The Local Organising Committee (LOC) Secretary and founder of Uyo Book Club, Dr. Udeme Nana, who spoke on behalf of the LOC Chairman, Ekong Samson, expressed excitement at the second opportunity his book club has had to host NBRP Conference and AGM, when he reeled out what visitors to Uyo should expect, especially the state capital’s unequalled hospitable ambience.

Participants at the second NBRP National Conference and AGM are drawn from within Nigeria and the African Diaspora. Those confirmed for the event include E.C. Osondu, who won the Michael Caine Prize for African Writing in 2009, with his short story, Waiting; Nduka Otiono, former General Secretary of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) and Associate Professor of Literature at Carlton University, Canada; Ogaga Ifowodo, a lawyer, activist and poet; Joe Ushie, a professor of Stylistics at the University of Uyo; would serve as conference moderator.

The third edition will hold in Lagos, which has already been designated as Nigerian National Book Clubs City 2023. Also, a Publicity Secretary has been named for NBRP. He is Anote Ajeluorou, a seasoned arts and culture journalist, who was the former Arts Editor of The Guardian before being named the newspaper’s Head of Politics. He currently publishes an online arts and culture news magazine, AnoteArtHub (www.anotearthub.com). Igho Goes to Farm is Ajeluorou’s children’s book that was longlisted for The Nigeria Prize for Literature 2019.