Nigeria LNG Literature Prize 2017: No winner for Critical Writing
No winner emerged in the Critical Writing category of the 2017 edition of the prestigious Nigeria LNG Literature Prize.
The Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG) made the announcement in a press conference in Lagos on Monday, even as it announced Ikeogu Oke as the winner of this year award.
Chairman of the Advisory Board for the Prize, Emeritus Professor Ayo Banjo said five entries were received in the Critical Writing category out of which three entries were disqualified.
He said the remaining two were not shortlisted for the prize because none of the works met the standard that the competition represents.
“One of the criteria for the entries was that the work must have been published not more than three years before entry submission. And then three of the five entries received were published outside the time under review.
“And to crown it up, the works of the remaining two entries did not meet the standard of the competition hence no entry emerged for the cash prize,” Prof. Banjo said.
On his part, Chairman of the Panel of Judges, Professor Ernest N. Emenyonu wondered why not much response were not received for the category judging for the multitude of professors, Associate professors and senior writers that abound in our university system.
Expressing his concern, the General Manager, External Relations at NLNG, Dr. Kudo Eresia-Eke said: “We are concern. The prize is there, yet there was no response. Though, we agreed that there is some kind of inertia which I expect should be dealt with soon and in subsequent editions get more response in the category.”
He however hailed the amount of work that went into the emergence of Ikeogu Oke as the 2017 Literature prize winner.
“For us, this has shown that we cannot always be having only the Wole Soyinkas and the Chinua Achebes but also present crop of writers who can hold their own world.
Oke’s Heresia poetry work emerged this year’s winning entry in a keen competition that saw 184 entries across the country.
For emerging the winner for the 2017 edition, Ikeogu Oke was rewarded with a cash prize of $100.000.
