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.

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. 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. 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. At the time of his death he had just finished a new novel, Awaiting Gozo.

Works Climate of Corruption (1978), Fourth Dimension Publishing Company, Nigeria. . A House in the Dark (1985), Fourth Dimension Publishing Company, Nigeria. . Man of the Moment (1992), Fourth Dimension Publishing Company, Nigeria. . A day without cockcrow and other stories (1999), Informart Publishers, Nigeria. . Muhamman Dikko, Emir of Katsina and his times: 1865–1944 (2007), Summit Books, Nigeria. .