Isiaka Aliagan to Receive 2025 Fellowship of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA)
Professor Isiaka Zubair Aliagan, Kwara State University’s Dean of the Faculty of Information and Communication Technology, a distinguished journalist, Professor of Journalism, prolific poet, and dramatist, is to be awarded the Fellowship of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA).
The letter notifying him of the conferment, dated Wednesday, October 22, 2025, was jointly signed by the President of ANA, Dr. Usman Oladipo Akanbi and the General Secretary, Dame Joan Oji and it noted that the fellowship was in recognition of his outstanding efforts in the propagation of literature in the service of humanity.
“We consider it a rare privilege to reckon your enormous investments in the literary genres as a shining example of humanism, promotion of the arts, and of peaceful coexistence. Based on the above reckoning, the Association of Nigerian Authors has, after a thorough assessment, considered and approved your nomination in appreciation of your selfless contributions.
“In conferring this Fellowship, ANA honours your exceptional literary accomplishments, commitment to nurturing literary talents, and advocacy for freedom of expression and the power of the written and spoken words”, it added.
The Fellowship Award ceremony is scheduled to be held on Friday, October 31, 2025, at the Chinua Achebe International Conference Centre, Mamman Vatsa Writers’ Village, Abuja.
Reacting to the notice of fellowship, the Vice-Chancellor of Kwara State University, Malete, Professor Shaykh-Luqman Alade Jimoh, congratulated Professor Aliagan, describing the conferment as an honour well deserved and that the fellowship should spur the recipient to more creativity.
Professor Isiaka Zubair Aliagan began publishing creative works while still in secondary school, and he further honed his writing skills during his undergraduate studies at Bayero University, Kano, when his poems appeared in prestigious national newspapers such as Daily Times, Sunday Concord, and Sunday New Nigerian.
His poems were also included in the ANA anthology of poetry, Voices from the Fringe, edited by the late Harry Garuba in 1988, alongside those of established poets.
His dramatic works have also achieved significant national recognition. His play Olubu was nominated for the prestigious ANA/James Ene Henshaw Prize for Playwriting in 2011, while Rusting Time received a nomination for the ANA Drama Prize in 2020.
In 2025, students of the Department of English, Kwara State University, also staged another of his plays, Oba Momo. His short story collection, Scars of the Moon, received honourable mention at the ANA Convention in Port Harcourt.
These accolades underscore his versatility and excellence across multiple literary genres.