Neptune Prime Joins YOPAFEST partner list

Neptune Prime Joins YOPAFEST partner list

Neptune Prime will be part of the second edition of the Yobe Peace and Arts Festival (YOPAFEST) as a media partner.

• The festival which was started in 2021 by the Yobe Literary Society as the first books and arts festival in the Northeast, is an annual gathering of literary and art enthusiasts for the main purpose of improving the literary and arts space in Northern Nigeria.

It provides an intellectual and academic focus on societal issues, entertains the general public and protects and conserves the heritage and the values which the Yobe society holds dear through the beauty of literature.

The seamless implementation of the books and arts festival as an object of peace is because traditionally, the Yobe people are storytellers – passing valuable information and African folklore by way of mouth from generation to generation. This policy shaped the norms and values of the societies and gave each tribe a distinct identity and was a major development drive and a tool that kept the communities in peace.

The festival will feature panel discussions; poetry and music performances; indigenous languages poetry performances in Bade, Bole, Fulani, Hausa, Kanuri, Karai-Karai and Ngizm languages; book chats in English and Hausa languages; the first children’s durbar in the northeast; retro indigenous wears fashion display; traditional dancing performances; traditional wrestling; film screening; and continuing from last year, Hausa and Kanuri panel discussions; and finally, introducing the guests to a Yobe delicacy with danderu night.

This year’s theme is “Empire Rising”, portraying the rebirth of the Yobe society after more than a decade of insurgency.

The Society will also launch its second book “Journey to a Future-Past: Yobe through the Times” written by its Mai, Yahuza Rabi’u Garba and edited by the curator of YOPAFEST, Suleiman Hassan Gimba Esq.

Other partners are the Yobe State government, Almara Publishers, Lami Fatima Babare Cervical Cancer Foundation, Tea and Reflection, Portrait of Lake Child Initiative and Northern Times.

The festival will take place from 29th to 31st December 2022 at Geidam Hall, Yobe State University, Damaturu, Yobe State.