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Okediran replaces Okai as PAWA secretary-general

By Gregory Austin Nwakunor
22 July 2020   |   3:57 am
The Council of Pan-African Writers Association (PAWA) has appointed Dr. Wale Okediran as secretary-general. The interim President of the association and chairman of its council...

The Council of Pan-African Writers Association (PAWA) has appointed Dr. Wale Okediran as secretary-general. The interim President of the association and chairman of its council, Emeritus Professor Femi Osofisan, recently announced the appointment.

Okediran succeeds Professor Atukwei Okai, the founding Secretary-General of PAWA, who passed away on July 13, 2018.

Okediran brings to the position almost 30 years experience as a public servant. He served as a Member of the Federal House of Representatives from 2003 to 2007, contributing to advocacy, regional dialogue and policy development, leading to improvements in health across Africa. He has consulted for several international and local development agencies such as Constella Futures International USA, National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, USIS, UNAIDS, NPHCDA, NACA, UNICEF, Health Reform Foundation of Nigeria, and Action Aid.

Okediran has published 14 novels till date, many of which are on the reading lists of a number of Nigerian universities. His highly acclaimed novel, Tenants of the House, which is a fictional account of his years in the House of Representatives, was the 2011 co-winner of the Wole Soyinka Prize for African Literature. A film adaptation of the novel has just been completed and will be ready for premiering shortly.

Together with a few friends, Okediran, in 2010, established the first writers’ residency in Nigeria, the Ebedi International Writers Residency in Iseyin, Oyo State. This is an initiative that is building and motivating teams of writers across Africa and the world at large.

Okediran is a fellow of the General Medical Practitioners of Nigeria and the Public Health Physicians of Nigeria. He is aand a member of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), prior to serving as its National President between 2006 and 2009. He is currently the Deputy Secretary-General (Africa) for the Union of Writers from Africa, Asia and Latin America.

He is expected to resume work at the PAWA Secretariat, Accra, Ghana on August 1, 2020.

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