By EGUFE YAFUGBORHI

PENULTIMATE week,two milestone events in Port Harcourt, River State contended  for  public attention. One was the general anger and despair  that trailed the  the gruesome murder of the University of Port Harcourt students by irate blood sucking mob of the University town of Aluu.

Second was a festival, whose elevated expectation almost became marred as a result of that brutal murder. The festival was the 5th edition of Port Harcourt based Rainbow book club.

History made, honour gained.

The memorable appeal of the 2012 Garden City Literary Festival was not unexpected after the organisers made a big lift of the event’s profile with UNESCO’s anointing of Port Harcourt as the World Book Capital 2014.

Foundation nominee

After 1996 successful launch of UNESCO’s World Book and Copyright Day, the global body in 2001 laced it with the World Book Capital City recognition, adopting Madrid, Spain as the foundation nominee. Since then, interest groups the world over have contended for the global recognition which a winner enjoys for two years.

In 2004, Mrs. Koko Kalango introduced the Rainbow Book Club in 2004 for a rebirth of robust readership culture in Rivers. Building on the rapid public acceptance, she established it as a global feast which attracts literary giants, publishing investors, educational stakeholders and lovers of literature to share ideas, challenges and motivations at growing the industry and reducing illiteracy.

*Third from left: Nobel Laurate, Wole Soyinka and other participants at the event.

Towards the 5th edition just ended, the originator with sustained backing of the Rivers State Government, moved to take the initiative to the next level by presenting a bid among other contenders from around the world, to make Port Harcourt the World Book Capital 2014.

Kalango’s bid carried the day, beating contenders from all continents of the world to win for Port Harcourt, the honour of the World Book Capital 2014. Her bidding theme to drive the 2014 activities of the UNESCO course, Books: Window to our world of possibilities, underscored the act of reading books as a weapon to conquer illiteracy, transporting the reader through new worlds of new concepts and ideas. The feat ranks Nigeria as the second country in all Africa to gain the status, coming behind Egypt which previously enjoyed the status.

The nation reacts: The Port Harcourt Literary Festival had in previous editions hosted literary giants including Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, Kenyan author and critic, Ngugi Wa Thiongo, Africa’s Eagle on World Literature, Chinua Achebe, Ghanaian playwright, Ama Aita Aiido and African/American Civil Right campaigner, Jesse Jackson.

This year, in euphoria of the successful bid for World Book Capital 2014, Soyinka returned to Port Harcourt as the focus of the 2012 festival. At the public presentation of “Port Harcourt as the World Book Capital 2014 being highpoint of the 2012 celebrations, Soyinka who bared his pain over the Aluu Killings and the rage of Boko Haram in Nigeria underscored the value of the feat in fighting the nation’s drift into evil and deepened man’s inhumanity to man.

Soyinka noted, ““Boko Haram and all organisations, all movements that wage war against books, against literacy, against education and enlightenment in any form, have declared war, not on the state, but on humanity itself and in spite of such setbacks, in spite of such horrors, we have the responsibility to support and sustain efforts such as that being made by Rainbow Club and allied societies and organisations.” Congratulating Port Harcourt for hosting the World Book Capital for 2014, he said the development had brought honour to the nation and Africa in general.

For being in tandem with the Bring Back the Book project, an initiative of President Goodluck Jonathan to stimulate reading culture in Nigeria, the Port Harcourt World Book Capital project also earned support of note from the President, according to the organisers.

Earlier at the launch of the Bring Back The Book in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, the President in a statement had, “Welcome UNESCO’s recognition of our collective efforts to revive the reading culture. I congratulate The Rainbow Book Club for the vision in moving the now historic bid for a Nigerian city, Port Harcourt, to be the World Capital for books, in the year of our beloved nation’s centenary.”

At the interactive session

which focused on Women In Literature during this year’s festival, Governor Rotimi Amaechi who had been the big mentor of the organisers said, “The Rivers State Government’s partnership with the Rainbow Book Club continues to bear fruits and I am greatly pleased that our collaboration has resulted in Port Harcourt being chosen by UNESCO as the 2014 World Book Capital City. I am sure the continued success of the Garden City Festival played part in helping us achieve that honour.”

The trade beat of the 2012 festival

Galvanised by the soared profile, the fair side of the 2012 festival also witnessed momentous trading. The Atlantic Hall of the Hotel Presidential was swallowed by several stands. And from everywhere, buyers and knowledge seekers flocked the trade fair to strike bargains. Items that dominated the week long trading include books ranging from basic education to tertiary, literature on various fields of study and writing materials.

Also on display were new electronic study aids and handy information processing and communication gadgets. Far from being all books, this year’s book fair also attracted business solution services providers and ICT experts including the Indian Institute for Hardware Technology (IIHT).

Transforming their businesses

Caleb Okon, Technical Trainer with IITH gave their end impression. “The primary value in the fair for us is to announce our presence in Port Harcourt, letting people know how we can transform their business with our ICT solutions. We are in over 250 countries of the world and have been confined to Lagos, Abuja.

We have just been established in Port Harcourt and it feels good to be part of this fair. Knowing ICT drives just about any business endeavour today, we have been able reach out to stakeholders in the book and education industry. It has been a time well spent.”

With Port Harcourt already living the reputation of World Book Capital, coming celebrations of the Garden City Literary Festival promise more global appeal till 2014 and certainly beyond. And the honour, as have been noted by President Jonathan, Wole Soyinka and other notable figures, will not only raise the profile of Kalango’s Rainbow Book Club, or Port Harcourt and Rivers State as host alone. It is a credit to an entire nation.