Anytime the Association of Nigerian Authors, Niger State fell short in her presence, Hill-Top Creative Arts Foundation was ever present to intervene. ASCAFS ceased to exist in 2014. There was great clamour for its return by schools and by 2017, Hill-Top Creative Arts Foundation (HCAF) inaugurated the Nigerian Festival of Teen Authors (NIFESTEENA) when ANA Niger, led by Mrs Farida Mohammed, was not forthcoming with bringing back ASCAFS after over 2yrs of absence. There was no reason given by the Exco for stopping it.
NIFESTEENA was a replica of ASCAFS except for the addition of Spoken word and photography. The draughtsman of ASCAFS, BM Dzukogi simply wanted the philosophies, values, impacts of ASCAFS to continue to be available for young artists, this time, for all young writers in Nigeria.
Therefore, NIFESTEENA was open to teen artists from across the country which was unlike ASCAFS which was exclusively for schools in Niger State. The inaugural edition was held at the Niger State College of Education, Minna with the participation of the Niger State Government. Prof. Faruk Haruna AbdulRasheed, the former Provost, provided accommodation, venue, public address system and cash for the event to take place in his domain. Hon. Mikail Al’Amin Bmitosahi donated N1m towards the event.
True to one of the objectives of NIFESTEENA to be a national festival of teen artists, schools from Kebbi, Sokoto, Taraba and Bayelsa attended the first edition. There were guests from Lagos, Abuja and Nasarawa States too. The fist edition of NIFESTEENA led to establishing HCAF branches in Kebbi and Sokoto States in 2017. Kebbi was the first through Dr. Jalaludeen Maradun while the Sokoto version was by Dr. Aisha Abdulkareem.
NIFESTEENA couldn’t hold in 2018 because HCAF wanted it to hold in Kaduna. After assurances by Hajiya Hadiza Isma, the wife of Mal. Nasir El-Rufai, the event could not hold. While HCAF was planning to return NIFESTEENA to Minna in 2019, Alhaji Bala Abdullahi Kwatu, contacted BM Dzukogi for a design of an art programme he could sponsor. This was when HIASFEST was born.
NIFESTEENA shall transform to a bi-annual conference platform for Nigerian teen authors.
