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…as power, politics dominate

By Prisa Sam-Duru

The struggle for political control and power play dominated the longlist for the $100,000  Nigeria Prize for Literature, announced recently by the Advisory Board for the Prize.

The Nigeria Prize for Literature is Africa’s most prestigious literary prize sponsored by Nigeria LNG Limited.

The 2018 longlist of 11 plays chosen from 89 entries was selected by a panel of three judges led by Matthew Umukoro, Professor of Theatre Arts at the University of Ibadan. Other members of the panel include Mohammed Inuwa Umar-Buratai, Professor of Theatre and Performing Arts, and the Dean of the Faculty of Arts at the Ahmadu Bello University, (ABU), Zaria; and Ngozi Udengwu, a senior lecturer in the Department of Theatre and Film Studies at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

The Umukoro-led panel was appointed in February 2018 by the Prof. Ayo Banjo-led Advisory Board for the Nigeria Prize for Literature which has been administering the prize on behalf of Nigeria LNG Limited since 2010. Entries for the 2018 Prize were received by the judges in April 2018.

Members of the Advisory Board for the Literature Prize, besides Professor Banjo, two-time Vice-Chancellor of Nigeria’s premier university, University of Ibadan, are Prof. Jerry Agada, former Minister of State for Education, former President of the Association of Nigerian Authors, and Professor Emeritus, Ben Elugbe, former President of the Nigerian Academy of Letters and president of the West-African Linguistic Society (2004-2013).