Criticism trails list of NLNG Prize for literature

The three are: Tade Ipadeola (The Sahara Testaments), Amu Nnadi (through the window of a sandcastle) and Promise Ogochukwu (Wild Letters). Others earlier shortlisted in August are: Afam Akeh, Amatoritsero Ede, G’ebinyo Egbewo, Iquo Eke, Obari Gamba, Tade Ipadeola, Okinba Launko (Femi Osofisan), Amu Nnadi,  Obi Nwakanma, Promise Ogochukwu and Remi Raji.  According to the […]

The three are: Tade Ipadeola (The Sahara Testaments), Amu Nnadi (through the window of a sandcastle) and Promise Ogochukwu (Wild Letters). Others earlier shortlisted in August are: Afam Akeh, Amatoritsero Ede, G’ebinyo Egbewo, Iquo Eke, Obari Gamba, Tade Ipadeola, Okinba Launko (Femi Osofisan), Amu Nnadi,  Obi Nwakanma, Promise Ogochukwu and Remi Raji. 
According to the chairman of the Advisory Board, Emeritus Professor Ayo Banjo, the eventual winner of the competition will be announced at a World Press Conference on 9th October, 2013.
Poet and Lawyer, Tade Ipadeola, lives in Ibadan, Nigeria, from where he writes and practices law. Ipadeola has authored three volumes of poetry along with other published short stories and essays. He is the current President of PEN International, Nigeria Centre, an organization which promotes literature and advocates freedom of expression.
Amu Nnadi is the author of the fire within and pilgrim’s passage, two volumes of poetry well received in Nigeria. His debut volume of poetry, the fire within, won the maiden edition of ANA/NDDC Gabriel Okara Prize for Poetry. Amu Nnadi, who writes poetry without punctuation and capital letters and publishes without any personal data and name, lives in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, and currently works at the Niger Delta Development Commission.
Armed with a PhD in Communication and Language Arts from the University of Ibadan, Ogochukwu Promise has published several literary works including novels, children’s literature, short stories, drama, poetry and essays. In 2005, Ogochukwu was on the shortlist of three for The Nigeria Prize for Literature with her volume of poetry, Naked Among These Hills. Ogochukwu lives in Lagos, Nigeria, where she is actively involved in various charity programmes and activities.
The chairman of the panel of judges is Romanus Egudu, a professor of English at Godfrey Okoye University, Enugu State and former president of the Nigerian Academy of Letters.  Other members of the panel are Prof. Omolara Ogundipe of the Department of English, University of Port-Harcourt, Rivers State and Dr. Andrew Aba of the Department of English, Benue State University, Makurdi, Benue State.
Other members of the Advisory Board, besides Professor Emeritus Ayo Banjo, are Dr. Jerry Agada, former president of the Association of Nigerian Authors and Prof. Ben Elugbe, former president of the Nigerian Academy of Letters.
The Nigeria Prize for Literature has since 2004 rewarded eminent writers and rotates yearly amongst four literary genres: prose fiction, poetry, drama and children’s literature. The 2013 prize is for poetry and comes with a cash prize of $100, 000. Next year is drama. A total of 201 books were submitted this year for the prize, said Kudo Eresia-Eke, General Manager, External Relations.
Meanwhile, many writers have kicked against the composition of the Advisory Board and called for a more effective process of selecting and awarding winners.
In a piece titled “The NLNG Prize for literature: Honoring phantom books, laziness, and mediocrity,” Ikhide R. Ikheloa, while congratulating the three finalists, lamented that out of the eleven books, just two were available for sale online or anywhere.
“It is a mockery of literature and a huge farce that the NLNG will spend $850,000 annually to honor what amounts to laziness on the part of book publishers and writers. In the 21st century, it is not hard to sell a book on the Internet. There is absolutely no excuse for this farce. It is not too much to ask that between now and October 9th, 2013 when the winner will be announced, that Nnadi’s through the window of a sandcastle, and Ogochukwu’s Wild Letters be made available to the general public online and elsewhere. It would be nice if the publishers would go online to announce where these books may be bought by regular readers like me. We would like to buy the books; we would like to see with our own eyes, what the judges saw in the books. This is what obtains elsewhere with real prizes,” Ikheloa wrote.
Also commenting, Abdulaziz Abdulaziz said in a Facebook post “It is only in Nigeria that you have a literary prize judged by a team exclusively of academics…. This explains, for me, why Ismail Bala’s poetry (beautiful ‘American’ poetry) could not make it to the shortlist. That prize money also needs to be split into three for the three shortlisted writers. We can’t afford to be having millionaire writers whose creativity would flee at the touch of $100,000 before they also flee to the UK, US, or SA to enjoy their booty.”