The Benue Book and Arts Festival (BBAAF) is a top literary festival among other key festivals in Nigeria that have been on for over a decade. Besides having literary workshops and keynote addresses, the festival comes yearly with a national contest in different art categories.
BBAAF has grown from being a single dated event on a calendar to an annual year-long cultural book, arts and development chain of events. The highlight is a week-long virtual and physical in-person summit that brings together several artists (writers, thinkers, painters, etc.) for meaningful engagements (including festival drama, movie screenings, panels, photo exhibitions and workshops, etc.) geared towards the festival’s vision, which is ‘changing the narrative for sustainable development and positive enhancement.’ BBAAF is part of a continuing series of global, national and regional engagements to open conversations that will lead to changing perceptions of Nigerians and the world.
Guests at the festival have included H.E. Dr Eunice Ortom, Professor Moses Tsenongu, Professor Dul Johnson, Dr Maria Ajima, Pa Isaac Yongo, internationally acclaimed sensation Chuma Nwokolo, superstar spoken word artist Bash Amuneni, T. J. Benson, past Presidents and Chairmen of the Association of Nigerian Authors, Dr. Charles Iornumbe, Igba Ogbole, Chinua Ezenwa-Ohaeto, Edentu Oroso, Terseer Sam Baki, Thaddeus Naor, Sam Ogabidu, Amara Chimeka, Alexander Emmanuel Ochogwu, Anselm Sesugh Ngutsav, Joshua Agbo, Umar Yogiza, Bentex Torlafia, Maik Ortserga, amongst other notable officials, development workers, commissioners, and writers from the length and breadth of the country.
BBAAF is in its sixth rendition, starting in 2015 as the SEVHAGE festival. It had its BBAAF maiden edition in 2019. The 2020 session was held in December 2020 while the 2021 edition held virtually via Zoom and social media channels from 4th August 2021 to the in-person events at the Art Theatre Complex of the Benue State University, Makurdi, on 6th and 7th August 2021. The 2022 version was a weeklong extravaganza that took place in different parts of Makurdi.
BBAAF returns in its Version V in 2025 with hybrid events round the theme, ‘Home and A-Way.’ You can find the details at the festival’s website http://bbaaf.com.
PAST EVENTS
BBAAF is in its sixth rendition, starting in 2015 as the SEVHAGE festival. It had its BBAAF maiden edition in 2019. The 2020 session was held in December 2020 while the 2021 edition held virtually via Zoom and social media channels from 4th August 2021 to the in-person events at the Art Theatre Complex of the Benue State University, Makurdi, on 6th and 7th August 2021. The 2022 version was a weeklong extravaganza that took place in different parts of Makurdi.
The 2021 edition, themed BRIDGES BEYOND BORDERS: ART BEYOND CONVENTION examined how art functions as a nexus between humanity and development and the concept of freedom. It looked at art in its various forms or individually as bridges beyond borders (spatial, physical, geographic, emotional etc). Discussions also revolved around mental health, sexual and gender-based violence, the role of art, artists and scholars in changing society. It featured keynote addresses from Professors Niyi Osundare and Leticia Mbaiver Nyitse. There were panel discussions and book sessions with multiple award-winning fiction maestro and winner, NLNG Nigeria Prize for Literature 2016, Abubakar Adam Ibrahim; celebrated Welsh-based Cameroonian author, Eric Ngalle Charles; foremost African travel writer, Pelu Awofeso; the poet Umar Yogiza Jnr and Su’eddie Vershima Agema, amongst others. Other participants and attendees included multiple award-winning scholars and writers, Professor Moses Tsenongu and Dr Maria Ajima of the Benue State University, Makurdi; Maik Ortserga, General Secretary of the Association of Nigerian Authors; the outstanding writers Dr. Agatha Agema, Servio Gbadamosi, and Aondosoo Labe. The festival also included a festival performance (an enactment of Su’eddie Vershima Agema’s Home Equals Holes: Tale of an Exile) by the Benue Poetry Troupe, live performances and a slam competition.
In 2022, the festival featured three power-packed keynote addresses by renowned professors, various engaging panels, a book unveiling, an evening of palm wine plus great cheer, a book fair, two festival plays and a poetry slam, among others. There was room at intervals for orientation and immersion in German literature as a means of acculturation due to the role it plays in the history of the arts. The prominent authors looked at included Bertolt Bretcht, Thomas Mann, Günter Grass, Bernhard Schlink, Franz Kafka, and Herta Müller. The festival was power-packed with a rich line-up of creatives, critics, artists, readers, and development workers from all over the country. The physical line-up included heavy weights including award-winning serial author and Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Bingham University, Professor Dul Johnson, foremost literary critic and renowned writer, Professor Sule Emmanuel Egya a.k.a E. E. Sule; award-winning poet Bash Amuneni; prolific stage producer and founder/director of Arojah Royal Theatre, Jerry Adesewo; Director-General of Radio Benue, Dr. Charles Iornumbe; national secretary of ANA, Maik Ortserga; legal adviser of ANA, Bentex Torlafia; publicity secretary of ANA, Umar Yorgiza; Uthman Qasim; Sam Ogabidu; and Bizuum Yadok. The virtual cast included foremost Nollywood scholar, multiple award-winning poet, playwright and children’s author, Professor Hyginus Ekwuazi; Sri Lankan author and professor at Manchester Metropolitan University, Minoli Salgado; lead at Sussex Writes and lecturer at the University of Sussex, Dr Emma Newport; Dr Eghosa Imasuen of Narrative Landscape; and Amarachukwu Chimeka of Purple Shelves. The theme, Art and the Convergence was justified through the various activities that continued beyond the summit held from 20th to 26th June, 2022 in Makurdi. The conversation continued to Abuja where two prominent events were held featuring Chuma Nwokolo, Oko Owi Ocho, Su’eddie Vershima Agema, Salamatu Sule and Professor Niyi Osundare.
A top news point from the BBAAF family was the director, S. Su’eddie Vershima Agema’s book, Memory and the Call of Waters, winning the Association of Nigerian Authors’ Poetry Prize and being a finalist for the Nigeria Prize for Literature 2022. BBAAF Slam Champion, Hafsat Abdullahi also became an internet sensation in the last part of the year and graced several platforms, dazzling listeners like she did the judges in Makurdi at the slam.
The 2022 edition was put together by SEVHAGE Literary & Development Initiative and SEVHAGE Publishers, in partnership with the University of Sussex, Eunice Spring of Life Foundation (ESLF), University of Sussex, Sussex Writes, Writers League of the Benue State University, Purple Shelves, Adinya Arise Foundation, Sankofa Initiative, Arojah Theatre and Mr Tine Agernor with support from Goethe Institute and the poet, Umar Abubakar Sidi.
Our firm belief is that this festival will always be a platform for inclusion, value reorientation, creativity celebration, capacity building, and a means towards violence and other ill habit de-escalation through meaningful engagement/exposure of youths in different programmes. The festival also promotes various cultures (local and international) to enhance immersion, understanding and/or respect for these.
As we celebrate literature and continually change the narrative of our land by showcasing it for the beauty that it holds, we thank you for partnering with us.
With our very best wishes,
S. Su’eddie Vershima Agema and Oko Owi Ocho
Festival Directors
[Please send inquiries, registration and all to benuebookandartsfestival@gmail.com and/or sevhage@gmail.com. You can also call +2347030285995; +2349047172347]
sevhage 