Writing for children is also not that straight-forward, because you are usually an adult, who has to see things in the eyes of children. But if literature must grow in our society, it has to catch the attention of young people when they are not even yet teenagers
By Godwin Okondo
THE highly anticipated CORA-NPL Book Party which held on Saturday, August 17, 2024 to celebrate the 11 writers who made the longlist for The Nigerian Prize for Literature 2024 created excitement among Lagos literary enthusiasts and beyond. Held at the Shell Hall of MUSON Centre, Onikan, Lagos, the Book Party featured book exhibitions, readings, reviews and conversations with the 11 writers.
The genre in focus this is children’s literature, and the 11 books longlisted for the prize are A Father’s Pride by Ndidi Chiazor-Enemor, Bode’s Birthday Party by Akanni Festus Olaniyi, Grandma and the Moon’s Hidden Secret by Jumoke Verissimo, Mighty Mite and Golden Jewel by Henry Akubuiro, Risi Recycle – The Dustbin Girl by Temiloluwa Adeshina and The Children at the IDP Camp by Olatunbosun Taofeek. Others are The Magic Jalabiya by Ayo Oyeku, The Road Does not End by Familoni Oluranti Olubunmi, The Third Side of a Coin by Hyginus Ekwuazi, Village Boy by Anietie Usen and Wish Maker by Uchechukwu Peter Umezurike.
In his statement, Secretary General of the Committee for Relevant Art (CORA), Mr. Toyin Akinosho, said, “The Nigerian writer is grudgingly a children story writer. Children literature is not the first thing that comes to mind of the average author: It is poetry, then short story (in prose) and the novel, which is now gaining increasing popularity. Drama is far-fetched, so are indigenous Nigerian stories, written specifically for children. Writing for children is also not that straight-forward, because you are usually an adult, who has to see things in the eyes of children. But if literature must grow in our society, it has to catch the attention of young people when they are not even yet teenagers.
“The calendar has been slower this year because of the #EndBadGovernance protests, which has forced a postponement from August 4, 2024. We are here because a profitable Nigerian gas company decided that a way to spend some share of its profit is to enable the Nigerian reading space. The last time we got together was August 6, 2023 at this same venue which has found a way to take over from the National Theatre as the primary site for cultural engagement. I want to congratulate NLNG Ltd who are currently expanding their factory by 35% for the opportunity that the global market for gas continues to provide them, so that they have the incentive to continue to sponsor the prize. The Nigeria LNG runs the largest midstream hydrocarbon plant in Subsaharan Africa, and it is a dutiful payee of taxes into the Nigerian treasury.
“This year the Nigerian Prize for Literature is 20 years old, and this is the 20th award. It would have been the 21st, but in 2020, the owner of the Universe called for a reset in the affairs of humankind, so the world went into a state of languor. As you all know, we haven’t completely emerged from that reset. This afternoon presents an opportunity to get a sense of what’s happening around children literature.”
Akinosho told his audience that some of the writers were returning to the stage after appearing in previous editions of the Book Party, which is a plus to the sustained creativity.
“Some of these writers are returning to the longlis,” he said. “Five years ago, when we assembled at this same hall, Shell Hall at MUSON Centre, for the last Nigeria Prize Literature award for children writing, Chiazor-Enenmor was there with A Hero’s Welcome. Last year, when we came here for Drama, Akubuiro was one of them, with the text Yamtarawala, the Warrior King. Jude Idada, whose book, Boom Boom won the last Nigeria Prize for Literature for children story writing in 2019, had been in several rounds of this same competition before he won. So was the 2023 winner of the NPL, the poet and dramatist Obari Gomba. Before Gomba won the prize in 2023, with the political drama, GRIT, his works were longlisted four times.
“Umezurike, who is on this year’s longlist, was also part of the longlist in 2011. In 2021, he won the Nigerian Prize for Criticism, which is a newer prize in the Nigerian Prize for Literature system. The current chairperson of the prize advisory board, Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo, and a member of the board, Ahmed Yerima, both professors, have been winners of the award. Ahmed Yerima competed for the prize more than once. He won at the first time he competed and then he tried again.”
CORA Secretary General alsos highlighted the increasing monetary value of the prize and some of the wrong impressions often expressed about the prize.
According to Akinosho, “I have gone to this bit of historical excursion to highlight the fact that the NPL has become an enabler in the Nigerian literary ecosystem. Part of it is the cash money; in 2019, the USD$100,000 was N36m. Today, it iisN160m. That’s quite some significant amount of money in anyone’s account. But at CORA, we see an opportunity for the creation of an entire economy around the book trade. The NPL cannot alone wipe out all the entrenched dysfunctions of the Nigerian publishing sector, but it goes far. And those who are comparing it with book prizes in countries with structured book industries are grossly unfair.
“The first Book Party, which took place in the scenic seaside premises of the Goethe Instititut on Victoria Island in 2010, was organized after a review of the first five years of the Prize (2004-2009), in response to calls that the prize should do more than a glamourous gala night in which one author got rich, but the Nigerian book trade and literary scene as a whole didn’t seem elevated. CORA decided to help out. We asked the question: Why don’t we organize book readings, in which the top laureates come out to engage with audiences?
“For, what is the worth of the riches when you don’t have an audience? Nothing beats a Book Reading, an event at which an author sits and discusses his work with readers in the room. The Book Party is one of the series of events in our calendar that preface our annual Lagos Book and Art Festival (LABAF). The theme, this year, is ‘Breakout: Hope is a Stubborn Thing’. This year, CORA has determined three initiatives that extend this book reading to more than today.
“CORA has returned to regularly featuring the BOOKTrek, a periodic Book Reading programme at bookstores and culture spaces. It’s a periodic author-audience interface, featuring readings, reviews and discussions of select books of searching historical and contemporary insight. We have had six BookTreks this year and trust me, the texts are all significant. The BookTrek is part of CORA’s extension services, aimed at deepening Literary Appreciation and Audience Engagement with the published text.”
The General Manager, External Relations and Sustainable Development of Nigeria LNG, Mr. Andy Udeh, said it was always exciting to be at the Book Party,noting, “This is where we celebrate books, writers, in the midst of either art lovers, or other writers and sponsors. One reason why the prize for the literature has been very successful and well respected is because of the quality of those who manage the prize, the advisory board for the Nigerian Prize for Literature, and of course, on an annual basis, the advisory board nominates panel of judges who adjudicate on the entries, and of course, identify the longlist, shortlist, and if there is subsequently a winner.”
Odeh also paid tribute to the founding Advisory Board Chairman, Prof. Ayo Banjo, who passed away a few months ago, when he said, “We lost one of the most outstanding, in terms of literary work in Nigeria, who eventually became a patron of the Nigerian Prize for Literature, Prof. Emeritus Banjo. Yes, he’s gone. Today, as we celebrate writers, and, of course readers, I’d like us to stand up this time, not to reflect about someone who has gone, but the work he has done, how he has enabled this prize to be as successful and as prestigious as it is. Just a moment of reflection on how one man, one Nigerian would stand so tall, so large, to make this prize what it is today.”
Odeh also spoke about the resilience of The Nigeria Prize for Literature on its 20th year and its sponsoring company, Nigeria LNG in its 35 years of existence and the excellence it has brought to the socio-economic wellbeing of Nigeria, starting out, as it were, during Nigeria’s pariah years under military dictatorships.
“This is the 20th edition of the Nigerian prize for Literature,” Odeh said. “It’s our anniversary year, and this year also marks 25 years, that one of the most successful companies in the world, and by every stance, the most successful company in Nigeria, has been producing LNG without interruption. It is also the year that we are also marking 36 years as an incorporation, Nigeria LNG as an institution. A company that was formed when Nigeria was ruled by the military. LNG represents, after 35 years, the resilience of Nigeria, the success and hope that Nigerians built the land that we live in. So, to my colleagues and friends and the company that has allowed this to happen, I say thank you very much.
“The current book party is remarkable. It brings together authors, books, journalists, lovers of literature and arts to congregate in one room, to celebrate. My colleagues say that everyone comes to the party happy, and everyone goes home happy, because no winner is declared today. We are filled with hope to win, to be among the best three, eventually. We hope to see a winner, and I the pressmen here hope to deliver a spicy detail and information around winners and winning, and works of art coming from literature.”
* https://thearthubng.com/if-literature-must-grow-in-our-society-it-has-to-catch-the-attention-of-young-people/
