There are different ways to brand a country in a very positive way. One of the ways, I think is the River State way. The institutionalization of a culture of literacy through reading campaigns; a campaign that has resulted in the birth of an international literary festival, which now holds in the beautiful garden city of Port Harcourt.

The novel, Things fall apart, continues to be a reference point to African crisis. And as its writer, Africa’s foremost novelist, Prof Chinua Achebe, marks his 80th birthday, which began well before his November 16 birthday, commentators the world over have been using the title of the novel, written to depict the colonial impact on Africa, to describe present Nigerian/African crises as tributes to Achebe.

Today, Saturday, November 20, at Abalti Barracks, Ojuelegba, Surulere, Imo indigenes in Lagos under the aegis of Imo State Towns Development Association(ISTDAL) mark this year’s Imo Day/cultural carnival of 50 cultural troupe.

As the 5th edition of the Lagos based ArtHouse Contemporary kicks off on Monday 22nd, November, 2010 at five star event venue, the Civic Centre, one troubled issue concerning the debate about the inclusion of photography as one component of the nation’s contemporary art, would have been solved permanently.

The great river of his life has fed many rivulets,
And earned for this unbounded gratitude;
Of our rivers he is the Nile,
Leisurely in its flow and steadfast,
Serving myriads on its timeless course.