The race for the 2014 Nigeria Prize for Literature supported by Nigeria LNG Limited got underway on Tuesday, April 15 with the handover of entries to the panel of judges.
Inaugurated in 2003, the prize rotates annually among four literary genres- prose fiction, poetry, drama and children’s literature. This year’s prize will be awarded for drama.
The 124 entries received for this year’s competition and the five entries for literary criticism were handed over by the company to the judges through the advisory board comprising Emeritus Professor Ayo Banjo and Professors Ben Elugbe and Jerry Agada at an event held at Eko Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos.
Vice- Chancellor, Benue State University, Makurdi, who is also a professor of theatre and drama, Charity Angya, is chair of the judges while winner of the 2006 edition of the prize, Professor Ahmed Yerima and Professor Nasiru Akanji of the University of Ilorin are members.
Playwright and Dean, Faculty of the Arts, Tshwane University of Technology, South-Africa, Professor Mzo Sirayi, is the international consultant who will work with the Nigerian judges.
Speaking at the event, NLNG’s General Manager, External Relations, Kudo Eresia-Eke, reiterated that the company will not relent in supporting the prize, Africa’s most prestigious prize. “We are focussed on whatever can improve Nigeria and that’s why we support the Nigeria Prize for Literature,” he said.
He thanked the judges for accepting to serve and noted that they are staking their integrity and will be bringing their knowledge and expertise to bear on the prize. Eresia-Eke also warned them that they have been assigned an onerous task but said he is confident they will deliver the way their predecessors did.
Eresia-Eke, who also touched on the company’s operations, core values and contributions to the Nigerian economy, expressed happiness that the prize has fared well in the last 10 years and that it will continue to wax stronger going forward.
In his speech, chair of the Advisory Board, Professor Banjo appraised the prize since inception and noted that it has gained in prestige and remuneration in the last 10 years. He also noted that there is a progression in the response that the prize receives annually and that the board and company will never compromise on merit and excellence.
Professor Banjo also recalled the 2009 fiasco when the prize was not awarded because the judges were not satisfied with the quality of entries received and the changes that were introduced in the administration of the prize after that incident. Some of the changes included disclosing the identities of judges, opening the prize to Nigerians at home and in the Diaspora and the introduction of an international consultant.
He expressed confidence that the judges “will deliver a great writer and also spoke about the adjudication process. He noted that apart from having a book that is well produced technically, mastery of the English language and envisioning Nigeria as it is and how it could be are also important parameters.
Professor Banjo said that ‘The Sahara Testaments’, Tade Ipadeola’s collection of poems which took the prize in 2013 has a vision that “transcended even Nigeria to include the world” and that administrators won’t rate an entry with narrow relevance.
Speaking after receiving the entries, Professor Angya thanked the NLNG for choosing her and her colleagues to “be part of the search for the best of the best.” She assured that she and her colleagues won’t misplace the trust reposed in them and that “we will do our best to give you the best person as winner.”
Though it now comes with $100,000 prize money, the Nigeria Prize for Literature started with $20,000 in 2004. On the other hand, the literary criticism award introduced in 2012 attracts prize money of one million naira.
