By Henry Akubuiro
Since 2019, HIASFEST has always opened Nigeria’s literary calendar with its spectacular assemblage and display of artistic extravaganza by teen artists from different states of the federation.
HIASFEST is an acronym for Hadiza Ibrahim Aliyu Schools Festival. The 2022 edition will be declared open by Prof. Wole Soyinka with a keynote on the abandonment of the Nigerian child by all the units of the society responsible for their decent growth. The festival is organised by the HillTop Creative Arts Foundation, Nigeria.
A statement released by the founder, BM Dzukogi said the Nobel laureate “will address the largest congregation of teen artists in Africa at HIASFEST in Minna, the Niger State capital, on January 19, 2022.”
Unlike in 2012 when Soyinka was the guest of the former state governor, Muazu Babagida Aliyu, the veteran writer will, this time, be the guest of the family of Mal. Ibrahim Aliyu, Chairman, Urban Shelter Nigeria. Alh. Bala Abdullahi Kwatu, initiated HIASFEST in memory of his late wife.
HIASFEST comprises more than twenty five events with over forty trophies and plaques, as well as over six million naira to be won by secondary school students from across the country. Also, the programme boasts of literary prizes for adults in indigenous languages in both fiction and Mathematics.