Abuja: Hajia Maryam Ciroma, former Minister for Women Affairs and Social Development, has urged Nigerian authors to use their works to promote awareness, advocate equal opportunities, and challenge stereotypes against women. She made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at the 2025 End-of-year Dinner and Awards of the Abuja chapter of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) over the weekend.
According to News Agency of Nigeria, the event held at the Mamman Vatsa Writers Village in Abuja, themed ‘A Celebration of the Spoken Word and the Written Craft’, brought together seasoned and young authors, scholars, as well as literary enthusiasts and students from different institutions in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Ciroma emphasized that writing is an effective tool to challenge patriarchal norms and advocate equal opportunities, particularly in governance.
She urged Nigerian writers to leverage their craft to shed light on issues affecting women to foster an egalitarian society. Ciroma highlighted the importance of authors as historians, noting their role in preserving and showcasing history. She appealed to authors to write more about women’s issues, emphasizing that educating women, particularly the girl child, is crucial for national progress.
Ciroma expressed concern over the low female representation in government, which falls short of the 35 percent affirmative action targets outlined in the National Gender Policy. She stressed the need for a just society where all genders’ needs are equitably considered and called for support for the Reserved Seats Bill, which seeks to create legislative seats exclusively for women at national and state levels.
Chukwudi Eze, Chairman of the ANA Abuja chapter, stated that the association is committed to engaging young scholars through mentorship programs that encourage reading and writing. He noted that the ‘ANAtainment’ event was an opportunity to honor partners and stakeholders who contributed to the association’s success during the year.
Eze highlighted the growth in membership of the ANA Abuja chapter over the past two years, attributing it to innovative initiatives under the current leadership. He mentioned the flagship monthly ‘Reading and Writers Dialogue’ program, which featured celebrated authors such as Amb. Kema Chikwe and former president Olusegun Obasanjo.
Earlier, Prof. Emeka Aniagolu, the keynote speaker, commended ANA Abuja for providing a platform for writers to share ideas and mentor young writers. Other stakeholders at the event included Prof. Udenta O. Udenta, a literary scholar and human rights activist.