The Arts-Muse Fair

Growing up in the 1980s, my young mind mostly burrowed in my father’s modest collection of books at home whenever I was not out playing with friends. It was always easy for me to mark out, at a glance, books published by Dillibe Onyeama’s Delta Publications (Nigeria) Ltd from books by other Nigerian Publishers – aesthetics!. Perhaps because he was first an author (with works such as Nigger at Eton, Sex is a Nigger’s Game, Night Demon, Secret Society, Revenge of the Medicine man ) before fully taking up publishing, his books come in high quality paper, inimitable creative cover designs and readable text prints that showed they were printed outside Nigeria. He was Abubakar Gimba’s first publisher, enjoying the distinction of releasing the late novelist’s debut novel, A Trial of Sacrifice in 1985 and many others that followed. He marketed Gimba’s works with panache, describing him as “the Northern answer to Achebe and Soyinka”.   But that is a story from the dying years of the l

Some writers and book publishers in Nigeria may not be aware of the Legal Deposit Law of Nigeria, which requires that three (3) copies of any book published in Nigeria be deposited with the National Library of Nigeria. There are benefits to authors and publishers who make this deposit. We bring to you all you need to know about the Legal Deposit Law in Nigeria as issued   by Prof. Lenrie Olatokunbo Aina, the National librarian and CEO of the National Library of Nigeria. The Legal Deposit law in Nigeria has its origin in the 1950 Publications Ordinance which gave the University College Ibadan library and the Secretariat Library in Lagos the right to collect two copies each of every book published in the country. National Library Act: The Authority to Collect Legal Deposit Materials The National library act was passed in 1964 and later reviewed in 1970 with emphasis on deposit obligations and bibliographical functions. The Act No. 29 of 1970 applies throughout the