Ake festival the annual book and arts festival opened today in Lagos.
The festival, which is holding for the first time in Lagos, has renowned Somalian author, Nurudin Farrah as headliner.
In her welcome address Lola Shoneyin, Founder and Director of the festival said “Ake festival will always be a safe place for writers to gather…We will like to see creativity accorded pride of place because these are the things we call our own, these are the things that define us…there has never been a better time to invest in creativity”
Vice President Yemi Osibanjo, GCON gave a key not message as did a number of guests that included sponsors, Abubakar Suleiman, MD/CEO Sterling Bank, David Fatumbi, Country Representative Nikon, Yah Nsarkoh, VP Unilever and many others.
The Vice-president related a fictional but amazingly intriguing story of a love poem gone wrong.
“I would have had a mildly successful career as a poet but for a traumatic experience when I was ten. I wrote a poem for a girl whom I thought I could give my life for but my mother found out and beat the poetic genius out of me. My capacity for writing poetry was diminished.”
The festival which runs till Sunday October 28, 2018 is holding at the Radisson Blu on Isaac John street, GRA Ikeja.
