Labo Yari

Alhaji Labo Yari (14 April 1942 – 18 March 2023) was a Nigerian writer and founding member of the Association of Nigerian Authors. He wrote Climate of Corruption in 1978, the first English language novel published throughout Northern Nigeria.

Labo Yari
Born(1942-04-14)14 April 1942
Katsina, British Nigeria
Died18 March 2023(2023-03-18) (aged 80)
Katsina, Nigeria
LanguageEnglish
GenreNovels and short stories
Years active1978–2007
Notable awardsLifetime Achievement Award
ChildrenTwo sons and four daughters

Life and career

Born in Katsina, Yari studied at the London School of Journalism, and between 1966 and 1967 Norwegian literature at the University of Oslo.[1][2] He started his journalistic career in 1962, and later worked for the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture and as general manager of the publishing house Gaskiya Corporation.[1][2][3] In 1978, he debuted as a novelist with Climate of Corruption, the first English language novel published in Northern Nigeria, which was a commercial hit.[1][2] In 1982 he was among the five co-founders of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA).[1][2] He died at the Federal Teaching Hospital in Katsina on 18 March 2023, at the age of 80.[2][4] At the time of his death he had just finished a new novel, Awaiting Gozo.[2]

Works
  • Climate of Corruption (1978), Fourth Dimension Publishing Company, Nigeria. ISBN 978-156-014-2.
  • A House in the Dark (1985), Fourth Dimension Publishing Company, Nigeria. ISBN 978-156-148-3.
  • Man of the Moment (1992), Fourth Dimension Publishing Company, Nigeria. ISBN 978-156-289-7.
  • A day without cockcrow and other stories (1999), Informart Publishers, Nigeria. ISBN 978-34855-5-5.
  • Muhamman Dikko, Emir of Katsina and his times: 1865–1944 (2007), Summit Books, Nigeria. ISBN 978-194-464-1.

References
  1. Tsiga, I.A.; Bhadmus, M.O. (2016). Literature, History and Identity in Northern Nigeria. Safari Books Limited. pp. 226–7. ISBN 9789788431879. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
  2. "Nigerian author and ANA co-founder Labo Yari dies at 81". New Citizen. 18 March 2023. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
  3. Aliyu, Abba Sani; Jibrin, Ibrahim; Omobowale, Emmanuel Babatunde (28 January 2022). Creative writing, writers and publishing in Northern Nigeria. IFRA-Nigeria. pp. 7, 11. ISBN 979-10-92312-61-4.
  4. "Labo Yari, 'Climate of Corruption' author, dies at 83". TheCable. 18 March 2023. Retrieved 18 March 2023.

Further reading
  • Carey, John (1994). "World literature in review: Nigeria". World Literature Today, Vol. 68, Issue 1, Winter 1994, pp. 194-5.
  • Sheme, Ibrahim (6 June 1997). "Why I do not want to be known: Labo Yari, Northern Nigeria's First English Novelist, Opens up in This His First Interview Ever". New Nigerian, p. 12.

Labo Yari at Open Library

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