of the event will hold at Mable Arch Hotel, Awka, on September 25, at 5PM.

Comrade Chuma-Odili, a renowned filmmaker, strategic communications expert and culture exponent, said awardees for this year's edition were drawn from both media and movie industries, as well as some special recognition awards.

The full list of the awardees and their awards, he said, include: Chief Barr. N. Akpudo, Special Recognition Award; Benneth Nwankwo, Outstanding Movie Maker 2022; Izunna Okafor, Outstanding Indigenous Language Media Content Producer; Ikeanyionwu Love Nma, Outstanding Social Media Influencer; Ada Enugwu-Agidi, Outstanding Social Media Influencer; Upcoming Actor of the Year 2022, Emeka McPherson Ernest Maduka; Hon. Chris Azubogu, Best Media Friendly Lawmaker 2022; ABS FM Radio Awka, Best Radio Station 2022; TEET Dept. AIRS, Best Online Media Team 2022; Comr. Onwuzulike John Udemezue, Best Journalist 2022; Obi Dike, Special Recognition Award; and Soludo TV, Special Recognition Award.

Others include: Ohamadike TV, Best Online News Agency 2022; Jenny Dion Nwanegbo, Special Recognition Award; Engr. Dr. Agbili Martin Agbili, Special Recognition Award; Amb. Clemson Cornell Nnonyelu, Special Recognition Award; Oby Okafor, Special Recognition Award; Amaka Obi, Special Recognition Award; Arc. Uganeme Emeka, Special Recognition Award; Maduafor Chidiebere, Special Recognition Award; and Innocent Nduanya, Special Recognition Award.