THE BENUE State Government says it is planning to host a book and art festival as a strategy to promote reading and writing culture.
The Director-General of the Benue State Education Quality Assurance Agency, Dr Terna Francis, disclosed this in Makurdi when members of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) visited him in his office.
Francis said that the festival, to hold in Makurdi, would be in commemoration of the International Day of Literacy scheduled for Sept. 8.
He said that there was the need to revive reading and writing culture among Nigerians.
According to him, events to precede the festival would include inauguration and call for entries for the Prof. Terhemba Shija Poetry Prize and Prof. Mnguember Vicky Sylvester Short Story Prize.
He said that both prizes would be open to Benue residents between ages 12 years and 17 years, adding that entries would begin from Feb. 25.
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The director-general said that successful persons would participate in a literary residency workshop.
Francis said that the winner, first runner-up and second runner-up in both categories would get N300,000, N200,000 and N100,000, respectively.
He said that works collated from the participants would be published in an anthology which would be unveiled on Sept. 8, at the opening ceremony of the festival.
Earlier, the Chairperson of the state chapter of ANA, Mrs Onwanyi Ulegede, praised the director-general for foresight, describing the initiative as timely.
Ulegede said that ANA tried to achieve a similar objective in the past but did not get the needed support. The state Publicity Secretary of ANA, Ms Beatrice Damna, listed the challenges of the association to include lack of office accommodation. (NAN)
