UDUS’ Prof Asabe Kabir Makes History as Northern Nigeria’s First Female Fellow of NAL

Speaking on a panel at the 2022 edition of the Sokoto Book and Arts Festival, alongside Sada Malumfashi and Arc Hadiza Isma ElRufai; the founder of Almara Publishers, Asabe Kabir; a Professor of African Literature at the Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, employed wordplay to emphasize the need to write and publish consistently. “Publish or perish”, she punned her important message to reawaken the audience.

With over 70 publications in local and international journals, cutting across Popular Culture; Film Studies; Hausa Popular Fictional Writing; Creative Writing and Women Studies, and a widely-read novel entitled ‘Destinies of Life’, Prof Asabe clearly embodies this academic philosophy, which, in tandem with her wholesome contributions to the Academia, continues to add feathers to her cap.

On Thursday, May 25, 2023, following an announcement from Prof Duro Oni, FNAL; the President of the Nigerian Academy of Letters (NAL), who doubles as the Chairperson of its College of Fellows, felicitations have continued to pour in for Prof Asabe Kabir.

The announcement, ‘TEN LEADING HUMANISTIC SCHOLARS ADMITTED INTO THE COLLEGE OF FELLOWS OF THE NIGERIAN ACADEMY OF LETTERS!’, named the Literary Studies Don, along with nine others, as a recipient of the Fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Letters (NAL) award, “following a robust review process”.

The Nigerian Academy of Letters is a prestigious organization that enjoys recognition as the highest academic and professional body for scholars and practitioners in the Humanities and Letters fields in Nigeria. The Academy brings together the brightest minds, who are elected based on their scholarly achievements and recognized excellence, to advance the study and understanding of the fields, foster intellectual discourse and contribute to national development. It drives these objectives through intellectual exchange and interdisciplinary collaboration through conferences, symposia and lectures.

“I’ll keep Giving my best”

Prof Asabe marvelled at the news of her nomination and consequent election as one of the ten new fellows of the Nigerian Academy of Letters. She told PEN PRESS that she is “excited and super excited” over her latest accolade.

“I give glory to Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala, for making me witness this dish,” she started, and went further to shower encomia on her teachers, saying, “I have acquired knowledge from the best and I have been able to impart this knowledge to others. And this knowledge that I have imparted, or I am imparting, keeps being recognized worldwide”.

“I'm super excited, coupled with the fact that I'm the first female academic from northern Nigeria to be nominated and elected into the College of Fellows of the Nigerian Academy of Letters. And as you all know, The Nigerian Academy of Letters is the apex; the highest academic body in the Humanities. So I'm happy and I thank God for that and feel humbled. I'll keep giving my best. I'll keep being a scholar and I'll continue imparting knowledge,” she reaffirmed her commitment to the path she has chosen for herself and excelled in.

“I want more students to achieve what I have achieved”

“Scholarship is something that lives after you. Even if you die, what you leave behind via knowledge will remain till eternity. So, I would call on students to aspire to be scholars,” Prof Asabe invited the next generation to take the baton of scholarship, emphasizing that, “We need scholars”.

She explained her position, stating, “When you want to destroy a country, you don't destroy it through war. You destroy that country by denying that country education. As a scholar, you impact education, in whatever way. And I believe that the best profession on earth is being a scholar, being a teacher, being a lecturer.”

“And I want more students to achieve what I have achieved. I want more students to come into the scholarly field so that the knowledge they have can be imparted to others, and others will give to others, and others and so on; from generations to generations,” she continued

“But you cannot be a scholar, you cannot be recognized if you are not hard-working. So, hard work is the key to scholarly achievements. So, strive hard to work hard. Strive hard, work hard and achieve scholarly heights so that you will be reckoned with and you will be recognized. If Asabe Kabir can do it, I think everybody out there can do it,” she concluded.

Mazeed Mukhtar Oyeleye