July 9th and 16th, Nigerian naval helicopter pilot and poet Umar Abubakar Sidi hosted interlinked book launch events in Port Harcourt and Abuja to celebrate his new book, Like Butterflies Scattered about by Art Rascals.

Sidi is a naval commander in the Nigerian Navy. His poems have appeared in several international platforms such as Lolwe, Jalada, Brittle Paper, African Writer, and others. This is his second published collection of poetry, his first being The Poet of Dust published in 2019.

Both events were well attended by Sidi’s military colleagues as well as literary figures. At the Port Harcourt event, attendees included Commodore Shettima, the Base Commander of the NNS Pathfinder (represented by Navy Captain Stanley Umeh), Dr. Ismail Bala of Bayero University, and Othuke Ominiabohs, author and show-runner at Masobe Books. Novelist Abubakar Adam Ibrahim, Managing Editor of Jalada Africa Richard Ali, and poets Star Zahra and Paul Liam were at the Abuja event.

Each event featured a discussion panel on the new collection of poetry. The Port Harcourt panel was chaired by Dr. Obari Gomba of the University of Port Harcourt while the panel discussion at the Abuja event was co-chaired by Salamatu Sule of the Fahimta Initiative and Dr. Ismail Bala. There were also music performances by the Naval band and live poetry performances by Suzzane and Chiromi, Voices of the Creeks, and Husayn Zanguru.

Congratulations to Sidi on the new book and two successful events!

[Photos were taken by Hussain Zaguru AbdulQadir (Zaguruville Empire Concepts Limited).]