Professors Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo, Ahmed Yerima and Olu Obafemi have been named to the advisory board of the Nigeria Prize for Literature sponsored by the Nigeria LNG Limited. The company made the announcement during a virtual press briefing Wednesday called to handover the entries received for this year’s edition, which was postponed from last year owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The company, which spoke through its General Manager, External Relations and Sustainable Development, Eyono Fatayi-Williams, said it will retain Emeritus Professor Ayo Banjo, who chaired the former board consisting of Professor Ben Elugbe and the late Professor Jerry Agada, as life patron of the prize.
Adimora-Ezeigbo, who chairs the new board, said they were aware of the big task ahead of them. She praised Banjo for his good job, saying that he has performed well everywhere he has served “and his legacy will endure forever”.
As for she and her team, whom she said are highly qualified for the task ahead, “will do very well to maintain the high standard set by the NLNG for the prize”.
Adimorah-Ezeigbo revealed that it was actually Olu Obafemi who wrote the proposal that eventually resulted in the birthing of the prize by the NLNG Ltd.
Both Adimora-Ezeigbo and Yerima are previous winners of the prize, which rotates yearly among the genre’s of prose, poetry, children’s literature and drama. She went on perform her first task by virtually handing over the 202 prose, and four literary criticism entries received for this edition to Professor Toyin Jegede, the chair of the judges.