I set out for Minna on the 30th of April, 2024, at exactly 8:30 am from New Bussa, Niger State, in an army-green Honda car. Though I had been to Minna before, I was anxious to set foot in the city again. The last time I visited, I passed through the Sokoto route and not the New Bussa route, so journeying through the New Bussa route was an entire experience I looked forward to. We journeyed for hours and finally entered Minna. I called Awwal, one of the Muktar Aliyu Arts Residency (MAAR) staff members, who directed me to the arts centre. So the first thing I did when I entered the arts centre, before heading to our apartment, was to take pictures facing the billboard. On entrance, I received a warm welcome from the founding father of HCAF and national coordinator, Baba BM. Dzukogi, and Mr. Makama Shekwoaga, the founding father of HCAF and his assistant, respectively. They welcomed me, asked how my journey went, and directed me to our apartment, a newly furnished, well-ventilated, self-contained building equipped with more than the basic amenities needed for our swift literary engagements. I met my colleague, Oladosu Michael Emerald, who had arrived before me and the management of MAAR: the secretary and potter, Aliyu Umar and Abubakar Auwal. After I had enough rest, I and my fellow artist-in-residence were taken around the whole building, and we got introduced to the workers to get accustomed to our immediate environments and the people.
The next morning, which marked the 1st of May, we were inaugurated as the pioneer residents of the maiden edition of the Muktar Aliyu Art Residency (MAAR). After the occasion, we had the first interview session of the residency, conducted by Fatimah Salihu. In the interview, we were asked how our first day went, our plans for the residency, the experiences we look forward to having, and whether or not we are going to tutor the students of the arts centre every Saturday, as stated in our acceptance letters. After the interview session, we were further interviewed by the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA). The interview session remains one of my most memorable moments at the residency, as it marked my first appearance on national TV. I couldn’t contain my happiness when I posted about it on my WhatsApp status. The most fascinating thing about the interview was that it brought back memories of my school proprietress, who would, at every slightest chance, advise us to shun watching television and read our books so that people could watch us too. It was a moment of fulfilment for me. After the interview sessions, we were given our disbursement for transportation. The 21-day residency program began. I started working on my manuscript, ‘Everyday I Decide to Die’ which contains poems about the presence and absence of my late brother, Adamu Mubaraq, while revolving around the socio-political happenings in our immediate environment, Nigeria. I tasked myself with running a poem a day throughout the residency. The first day was productive, as I wrote two complete poems. one of which I read at the inauguration:
I continued the practice the following day and kept at it. Additionally, we’ve been paid our daily stipends for our entire stay at the residency. The management ensured we lacked nothing that we needed. There was water, power supply, and security personnel, which ensured our safety. The environment was full of peace, quiet, and muse.
The first weekend came, and we had our weekly mentorship session, where I was privileged to teach a group of passionate pupils about creative writing. It was an interactive and interesting session. One of the things that made the session interesting was the passion and anxiousness of the pupils to learn the basis of creative writing. Together with Olumide Emmanuel, we taught them creative writing. After the class, I returned to my Google Doc and wrote a draft that I completed before the day ran out. Aside from the daily routine of writing a poem a day, I have been actively reading PDFs of poetry collections. Because it’s only by reading that one can get to write. In fact, I read more than I write. And it paid off. We started the second week of the residency with a fascinating experience—a visit to IBB Hill. There, we were shown Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida and Abdulsalam Houses, who were former military presidents and military heads of state, respectively. After which, Awwal showed us a glimpse of Minna from the hill. From the hill, you could see the estates, schools, plazas, the central mosque, and other amazing places in Minna. I took many beautiful photographs of the whole view. Then we retired to an eatery, where we were served amala and Egusi soup with two mighty pieces of meat. We slowed down the food with a Coke and headed home—to the arts centre.
Furthermore, I had a great time connecting with Michael, my colleague. We discussed arts and crafts and upcoming projects. Michael is a veteran artist and poet. While I write on memory, loss, love, and the thin line between love and loss, Michael’s works revolve around memory, migration, and place. We developed the idea of having a collaborative work of poetry and visual art. I will provide the poems and he will make available the visual arts.
Conclusively, at the end of the residency, I completed the new manuscript I began work on. The manuscript contains 20 poems that will accompany Michael’s 20 visual arts. Together, we look forward to having a book of poems and visual arts. We hope it gets a better home.
The Muktar Aliyu Art Residency impacted my career as a writer by giving me the peace I needed for my projects. During my stay as a resident, I’ve learned skills that have honed my writing skills. I want to say thank you to the management of MAAR, to HCAF, and to the Time Out Africa Foundation. May God bless and replenish everything you do for arts administration. To my colleague, Oladosu Michael Emerald, thanks for being a good company and for your beautiful insights and kindness. To the entire staff of HCAF, the caretaker, security men, and the cleaner, thanks for treating us as one of them. We appreciate your kind gesture towards us. May we be good ambassadors of MAAR and HCAF.
