Out of 161 entries, no winner emerged for the 2009 NLNG Literature Prize at the Grand Awards Night held on Saturday evening in Abuja.
There were gasps of shock and surprise from people inside the Congress Hall of the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, venue of the ceremony, as Ayo Banjo, spokesperson for the panel of judges for the literature prize, declared that none of the works merits the award.
Nine works of poetry had earlier been announced for the prize. ‘Litany’ by Omo Uwaifo, ‘Love Apart’ by Hyginus Ekwuazi, ‘Songs of Odamolugbe’ by Ademola Dasylva, ‘Eaters of the Living’ by Musa Idris Okpanachi and ‘From a Poem to its Creator’ by Diego Okenyodo were some of the nominated works.
The others were Nengi Ilagha’s ‘January Gestures’, G’Ebinyo Ogbowei’s ‘Song of a Dying River’, Ahmed Maiwada’s ‘Fossils’ and ‘A Memory of Rivers’ by Lindsay Barrett.
The judges’ verdict was that none of the works, despite the fact that three of them had previously won poetry prizes, was good enough to be awarded the prize.
This is the second time the Literature Prize would not be awarded. During the inaugural edition of the prize which incidentally held in Abuja in 2004, the judges decided against awarding the prize because of the poor quality of the three shortlisted works they said arose from self-publishing.
‘Condolences,’ by Bina Nengi-Ilagha, ‘Fattening House,’ by Omo Uwaifo and ‘House of Symbols,’ by Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo, were the works shortlisted then.
The common man as star
It wasn’t a total loss for literature, however, as Chima Ibeneche, Managing Director, the NLNG, stated that the prize money of $50,000 will be given to the Nigerian Academy of Letters to develop literature in Nigeria. He said the organisers are committed to maintaining absolute standards for the award and would thus abide with the decision of the judges.
It was a different case for the Science Prize as Andrew Jonathan Nok, a biochemistry teacher at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, got the prize for his works on trypanosome (sleeping sickness) parasites.
Earlier, Mr. Ibeneche reiterated the objective of the prizes. He said the NLNG “promote science and literature to give others the same opportunity you gave us; to give writers and scientists a shot at success; to give writers and scientists who have more or less operated at the margins of our society, the pleasure to sit with full merit amongst the business and political elite and be able to spread their fragrance of joy and wisdom in this struggling nation of ours”.
He added: “I have yet another reason for this big party. To have an event where politicians are spectators, and the ordinary person, the star!”
You are failures
In an extemporaneous keynote he delivered, sitting obviously because of old age, (he was assisted to the stage by an aide and an official of the NLNG), Emeka Odimegwu Ojukwu, former Biafran leader and chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), underscored the importance of cooperation and unity. He commended the cooperation between the NLNG and Nigeria which he noted is yielding positive dividends for the country. He noted that although two owners emerge from cooperation, the venture remains the property of the owner. Mr. Ojukwu added that partnering with another person doesn’t change one’s status as the owner but pointed out that, “Whatever you do, the ultimate owner is God”.
Mr. Ojukwu also alluded to the crisis in the country’s educational sector. “Don’t ever allow our educational institutions to drop behind. You can’t tell me you love Nigeria when the universities are shut down for months. My friends are ministers but I say to you, you failed on this one,” he said, adding that a good Nigerian is an educated Nigerian.
“He knows the country, its history and what links its people together. Open the door (of your brain) wide and let knowledge fill it”.
On unity, Ojukwu said: “Ethnic jingoism is a thing of the past. We are Nigerians. Nothing more. Work hard, be true to your neighbour.”
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