Venerated playwright and lecturer, Dr. Mohammed ben Abdallah, has commended Nana Asaase for his exceptional poetry and linguistic abilities.

This happened after Nana Asaase had performed at the launch of Private Actors Welfare Scheme held on Saturday, January 4, 2025 at the Accra Marriott Hotel.

Dazzled by Nana Asaase's off-the-cuff act, the theatre arts colossus could not resist expressing his impression about the poet's sterling performance.

"I can only think about a couple of people around the world who are better poets that you. You bring to my mind the great Mohammed Ali who created poetry on the spot. Watch some of his videos, you will see what I am talking about," he said.

While holding hands with Nana Asaase, Dr Abdallah turned to him and added, "this man is a poet."

Nana Asaase is a Ghanaian poet, writer, and literary coach. His works are mostly rendered in a blend of English and Twi.

He has performed for audiences from all walks of life, including all presidents of Ghana’s fourth republic, the current King of England and Prince Charles. He has also performed for corporate giants, academics and art lovers in general, within and beyond the borders of Ghana.

Nana is admired for his linguistic prowess in both Twi and English and the fluidity of his compositions.

A former student of the University of Ghana, and was under the tutelage of Prof Kofi Anyidoho, a giant in Ghanaian and African literature, and other Ghanaian literary greats. He has been interviewed on both local and international media, including the BBC and CNN’s 'African Voices'. He is currently the Secretary of the governing board of Ghana’s National Folklore Board. Nana Asaase is the CEO of Asaase Inscriptions, Ghana’s first Literary Coaching Agency and Cultural Consultancy.

Dr. Mohammed ben Abdallah, is playwright, lecturer and former politician from Accra, Ghana. He holds an MFA from University of Georgia and a PhD from University of Texas, Austin. While a member of the revolutionary PNDC government in the 1980s and 1990s, he established the National Commission on Culture and built of the National Theatre of Ghana with its resident companies the National Theatre Company, National Dance Company, and National Symphony Orchestra.

Since the 1970s, Abdallah’s work as a playwright has pushed the creative boundaries of theater, linking Western and African dramatic traditions by developing a theatrical style he has termed Abibigro (African Play), meaning Total African Theatre.  His plays developed in this style emerge from collaborative workshops involving musicians, actors, and dancers that encourage the inclusion of various eclectic styles into the changing script. He has aimed to blend multiple African and diasporic styles of music, dance, storytelling, comedy, dramatization, and, experimentation. His work particularly focuses on the role of the storyteller as a figure of the avant-garde rather than one relegated to tradition. 

Written in 1972, ben Abdullah's first book, The Slaves, became the foremost non-American dramatic play to win the Randolph Edmund's Award of the National Association for Speech and Dramatic Arts.