Babawale To Open The Lagos Book Festival


Tunde Babawale, the professor of political economy who runs the Centre For Black And African Arts and Civilisation(CBAAC), will open the 13th Lagos Book And Art Festival (LABAF 2011) on November 18, at the Freedom Park on Broad Street, in Lagos.

Babawale will be delivering a keynote address with the theme: The Book In My Life. The Festival opening session, at 9am, is largely for the young Nigerians (aged 11 to 18), at the Festival for whom the organizers have planned a robust segment. The first of the 10 panel sessions in the adult segment kicks in at 11am. Babawale will moderate that session with the theme: Africa In The Eyes Of The Other.

Meanwhile, his opening address to the kids “is expected to be a summary of the journey of the life of a high achieving individual in society”, according to Ayo Arigbabu, the Festival’s Project Director “with emphasis on how Books have helped him reach where he is today”.

Previous such speakers have included Femi Osofisan, the country’s most distinguished professor of drama, who gave a moving speech, in 2006, on how he discovered literature via the Bible and how reading has enabled him to escape a childhood life of poverty. “LABAF is the one book event with a high children participation”, Arigbabu reports. “Last year, we hosted 1200 kids to workshops on paintings, readings, photography; a range of experiences and, most crucially, discussions around books”.