Announcing the Finalists: Engaging Borders Africa Short Stories

Engaging Borders Africa, a project of STRADA Initiative with funding from the Open Society in West Africa (OSIWA), aims to gather a wide range of expertise cutting across African literature, security studies, academia, film, as well as the civic space, all with the shared aim of changing the ways young people understand radicalization, violent extremism, and disinformation, which are key feeders of conflict and terror in Africa.

Consequently, we created a set of pan-African partnerships cutting across the Sahel countries of Nigeria, Niger Republic, Mali, Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast, as well as Kenya, to target writers and journalists in an effort to mainstream a “soft” approach to preventing and countering violent extremism (PCVE) in Africa. A 2-day capacity building workshop was held on December 21st and 22nd, 2021, using the massive online open course (MOOC) format. 

60 attendees from these countries attended the workshop, with 45 participants submitting full count short stories of between 3500 and 5000 words. 

We are delighted to announce the final list of successful stories:

1. A Kashe Su Arna by Joy Okwori
2. Betrayed by Ayub Mwangi
3. Butterfly Upon A Wheel by Omojokun Michael Temitope
4. Dance to the whirls of Maelstrom by Daniel Jaja
5. Lest we Forget by Susan Waruguru Chomba
6. Nipe Nafasi by Isaac Ongere Anyolo
7. Sound of Silence by Lucy Wangari 
8. The 44th Question by Haroun Risa
9. The Black Widow by Clifford Oduor
10. Weaponized by Daniel Adisi  Muse
11. What Will Allah Say on the Last Day by Adekeye Oluwasegun Lukman
12. Lost in the Camp by Fedelis Kyalo
13. Banga by Moses Adie Uyang
14. Une Rose en Plein Desert by Some N. Véronique
15. Une Seconde Victime by Hali Aboubacar Abdoulaye
16. Les Dieux Terroristes by Achille ZIGANI
17. All Eyes On Us by Abdullahi Ali 
18. By the Whisker by Janet Nnenna Anosike
19. Hate is Like Party Jollof by Bọ́ládalẹ́ Tèmítọ́pẹ́ Maryam
20. Kisasi by Sonnia Gitome
21. Modu’s Resolution by Abba Adamu Musa
22. The Baobab of Waroba by Alkasim Abdulkadir
23. The Coin by Mercy Gladys Atieno Otieno
24. The Hijabi Wedding by Dorcas Lungashi Kidaka
25. The Price of Patriotism by Musa Hashim
26. The Unwary Almajiri by Bashir Yahaya
27. All in a Week’s Coincidence by Margaret Chimea
28. Vultures of Loumbila by Fanidh Sanogo
29. Rahima’s Return by Akumbu Uche
30. Four Shots by Su’ur E. Su’eddie Vershima AGEMA

We laud the creators of these stories for their refreshing engagements with the defining issues of our times. These stories addressed hate in several forms and will help build communal peace in local and national communities in the Sahel. 

These stories are now being edited and will be published at an event to be announced at the end of January 2022.

Sada Malumfashi,
Communications Officer,
+2347038570607.
sada@engagingborders.com