The Niger Delta International Book and Art Festival (NIBAF 2026) billed for November 27-28 at the Arts Theatre, University of Port Harcourt, has received more boost following its endorsement by the Chairman, Society of Nigerian Artists (SNA), Rivers State Chapter, Mr. Samuel Nwankwo.
Nwankwo gave the endorsement when he received the Project Coordinator of NIBAF 2026, Victor Nwokocha who paid him a courtesy visit on Tuesday, October 20, 2026.
Describing the Festival as a strategic and timely intervention, Nwankwo extolled the Organizers – Book and Art Promotions Concepts and the Institute of Arts and Culture, University of Port Harcourt – for their innovative vision, pledging his support and that of SNA Rivers State Chapter towards its success.
According to him: “The world is embracing collaboration and saying goodbye to competition. A platform such as NIBAF would serve as a unifying centre, not just literary and visual artists but for other professionals within the creative industry. It offers us greater opportunities to connect, network and learn from seasoned experts, especially in specialized areas like copyright, intellectual property and the business angle of creativity. You can count on my full support.”
Speaking earlier, the NIBAF 2026 Project Coordinator, Victor Nwokocha informed the SNA Rivers Chairman that NIBAF is a social innovation initiative to stimulate growth and investment within the book and art sectors, conceived in broad national contexts with particular focus on the Niger Delta.
He stressed that the Festival seeks to strengthen existing interventions in the creative ecosystem, expand opportunities for creative professionals, encourage new partnerships and draw sustained attention to the critical role of copyright and intellectual property in building a sustainable creative economy, and ensuring inclusive prosperity for creative industry professionals.
He said 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, Intellectual Property, Copyright and Talent Monetization, adding that 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, would also feature.
He further informed the SNA Chairman that renowned author, ANA Vice President and Nigeria Prize for Literature laureate, Professor Obari Gomba would deliver the Keynote Address at NIBAF 2026 opening ceremony.
He also confirmed that while the Nigerian Copyright Commission would facilitate a workshop on ‘Copyright and Talent Monetization’ during the Festival, Dr. Awele Ilusanmi, President of The Awele Ilusanmi Foundation would deliver a training workshop on book marketing and promotions, and a special session would interrogate the imperatives of promoting art that is Pan-Niger Delta and Pan-African.
The meeting strengthened the foundation for functional partnerships between NIBAF and SNA Rivers. The NIBAF Project Coordinator thanked the SNA Rivers Chairman on behalf of the Organizing Committee, and extended invitation to all members of SNA to participate in the Festival.
