Bukar Usman, others honoured at Abubakar Imam memorial event
Penultimate Saturday, the gathering at Arewa House auditorium, Kaduna, was intense, colorful and eventful. It was a gathering of literary icons, academics, students and literary enthusiasts. The event was a merit award ceremony in memory of Abubakar Imam (1911-1981), organized by the Association of Hausa Book Authors (Alkalam) in conjunction with the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN).
The event kick-started by 10am with an opening prayer after which Malam Mahmoon Baba Ahmad, the patron of Alkalam took to the podium for a welcome address.
He said the main aim of the ceremony was to honor late Abubakar Imam, who dedicated his life to the development of education and Hausa literature.
In the same vein, the chairman of the occasion, Justice Umar Abdullahi commended the organizers of the event for honoring the late Imam, whom he said was a nationalist worthy of emulation. He called on Hausa writers to follow his footsteps in writing meaningful books for the development of society.
Professor Ango Abdullahi was the guest speaker at the event. In his speech, he called on people more especially of the North to wake up and work towards development of their culture. When he turned to the conveners, he said writers in this part of the country should gear up and write good books like that of late Abubakar Imam. He also charged the youth in the region to pay more attention in learning Hausa language which is regarded as a general medium of interaction in the region.
“No nation has developed without a national language and the more reason we have to develop and put to judicious use our own. You see our students nowadays neglecting Hausa language and at the same time unable to learn the English language they so much glorify. In the next 50 to 100 years we will need Hausa language,” the Professor Abdullahi said in Hausa.
An authority in the biography of Imam, Professor Ibrahim Malumfashi, presented a paper in Hausa titled: ‘What Today’s Writers Should Know from Life and Works of Abubakar Imam.’ Dr. Isa Aliyu Suleiman of Kaduna State University (KASU) delivered the paper on his behalf as the former was unable to attend the event.
Presenting the maiden Abubakar Imam Literary Award, Mahmoon Baba Ahmad said they selected six writers in recognition of their effort in the development of Hausa literature. The awardees he said have excelled in writing books in the genre of play, prose, folklore and poetry. They are Dr. Bukar Usman, Professor Abdalla Uba Adamu, Professor Ibrahim Malumfashi, Professor Umaru B. Ahmed, Ibrahim Sheme and a woman, Baida’u Muhammad Gada.
Some of the awardees who spoke with our reporter showed their appreciation. Bukar Usman, a folklorist, commended the effort of Alkalam for organizing the event. He said that Imam was his teacher and mentor though he did not meet him in real life.
“I started learning reading and writing Hausa with the books of Abubakar Imam in 1951 while in primary school. It was his books that encouraged me to delve into writing books in Hausa and as at now I have published more books in Hausa than in English.”
Professor Abdallah Uba Adamu, the current Vice Chancellor of National Open University, said, “It is just like the world always talking about Shakespeare after years of his demise likewise here we talk of Abubakar Imam. Therefore Abubakar Imam is the Shakespeare of Hausa land. To be honored by writers in Hausa language means that they have recognized what I have been doing. So I’m not wasting my time but there are some people who believe that I was wasting my time, that I’m a scientist why should I engage in cultural issues?”
Aminu Ala, one of the Hausa musicians who graced the occasion said, “I learnt a lot from the writings of Abubakar Imam. I read his book ‘Tarihin Annabi Kammalalle,’ his book ‘Ikon Allah: Tsirrai’ - in which he captured the beauty of Allah’s creation in plants. So I acquired a lot and unquantifiable knowledge from him.”