By PRISCA SAM DURU

IN a rather sophisticated ceremony that attracted dons, public intellectuals and other eminent Nigerians, the winner of the 2013 Nigeria Prize for Literature, sponsored by the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited, (NLNG), Tade Ipadeola was presented to the public, last Friday, at the Nigeria Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), Lagos.

The Fiditi, Oyo State born lawyer and poet laurette’s journey to fame began 8 years ago when he set out to write a collection of poetry that encapsulates the sufferings of Africans as well as people all over the world. The result of that excercise was “The Sahara Testaments”, the winning entry in the 2013 Nigeria Prize For Literature, a collection in which Tade uses the Sahara as a metaphor for problems of Africa and humanity.

*•L-R, Mr Tade Ipadeola , author of The Sahara Testament, Prof Emeritus JP Clark, Pro Ayo Banjo, Chairman Advisory Board for Literature and Mr Baba Omotowa, Managing Director/ CEO of NLNG at presentation. Photo by Akeem Salua

Having won a whooping $100 Prize Money from the treasury of NLNG, Ipadeola’s life changed and at the moment of  ecstacy during his presentation, he reiterated his plans to build a library in memory of one of his mentors, the late Ghanaian poet Kofi Awonoor who was murdered during the 2013 Kenyan Mall attack by terrorists.

His words, “I will build a library in memory of Kofi Awonoor. Fifty percent of the content of that library will totally be African and the other 50 will be literature. It will be a library for young Africans who want to experience the world through poetry. I am glad to say the dream is gathering substance daily and becoming a reality with the help of an architect, Tiwa Fadeyibi.

Tade’s day of Honour

And his feeling on his day of honour? Tade said  he “feels like the same way he felt when he first got the news about winning – Surreal.” According to him, it is like experiencing dawn somewhere on the peak of the Atlas mountains.”

Apart from the ambiance of the entire NIIA hall which smelt so much of books as well as the calibre of Nigerians and foreigners in attendance adding radiance to the event, one spectacle the audience couldn’t ignore was watching three literary titans, Emeritus Professor J P Clark, Odia Ofeimun, and Captain Elechi Amadi joining the duo later, in the battle for and against the role of literature in nation building.

The dissagreement began when Odia in his goodwill remarks, said that “I am happy that one of Nigeria’s greatest elders, J P Clark is here and I used to enjoy having a lot of arguments with him and I’m happy that we are going to resolve our differences because we have agreed that Literature does make things  happen.”

His speech elicited a prompt response from Prof Clarke who stormed out while Odia was still on the podium, and vehemently refused to tag along with Odia as he maintained his earlier position that  poetry or literature cannot make things happen. Prof  Clarke added that his reason was because politicians who have the political strenght to change the country, do not read or care about whatever message  writers are trying to pass across.

After Prof J P ended his speech, Odia stood his ground, stating that “Any performance in symbols that can make people change the way they look at the world, makes a lot of impact. Anything that can make you change the way you look at the world, can make things happen… J P is wrong by saying that Poetry cannot make things happen, Im surprised becase he just won an Award… our leaders only read Newspapers and that is why there is no change.”

Taking sides with Odia, the third icon, Captain Elechi Amadi said, “JP is wrong!, JP is absolutely wrong!.one line of poetry can change a leader.” According to the author of The Concubine, “Our leaders are not well read that is the truth of the matter. We are where we are today because our leaders are not reading” he said, stressing  that “The country will be a better place if leaders begin to read books other than just newspapers.”

Receiving the Award for his winning entry poetry, “The Sahara Testaments” Tade Ipadeola  said “Each time I read Amu Nnadi’s Through the window of the Sand Castle, I get goose pimples and while we waited for the announcement of winner of the Prize, I prayed that the judges wouldn’t feel the same when screening.”

The poet laureate expressed his gratitude to NLNG for the Award  noting that “In receiving the 2013 Nigeria Prize  For Literature, my gratitude goes to everyone who made The Sahara Testament, a reality. I am appreciative of the poets whose works constituted the long list of 11 out of the initial 201 entries received. The sponsors have come a long way in making the Prize a formidable one indeed. It is my hope that in the years to come, it will get  better.”

Professor Ayo Banjo described Tade’s presentation as “special because it is the 10th anniversary of the prize and it is gratifying to see how it has grown.” He thanked NLNG for choosing the best out of this crucial area of creativity adding that “with the level of satisfaction, response from the reading public as well as the interest media have shown,  which is encouraging, it means that literature prize has fulfilled the purpose for which it was instituted.”

According to Prof Banjo, 2013 Literature prize which focused on poetry, had no less than 201 entries and the panel of judges set to work, at last, “Tade’s “The Sahara Testaments” was selected. The same book was also  picked by the independent judge, professor Kofi Anyidoho,the  international assessor of the entries who was contracted for the first time in the history of the prize. They all praised Tade’s work.”

In his goodwill remarks, Prof J P Clarke congratulated Tade for his collection and thanked NLNG for instituting the Prize adding that “Poetry, drama, novels are my areas as well as teaching. When I read works coming out of Nigeria instead of getting goose pimples like Tade, I get worse especially by reading works from universities and teachers.

When I saw Tade’s poetry, I told my friend that at last, poetry has come out of this exercise. Not just the imagination but also, the discipline of practicing the quatrain form of words in a sustained manner. I hope more of this will come, not untill 8 years as he said.”

dia who reaffirmed his staunch believe in the unity of Nigeria further sated that, “I am a serious believer in Nigeria and apart from my comments on the National Conference, I will be relaunching three of my books, “Taking Nigeria Seriously”, “A Constitution with a Difference and “When Does a Civil War Come to an End?”

Tade has contributed immensely as this is one of the works that will force people who never had interest in Literature to do so. I have long believed that Literature will one day, bring us back,  Literature does make things happen.”

The event featured a short documentary on the winning entry. Also, every participant left the venue with a copy of the book.