The Government of Niger State, during Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, inaugurated an international literary festival in 2011 for high profile discussions on literature in Nigeria. It was called the MBA International Literary Colloquium where global citizens like Wole Soyinka; Odia Ofeimun; former Mozambican president, Joachim Chissano; Prof. Pius Adesanmi; Prof. Kofi Ayindoho; Prof. Atukei Okhai; Unoma Azua; Prof Abubakar Rasheed; Prof. Tanimu Abubakar; and many world-class literary personalities attended.
The grand annual event started from the Research and Documentation Unit of the Governor’s Office headed by BM Dzukogi. It was later moved to the Niger State Book Development Agency, in 2012 still under Dzukogi. Currently, the renamed 3-day festival as Niger State International Literary Colloquium, is a schedule of the Agency which has been dormant since the exit of Dr. Babangida.
The last edition took place in 2014, it is the hope of writers in Nigeria that the once-highly-rated literary event in Africa will return soon. No doubt, the MBA International Literary Colloquium was one of the three apex literary festivals in Nigeria along with Ake Book and Arts Festival, and Port Harcourt Book Festival.
