The maiden edition of Niger Delta International Book and Art Festival (NIBAF 2026) billed for November 27-28 at the Arts Theatre, University of Port Harcourt, has received a major boost following its endorsement by the Secretary-General, Pan African Writers Association (PAWA), Hon. Dr. Wale Okediran.
Dr. Okediran, a foremost author, former President of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) and ex-member of Nigeria’s House of Representatives widely celebrated for his classic works including ‘Tenants of the House’, gave the endorsement in a meeting with members of the NIBAF 2026 Organizing Committee on the sidelines of the South-South Advocacy Programme on Nigerian Copyright Laws recently hosted by the Reproduction Rights Society of Nigeria (REPRONIG) in Port Harcourt.
Commending the initiative as an innovative and courageous step towards repositioning Nigeria’s literary sector, Dr. Okediran lauded the vision of the organizers, assuring his support to realize the sterling objectives of the Festival.
According to him, “In Nigeria and across Africa, we need more interventionist programs such as NIBAF to energize the growth of our creative economy. I commend your initiative and your zeal to push it through, and I look forward to joining you in making the inaugural edition a success.”
Speaking earlier, the NIBAF 2026 Project Coordinator, Victor Nwokocha and the Director of Exhibitions, Emmanuel Ephraim, informed the PAWA Secretary-General that NIBAF is devised as a strategic social innovation initiative to stimulate growth, investment and new development models within the book and art sectors, conceived in broad national contexts with particular focus on the Niger Delta.
Highlighting the objectives of NIBAF, they said that the Festival seeks to reinforce existing interventions in the creative ecosystem, expand opportunities for creative professionals, encourage productive partnerships and draw sustained attention to the critical role of copyright in building a sustainable creative economy and ensuring inclusive prosperity for creative industry professionals.
On the event elements, they informed that the Festival themed ‘Books, Art and the Niger Delta Heritage: Promoting Knowledge, Protecting Creativity’, would feature a well-curated program of book and art exhibitions, reading sessions, Master Classes on Book Marketing, Copyright and Talent Monetization. Others are creative writing workshops, mentorship sessions, Poetry Slam, ISBN/ISSN forum, the NIBAF Special Recognition Awards and other activities designed to stimulate dialogue and promote sustainable growth across the book and art value chains.
They further informed the PAWA Sec-Gen that famous author, ANA Vice President and Nigeria Prize for Literature laureate, Professor Obari Gomba would deliver the Keynote Address, while the Nigerian Copyright Commission and Dr. Awele Ilusanmi, eminent expert on book marketing, would respectively facilitate training workshops on Copyright, talent monetization, book marketing and promotions. They also confirmed that the Society of Nigerian Artists (SNA) would host a panel discussion exploring strategies to foster the growth of art that is distinctively Pan-Niger Delta and typically Pan-African.
The meeting equally considered windows of partnership between NIBAF, PAWA and the Ebedi International Writers Residency, Iseyin, Oyo State, founded by Dr. Wale Okediran in 2010. The NIBAF Team thanked Dr. Okediran for identifying with the Festival and formally invited him as Special Guest of Honour and Guest Speaker at the forthcoming event.
