HIASFEST 2019

The inaugural edition of Hadiza Ibrahim Aliyu Schools Festival (HIASFEST) was undeniably a positive spectacle for the moment. This is because it came as an antidote to the almost creative dearth and death already inhabiting the minds of secondary school students in Niger State. The "Annual Schools Carnival of Arts and Festival of Songs (ASCAFS)" was, before now, the most significant event which brought students from the nooks and crannies of Niger State but its unfortunate demise broke the hype of creativity and competitiveness within the students of Secondary Schools in Niger State.

HIASFEST, chiefly sponsored by Alhaji Bala Abdullahi Kwatu, is in honour of Late Hajiya Hadiza Ibrahim Aliyu, the wife of Alhaji Ibrahim Aliyu, the Sardaunan Minna and MD, Urban Shelter Limited. The festival is administered by the Hill-Top Creative Arts Foundation (HCAF).

DAY ONE

The day one began with registration of schools and the opening ceremony. A total of seventeen schools were registered and participated in the inaugural edition. They are:

Although seventeen schools registered, not all the schools entered for all the events. A good number of them only entered for four to five events. As soon as the registration was concluded, the opening ceremony took a swift start after the opening prayer.

Mallam B.M Dzukogi, Founder, Hill-Top Creative Arts Foundation, in his welcome address, unravelled the series of events that triggered HIASFEST, ascribing it to his Facebook post where he stated that instead of politicians designing colourful T-shirts, it could have been more beneficial to the society if they print "Do Not Steal", "Do Not Take Hard Drugs", "Road to our village is not tarred", "Our Classrooms have no chairs", "Exam Malpractice is bad", "Almajiri system is a nuisance" etc. Benevolently, the sponsor reached out to the Hilltop Creative Arts Foundation with the desire of how he can partner in order to make positive contribution to the society and HIASFEST is the offshoot.

DAY TWO

On the second day, the Quiz and Spoken Word categories were held at the Niger State Book Development Agency. Fifteen schools with two students each participated for the quiz category while thirteen (13) schools participated for the Spoken Word category. The quiz was keenly contested with two students representing a school. They were made to answer questions on General Knowledge, Inventions, Sports and Sciences.

Contestants in the Spoken Word category also submitted a script or a Compact Disc (CD) of their Spoken Word performance before launching on the stage. They were given a scheduled timing for performance and they thrilled the audience with soothing enigmatic poetic lines.

DAY THREE

The third day, which was the closing ceremony, witnessed the Cultural dance and Craft categories. Fourteen (14) schools participated in Cultural dance while Four (4) schools participated in the Craft category. The cultural dance also provided a thriller as some participating schools added the flavour of drama to their dance.

WINNERS