Nine called, none chosen

Long before the literature committee dropped the bombshell that there was no winner for the 2009 NLNG Prize for Literature, speculation was already rife that the prize would be given to Ahmed Maiwada, author of ‘Fossils'.

The lobby of the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, venue of the Grand Award Night, was a hotbed of gossip. "He is the only writer on the shortlist that has been officially invited, the others are not here" a number of people, majority of them writers, had said.

As if to lend credence to the speculation, Maiwada was the only writer of the nine nominees people saw before the ceremony commenced.

The others - Omo Uwaifo, Hyginus Ekwuazi, Ademola Dasylva, Musa Idris Okpanachi, Diego Okenyodo, Josef Nengi Ilagha's, G'Ebinyo Ogbowei and Lindsay Barrett - were ‘conspicuously absent'.

But Ayo Banjo, an emeritus professor of English who read the report of the literature committee, put the rumours to rest with: "...This competition has now come of age, bringing with it critical expectations that match the standards of the competition.

The Panel of Judges looked for a body of poetry of high seriousness and an all embracing vision that reaches beyond social satire and a private quest for meaning, and decided not to award this year's literary prize for literature."

Needless to say the announcement upset many inside the hall, especially a group of writers including general secretary of the Association of Nigerian Authors, Denja Abdullahi, who left the hall immediately.

Interestingly, NEXT was able to confirm that some of the writers indeed got no official invitation to the event from the organisers.

‘The common man as star'

Though Chima Ibeneche, Managing Director of the Nigeria LNG Limited had, while reiterating the objective of the science and literature prizes, said the company organises the gala night "...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...

"To have an event where politicians are spectators, and the ordinary person, the star" it is doubtful if the common man was really the star at this year's awards night."

Apart from the fact that Andrew Jonathan Nok, a professor of biochemistry at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, got the science prize for his ground breaking work on finding a cure for trypanosomiasis and had a few minutes in the limelight, the stars of the night were politicians.

Peter Obi, Adamu Ciroma, Dora Akunyili, Ibrahim Babangida (who sent a representative), serving ministers and members of the diplomatic community, naturally, were openly acknowledged. The nine shortlisted writers, who could have been the real stars, by Ibeneche's definition, were nowhere to be found.

Happily, the keynote speaker, former Biafran warlord, Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, who spoke a lot of sense, was the biggest star of the night.

Tempered by age

His frailty aside, Ojukwu's entrance was as dramatic as his speech. A traditional Igbo flutist heralded his arrival as he was assisted into the hall by his wife, Bianca and a coterie of aides including Peter Obi, governor of Anambra State.

Though some wondered initially whether the former rebel leader was losing the plot as he said, "I'm told that the national anthem is Nigeria We Hail Thee", after which he stood to attention before sitting down again, the Oxford-educated Ojukwu is still lucid.

He touched on the importance of cooperation; need to shun ethnicity and why attention must be paid to educational institutions.

The chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), however, surprised many with his open acknowledgement of God. Like most radicals, Ojukwu wasn't known to be enamoured of religion/faith in his youth.

"Whatever you do, the ultimate owner is God," he began. And before people could overcome their surprise, he continued. "Many of you will say this isn't the Ojukwu I know, talking about God. But I have come to the final knowledge that everything belongs to God.

"We can't change anything, we are only assisting it. Remember that God is supreme, He only can order and eventually whatever you do, you are answerable to Him and Him alone. We are all here doing God's wish."

Akunyili's gaffe

Minister of Information and Communication, Dora Akunyili, seems to have news sources unknown to the Nigerian media.

Or how do you explain her claim at the event that a Nigerian woman won a Nobel prize for science? She went as far as condemning the Nigerian press for not carrying the story in their editions of that day. Interestingly, a search of www.nobelprize.org, the official website of the Swedish Academy, does not list any Nigerian as having won in any category.