MEET THE 2009 POETRY IDOLS: The Quest for the NLNG Prize for Literature

Professor Andrew Jonathan Nok has won this year’s edition of the Nigeria Prize for Science for his seminal work in discovering the gene responsible for the creation of Sialidase (SD), an enzyme which causes sleeping sickness (Trypanosomiasis) and he will be honoured at the Nigeria LNG Grand Award Night on 10th October at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja.

Nok won the science trophy just as the poets are entering the final lap of the race for the $50,000 literature prize.
Nine writers are within striking distance for the prize according to the Nigerian Academy of Letters.

The authors are: Omo Uwaifo for Litany; Ahmed Maiwada for Fossils; Lindsay Barrett for 'A Memory of Rivers'; Odoh Diego Okenyodo for From a Poem to its Creator; Hyginus Ekwuazi for 'Love Apart'; Musa Idris Okpanachi for 'The Eaters of the Living'; Ademola Dasylva for 'Songs of Odamolugbe'; Nengi Josef Ilagha for 'January Gestures'; G’ebinyo Ogbowei for 'Song of a Dying River'. There were 163 entries this year.

A BRIEF PROFILE OF THE 9 AUTHORS IN THE SHORTLIST
Omo Uwaifo’s work is titled Litany and is his first collection of poems. A Fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, he has also published books on engineering. Litany, is dedicated to the late Niger Delta environmental activitist, Ken Saro-Wiwa.

Nengi Ilagha hails from Bayelsa State and was at one time the speech writer to the Governor of Bayelsa State. Once an editor of The Tide on Sunday, he currently serves Special Adviser on Research and Documentation. His shortlisted entry is titled January Gestures. Mantids, Nenghi’s first collection of poems won the Association of Nigerian Authors, ANA, Poetry Prize in 1995. He is married to Bina Nenghi-Ilagha, whose work in prose, Condolences, similarly received an honourable mention in the first edition of The Nigeria Prize for Literarture.

G‘Ebinyo Ogbowei is the former Head of Department of English & Literary Studies at The Niger Delta University, Wilberforce Island, Bayelsa State. Ogbowei who holds a Masters of Philosophy in African Literature from the University of Port Harcourt was at one time the chairman of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) Bayelsa State Chapter. His entry is titled, Song of a Dying River.

Ademola Dasylva’s shortlisted entry, Songs of Odamolugbe, won the 2006 edition of the ANA (Association of Nigerian Authors)/ Cadbury prize for poetry. Dasylva who holds a doctoral degree in African Literature from the University of Ibadan is a member of numerous professional and academic organisations including Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), Folklore Society of Nigeria; Western African Modern Languages Association and is the Co-coordinator, Ibadan Cultural Studies Group, University of Ibadan, Ibadan.

Ahmed Maiwada holds a Law Degree and is a literary critic. His first collection of poems is titled Saint of a Woman. Maiwada, who is based in Abuja has been reported as one of the “emerging voices” in literature (Daily Sun, February 25, 2007). His shortlisted work is titled Fossils.

From a Poem to Its Creator is Odoh Diego Okenyodo’s first book in Poetry. A member of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), he has worked for “about a decade” as a journalist with the Weekly Trust. He holds a Bachelor of Pharmacy from the Ahmadu Bello University.

Musa Idris Okponachi’s submission is The Eaters of the Living. A senior lecturer at the University of Maiduguri, Okponachi’s works have been published in many publications, including Vultures in the Air (Ibadan, Spectrum Books),Silence of Time (Maiduguri,Muse Publications).

Lindsay Barrett a naturalised Nigerian citizen was born in Jamaica. He worked as a journalist in Europe and Africa, before settling in Nigeria. A political analyst, poet, playwright and novelist, some of his works include Jump Kookoo Makka, which was performed at the Leicester University, and The State of Black Desir.
His submitted work under consideration for the award is titled A Memory of Rivers.

Love Apart won the ANA/Gabriel Okara poetry prize in 2007. Authored by Hyginus Ekwuazi, it has been shortlisted for this year’s edition of the Nigeria Prize for Literature. A lecturer at the University of Ibadan, Ekwuazi teaches Media Arts (Broadcasting and Film).

The winner of the Nigeria Prize for Literature will be chosen from the shortlist.

The Nigeria Prize for Science and The Nigeria Prize for Literature have been endorsed by the Nigerian Academy of Science and the Nigerian Academy of Letters. Each prize has a cash value of $50,000.