Mrs. Koko Kalango, the founder Rainbow Book Club and Project Director of Port Harcourt World Book Capital PHWBC 2014, has described the World Book Capital Tenure that will kick start in the month of April, 2014 in the city of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, as a seed that will germinate and grow through all the nooks and crannies of the state.
She noted that though the world book capital tenure will be holding in Port Harcourt, but added that it is a national programme that will impact positively on the people across the nation.
Kalango affirmed this in a chat with newsmen in Port Harcourt that the state is the first world book capital city in sub-saharan Africa, the first ever world book capital city in Africa to be nominated by public bid and the second ever world book capital city in Africa, after Alexandria, Egypt.
She disclosed that the opening ceremony of the event will take place from the 22nd to 27 of March, 2014 with a formal handover to Port Harcourt on April 23rd, UN World Book and Copyright Day, 2014 by the current world book capital 2013, Bangkok.
The Project Director noted that a reading with Nigeria’s president, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan will form part of the activities of a weeklong opening ceremony, just like he did in Lagos State.
She maintained that the event will provide an opportunity for book presentation written by the children in the state, invitation of Africa 39 future writers across the sub-Saharan Africa from the age of 30-40 years at the book fair.
Mrs. Kalango further stated that they are partnering with 100 schools, including Unity Schools across the nation that will make presentation about their states and called on the media, particularly the prints to educate the people properly on the event.
She expressed gratitude to all and sundry that responded in the donation of books, which the proceeds according to her has been disbursed to orphanages homes in the state and enumerated on their monthly review of books.
Responding on her financial budget for the event, Mrs. Kalango opined that she was not too sure of their initial budget of N400m as there were other issues that came up, which they did not originally envisaged. ###
Blaise Elumezie
