Neptune Prime Poetry competition: Introducing the judges

Neptune Prime Poetry competition: Introducing the judges
A huge thank you to everyone who has submitted something to our Poetry Competition awards!
We have been totally blown away by the high standard of entries. Luckily for us, we’ve got some poetry gurus on board to help with the difficult task of picking the winners.
Meet your 2022 judges…

Aisha Musa Auyo
Aisha Musa Auyo is a Doctorate researcher in Educational Psychology, a Home Maker, a caterer and a parenting/ relationship coach with a special interest in mental health and special needs persons. She’s a Netizen, Journalist, a TV presenter, poet, bilingual writer and translator, and a certified AuthorAID Researcher.
She’s the founder of Auyo’s Cuisines, a catering company that promotes healthy, unique and delicious meals in Northern Nigeria. She graduated from Bayero University Kano, with a Bachelor’s degree in Education Biology, and a Masters Degree in Psychology of Education.
Aisha has published academic articles in different journals, and has attended Several Conferences and symposiums at national and international level. Several of her creative pieces have been published by The Daily reality, Neptune Prime, PRNigeria, Aminiya, and Arewa Agenda.
She’s a member of the Nigeria society for educational Psychologists, NISEP, the Family and youth health initiative FAYOHI, and the Kano book club.
Aisha is happily married and blessed with three kids. She enjoys reading, writing, cooking and surfing the internet.

Suleiman Hassan Gimba
Gimba is a consultant, lawyer and columnist from Yobe State, practising in Abuja. He specialize in legislative and public policy advocacy, negotiation, and disaster management across the West and Central African region.
He has worked with the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC, which serves as the National Chapter of Transparency International) and Médecins Sans Frontières West and Central Africa.
He has worked on various committees and consulted for numerous organizations. In 2021, he worked with the African Commission on Human Rights and the National Human Rights Commission as part of a strategic consultation to put a report on declarations of state of emergency and disaster laws in Africa to the African Union.

He worked with the House of Representatives Adhoc Committee on Real Estate to check the excesses of developers in the FCT and helped formulate policies to that effect. He also served on the Yobe Stare Committee on the Yobe Education Trust Fund (YETFund).

He curated the first book and arts festival in the northeast – the Yobe Peace and Arts Festival (YOPAFEST) in 2021.
He is the author of “The Howls on the Highway to Hell” and co-authored YLS’ first book “iWrite: an Essential Guide to Writing in the 21st Century”. He is the curator of TEDxBazeUniversity. He was a guest at the Kaduna Book and Arts Festival and ABUFEST in 2022.
Gimba loves to play chess and analyze football matches in his free time.

Salim Yunusa
Salim Yunusa is a Freelance Journalist, a bilingual writer and translator. He’s the founder of the literary organization, Poetic Wednesdays Initiative, an organisation that promotes literature and literary activities in Northern Nigeria. He graduated from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria with a Bachelor’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning. Several of his creative pieces have been published by Daily Trust, ASIRI magazine, The Art-Muse Fair, PIN, BluePrint, NorthernLife, Tribesmen Review, Writers Space Africa, DesignWorld Magazine, The Campus Watch and several anthologies. He was a finalist for Michael Afenfia and TVO Tribe competitions. He was shortlisted for the 2020 Aminiya Trust Hausa Short Story Competition. He was one of the judges for the Hamza Elrufai Short Story Prize of Yasmin El-rufai Foundation in 2021. He was also the judge for the Intellectual Essay Competition, Students Intellectual Club, Yobe State University. He was a judge at the 2022 HIASFEST in Minna and judged the Afrikindness competition in May, 2022.

Salim facilitated a creative writing workshop for the Andrew Nok Poetry Prize 2022. He was awarded The Outstanding Literary Promoter in Northern Nigeria by the Yobe Literary Society, where he was honored at the Yobe Peace and Arts Festival 2021. He was a guest at the Kaduna Book and Arts Festival (KABAFEST), the Minna Book and Arts Festival, Ahmadu Bello University Book and Arts Festival, Sokoto Book and Arts Festival among others. He was the Yasmin El-rufai Foundation Artist of the Month in April, 2019. He is an Equal Access International Peace Promotion Fellow and a Global Youth Ambassador for Theirworld. He is a program associate with PeacePanel Centre. He was a speaker at TEDXPOMPOMARI in Yobe state.

Neptune Prime Network Limited is pleased to announce you that the poetry competition with the theme “A united Nigeria” finalists will be announced on Monday, 31st October 2022.