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Honour for NLNG award winners

Last Thursday, top officials of Nigeria LNG (NLNG) Limited were in Lagos to present winners of the Nigeria Prize for Literature and Prize for Literary Criticism. Assistant Editor (Arts) Ozolua Uhakheme was there.

Four months after they emerged winners of the Nigeria LNG sponsored Nigeria Prize for Literature 2014 and The Prize for Literary Criticism 2014, the duo of Prof Sam Ukala and Isidore Diala last Thursday got inducted into the hall of prize winners in Lagos.

The public presentation of the winners (almost like a replay of the award night on October 9 last year) was held at the Agip Recital Hall Muson Centre, Onikan Lagos and it attracted literati, academics, top government functionaries, artistes and students drawn from about 10 secondary schools in Lagos.

Essentially, it was also a forum to honour the prize winners and hear first-hand the authors talk about their muse and, ultimately, give an acceptance speech that serves as the final trappings of their investiture as winners.

Guests at the event included Managing Director NLNG Limited Mr Babs Omotowa, his deputy, Mr Isa Inuwa, former Vice Chancellor University of Ibadan, Prof Ayo Banjo, Prof Charity Angya, Prof Austin Anigala (who represented Vice Chancellor Delta State University, Abraka Prof Victor Peretomode) and Delta State Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Mr. Richard Mofe-Damijo.

Others were Deputy Vice Chancellor University of Lagos Prof Duro Oni, filmmaker Tunde Kelani, Mrs Bolanle Austin-Peters, Prof Ahmed Yerima, Dr. Kudos Eresia Eke, Prize runners-up Friday John Abba and Jude Idada.

Omotowa said over the years NLNG has raised the stake of the prize to $100,000 and remain fully committed to the prize irrespective of the economic challenges. “The prize has stimulated some new writers and it has helped to improve standard of publishing…We hope other organsiations will join us.

For us at NLNG, the prize is to develop human capacity. Ukala’ book Iredi War, is on leadership and there is no better time to address that than now in Nigeria. The success of NLNG is a testimony that Nigeria can hold its own in the comity of nations,” he said.

Ukala, who dedicated his award to God almighty for the inspiration, talent and direction said: “I whole-heartedly and most gratefully accept the award of the Nigerian Prize for Literature 2014.”

He said those he criticised most in his works are the leaders because ‘if the leadership is right all other things will be right.’

“I feel fulfilled, grateful to God Almighty for the inspiration, talent and energy. I also feel indebted to NLNG for endowing the prize and processing the entries with utmost integrity and transparency through the appointment of an Advisory Board of truly honourable men, who, in turn, appointed persons of impeccable character as judges.

“I also think the public presentation is a great idea. It might result in the promotion of this author and his work as well as the promotion of literature and literary artists in general. It might be a forum to spotlight the need for Nigeria to consciously cultivate and maintain a robust reading culture as a way of improving the standard of education in the country,” he added.

In his acceptance speech titled: Warring twin or intellectual muse? Diala, who won the prize for literary criticism, said it was a privilege to emerge as the first recipient of an award that is bond to grow in prestige among scholars of Nigerian literature. He noted that exaltation of a great literary work is invariably also a literary criticism, noting that by endowing the literature prize, NLNG acknowledges one of the oldest functions of criticism: informed evaluation and judgment, discrimination between the mediocre and the great.

“Charting and enriching the tradition of ideas on which the writer relies, the critic’s endeavour is thus of crucial import to the artist. Thus, the endowment of a specific literary criticism prize is the sponsor’s acknowledgment of the complementarities between creation and criticism. Yet, the literature and literary criticism prizes sponsored by Nigeria LNG Limited are ultimately of greater consequences.

Prestigious prizes play pivotal roles in determining the trajectory of a people’s literature and canonising its masterpieces. By its capacity to lift into prominence its preferred concept of excellence in African literature through publication, distribution, and the award of prestigious prizes, the West metonymically appropriates the African voice and endorses as authorised particular forms of the representation of African reality,” Diala said.

The Professor of African Literature, Imo State University said the literary criticism prize would seek to authenticate preferred nuances in the reading of Nigeria/African literature. This, he said, was bound to generate controversies, some of which, hopefully, could serve a positive purpose.

“Examining Isidore Okpewho’s astonishing novel, Call Me by My Rightful Name, in my winning entry, I approach cultures as necessarily syncretic, hybrid exogamous and appraise the writer’s realisation of his vision in the work of art,” he added.

In a goodwill message, Kelani said though he has not won NLNG literary prize, he had adapted seven books into movie and that what NLNG has started is sowing a seed that would grow.

February 4, 2015
NLNG spotlights 2014 Literature Prize-winner, Ukala

Nigeria LNG (NLNG) Limited will today (Wednesday) beam a celebratory light on the latest winner of its hundred thousand dollar ($100,000) Nigeria Prize for Literature, Professor Sam Ukala, at a public presentation holding in Lagos.

Ukala will at the event share the podium with Professor Isidore Diala, the winner of the newly introduced award, for literary criticism instituted in 2011 to reward literary critics of Nigerian Literature from all over the world.

Ukala’s successful entry, Iredi War, was adjudged winning entry from 123 other authors whose works also competed to win the 2014 edition of the literature prize whose focus was on the drama genre.

The playwright’s submission withstood the rigorous scrutiny and checks for high standards that NLNG’sLiterature Prize is revered for by the literati across Africa and beyond.

Originality, relevance, quality of production, form and style, were among criteria used in the adjudication process by a panel of judges, led by Professor Charity Angya, Vice-Chancellor, Benue State University and three other eminent scholars –Prof. Ahmed Yerima, a past laureate of the Prize and professor of Theatre Arts, Redeemer’s University, Mowe, Ogun State; Prof. Akanji Nasiru, an accomplished scholar and professor of Performing Arts, Bowen University, Iwo, Osun State. The International Consultant to the Advisory Board for this year’s prize, is Prof. Mzo Sirayi, Executive Dean, Faculty of the Arts, Tshwane University of Technology, South-Africa.

This process witnessed the total one hundred and twenty four works considered for Africa’s highest cash award for a literary laureate, progressively reduced to forty-nine, then twenty-five, later eleven, and an eventual three, before Professor Ukala was announced winner at a World Press Conference on 9th October, 2014 by the Emeritus Professor Ayo Banjo led Advisory Board for Literature. Other members of the board include Professor Jerry Agada and Professor Ben Elugbe.

“Nigeria LNG is happy to bring Professor Sam Ukala and his formidable work, Iredi War, to the public’s attention for celebration. This is one of the reasons why the prize was established in the first place— to celebrate outstanding Nigerian authors and their works,” said Kudo Eresia-Eke, NLNG’s General Manager, External Relations Division.

The public presentation of the winning writer traditionally commands a strong attendance from the literati, many of whom come to honour the prize winner and hear first-hand, the author read his own work, talk about his muse and ultimately give an acceptance speech, that serve as the final trappings of his investiture as winner.

“I feel fulfilled, grateful to God Almighty for the inspiration, talent and energy. I also feel indebted to NLNG for endowing the prize and processing the entries with utmost integrity and transparency through the appointment of an Advisory Board of truly honourable men, who, in turn, appointed persons of impeccable character as judges,” said Professor Sam Ukala.

He added; “ I also think the public presentation is a great idea. It might result in the promotion of the author and his work as well as the promotion of literature and literary artists in general. It might be a forum to spotlight the need for Nigeria to consciously cultivate and maintain a robust reading culture as a way of improving the standard of education in the country.”

Ukala has written, performed and directed many stage plays including The Log in Your Eye (UPL, 1986), Break a Boil (Oris, 1992), Odour of Justice (Oris, 1992) and Fumes of Fuel in Rumbling Creeks of the Niger Delta. In 1989, Ukala’s Akpakaland won the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA)/ British Council Prize for Drama. Similarly, Skeletons, his collection of stories, won ANA’s Prose Prize in 2000.

The Nigeria Prize for Literature rotates yearly around four literary genres: prose fiction, poetry, drama and children’s literature. Its 2015 competition will be for children’s literature.

Since the prize’s institution in 2004, NLNG has regularly reviewed the stakes around the competition, to up the ante, not just in terms of the cash value which was $20,000 in the prize’s first year but in other respects as well.

For instance, the competition for the literature prize was initially open to only Nigerian authors residing in the country but was later expanded to admit entries from Nigerian writers in the diaspora.

Yet another element introduced to the literature prize was the award for literary criticism in 2011, which had no winner until Isidore Diala made the mark in 2014 to become its first winner. The literary criticism award has a one million naira cash value.

‘The Nigeria Prize has expanded in range and depth from what it was at inception. Now all Nigerians, whether at home or abroad may enter for the prize. Also, the introduction of an international assessor into the adjudication process has also done a lot to give the final verdict international clout as well,” said Tade Ipadeola, who won the literature prize in 2013

“Also, for the first time, the prize for literary criticism has been won by the critic Isidore Diala in 2014. All these are major forms of engagement with Nigerian and African Literature and its significance should not be lost on Nigerians or the prize’s sponsors. Worldwide, the culture and creative industries create about $500million in value year on year and Africa accounts for only 7% of that figure. What Nigeria LNG has done with its Nigeria Prize is to bring the country firmly into the global picture of places where culture is taken seriously,” he concluded.

January 28, 2015
NLNG tops firms’ ranking

Liquefied natural gas exporter Nigeria LNG (NLNG) is fourth in the ranking of 100 companies in Nigeria.

The ranking was undertaken by business development and marketing consultants, Jake Riley, in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment (FMITI).

International oil companies – ExxonMobil, Shell and Chevron – took the top three spots while NLNG came fourth, leading other Nigerian companies in the blue chip listing.

Other local and international establishments that made up the top 10 of the league table were Total Nigeria, MTN, Dangote Group, Oando, Eni-Agip and First Bank Nigeria Plc.

Commenting on the achievement, NLNG’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Babs Omotowa, in a statement, said: “We recognise that this achievement of being the foremost Nigerian establishment in the latest ranking also places on us the responsibility to continue to remain the model company that shows how Nigeria can generate value from its abundant human and natural resources.”

Nigeria LNG, as the arrowhead of the Federal Government’s effort to end gas flaring, has successfully converted gas that would have been routinely burned off, into lucrative cargoes of liquefied natural gas, exported safely and reliably to customers in different parts of the world.

Earlier this year, NLNG paid corporate income tax (CIT) of N220 billion to the Federal Government, becoming the largest corporate tax payer. The amount accounts for some five per cent of the government’s revenue.

December 22, 2014
NLNG to build $1.8b ship repair facility in Lagos

The Nigeria Liquified Natural Gas (NLNG) in collaboration with other investors are set to invest $1.8billion in ship repair and dry docking business in the country to boost the economy and increase trade.

The facility, according to its promoters, would be built in Badagry area of Lagos State because of its deep waters, human resources and proximity to other West African countries.

Speaking at the investors’ road show organised by the Badagry Ship repair and Marine Engineering Limited, NLNG’s Managing Director Mr. Babs Omotowa said the robust investment will contribute immensely to the nation’s economy, give the country the much needed foreign exchange aside its potential to create jobs.

The need for the establishment of the dockyard, Omotowa said, follows the conclusion of feasibility studies by Royal Haskoning DVH, an independent international engineering and project management consultancy company which has its headquarters in the Netherlands.

The study, he said, is one of the benefits of NLNG’s $1.6billions ship building contracts given to Samsung Heavy Industries and Hyundai Heavy Industries to build six new ships for the company.

“This dry dock, when completed, holds huge potential for investors and for Nigeria; Our NLNG vessels and very large crude carriers of other companies in the oil and gas and marine industries, which are currently maintained overseas, resulting in millions of dollars in capital flight, will soon be maintained in our country with significant value-added for the Nigerian economy,” Omotowa said.

The feasibility studies for citing the dock yard, he said, were done in seven locations which included Badagry, Lekki FTZ, Ladol Island, Olokola FTZ, Onne and Bonny before the consultants picked Badagry as the suitable location for the project.

December 10, 2014
NLNG chief Omotowa emerges Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply’s president

The Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS) has appointed Nigeria LNG’s (NLNG) Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Babs Omotowa, as its GlobalPresident for 2014/2015.

In selecting Omotowa for the role, theUnited Kingdom headquartered CIPS’ Global Board of Trustees said his appointment was based on self-recognition and his strong contributions to global procurement and supply governance and practice.

Omotowa’s selection to the global chartered body makes this only the second of its kind in the institute’s 82 year history, of appointing its President on self-recognition.

With his calm demeanour, strategic vision, global experience and knowledge, and proven judgment, Omotowa will be the brand face and chief representative of CIPS, leading over 100,000 members in some 150 countries where the body is represented.

In his over 20-year career, Omotowa has continually broken barriers.

He said: “I am honoured by this global appointment. Itspeaks volumesabout our four core values at NLNG – integrity, teamwork, excellence and caring. I trust this appointment will give an added push to the drive to develop Nigerians and Africans professionally,an aspiration that NLNG has been at the forefront of, in line with the company’s overall vision to help build a better Nigeria.”

Omotowa will assume the position in November 2014 succeeding Craig Lardner, an Australian.

David Noble, CIPS’Group CEO said: “We’re delighted to welcome Babs Omotowa as the next CIPS President. He will be an asset to the profession and to the institute as he brings with him a wealth of experience and knowledge about procurement and supply management as well as business principles. We’re particularly pleased as Omotowa is our first procurement professional-turned-CEO as president and demonstrates how ability in the profession can develop into the highest leadership roles in business. We are confident that his approach to his presidential year, and the CIPS theme of Procurement and Supply Comes of Age – Raise your Game, Raise your Voice, will offer a call to action that our members will respond to and help them understand the language of business so they too can achieve similar success.”

Omotowa brings to the position extensive leadership experience gained working on high profile oil and gas projects in Nigeria and other parts of the globe. He has been a Vice President and Director of some of Nigeria’s storied oil and gas projects, including Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) and West African Pipeline Company, (WAPCO).

Omotowa’s procurement and supply chain management experience includes functioning as General Manager, Supply Chain for Shell Nigeria Exploration and Company (SNEPCo) and the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC).

In July 2014, he delivered a paper at the CIPS Pan African Conference at Lusaka, Zambia, sharing his perspectives on the concept of “Social Entrepreneur Thinking” as a game changer for procurement and supply. The paper titled Good procurement, good for society, good for People,set out how the role of procurement and supply, could deliver enduring value to society.

NLNG is owned by four shareholders, namely, the Federal Government, represented by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC (49 per cent), Shell Gas BV, SGBV, (25.6 per cent), Total LNG Nigeria Limited (15 per cent), and Eni International (N.A,) N. V. S. a. r. l (10.4 per cent).

October 30, 2014
NLNG donates generator to autism school

The Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited has donated a 15 KVA generator to the Autistic Children’s Healing School in Abuja.

The gesture, the company said, would aid the institute’s educational programme for autistic children.

The company, Nigeria’s arrowhead for monetising its abundant gas resources, is an active enabler of social development, executed via a robust platform of interventions, particularly in the educational sector.

A statement by its General Manager, External Relations, Mr Kudo Eresia-Eke, said: “At Nigeria LNG, we place a premium on education as a game changer, and we are happy to support the Autistic Children’s Healing School in its noble effort to channel the energies of children in its care. As in other areas where we have provided assistance, our aim is to encourage Nigeria’s progress through the empowerment of our people.”

Autism, a complex development disability, results from a neurological disorder, affecting the brain’s normal functioning and leading to marked deficiencies in communication and social interaction of those who suffer from the disability.

Medical experts hold the view that autism presents itself in the early, developmental stages of a person’s life, usually the first three years.

Some of NLNG’s more recent social investment interventions include its $12 million funding towards the development of world-class engineering faculties in six Nigerian universities — University of Ilorin (UNILORIN); University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN); University of Ibadan (UI); Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria; University of Maidugri (UNIMAID) and University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT).

October 21, 2014
World awaits LNG’s Literature laureate

With barely 72 hours to go before the announcement of this year’s winner of the Nigeria LNG (NLNG)-sponsored annual Nigeria Prize for Literature, literary enthusiasts in the country and beyond are struggling to contain their excitement about who among the three shortlisted writers will emerge winner.

The prize comes with a $100,000 cash, courtesy of the NLNG and rotates yearly among four literary genres: prose fiction, poetry, drama and children’s lietrature. This year’s prize is for drama.

The three shortlisted authors are Friday John Abba (Alekwu Night Dance), Jude Idada (Oduduwa, King of the Edos) and Sam Ukala (Iredi War).

Authors entered 124 books for the award, but the rigorous standards applied by the panel of judges made up of eminent scholars and renowned literary critics saw that number reduced to a selection of 11 for further scrutiny, before the final three emerged.

“I congratulate the three authors and wish each of them success as we await the judges’ final decision, to be announced on October 9,” said Kudo Eresia-Eke, NLNG’s General Manager, External Relations.

The Nigeria Prize for Literature, since its establishment in 2004, has earned a reputation for demanding uncompromising quality in the books that vie for its recognition.

On two earlier editions, its first year in 2004 and later in 2009, the judges declined to award the prize because of what they adjudged to be shortfalls in the quality of the works submitted.

Nevertheless, the honour received by winning the Nigeria Prize for Literature, considered the gold standard by the literary community, has brought some of the country’s writers to the fore.

A roll call of the past winners shows a rich variety of recipients, comprising joint winners in poetry for 2005, Gabriel Okara for Chants of a Minstrel and Prof. Ezenwa Ohaeto for The Dreamer, His Vision; Ahmed Yerima’s Hard Ground for drama in 2006; joint winners in Children’s Literature for 2007, Mabel Segun for Reader’s Theatre and Prof. Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo for My Cousin Sammy; and Kaine Agary’s Yellow Yellow for prose in 2008.

In 2010, Esiaba Irobi clinched the prize posthumously with his drama titled: Cemetery Road. Adeleke Adeyemi won the prize in 2011 for his children’s literature, The Missing Clock; Chika Unigwe in 2012 for prose with her novel, On Black Sister’s Street and last year, Tade Ipadeola for poetry, with his collection of poems, The Sahara Testaments.

The cash that comes with the award has had an impressive history.

At inception in 2004, the reward was $20,000. This was increased in 2006 to $30,000. In 2008, it was again upped to $50,000 and in 2011, another review by NLNG saw the reward pegged at $100,000.

Each of the three writers contending for this year’s prize has an interesting background in literature.

Jude Idada, a screen writer, filmmaker and dramatist, has published works in the three genres of literature. He is the author of Flood, Brixton Stories and Lost. He is also the winner of the 2013 Association of Nigerian Authors’ Prize for Drama with his book, Oduduwa: King of the Edos. Idada. Idada, who currently lives in Canada, is a graduate of Theatre Arts, from the University of Ibadan.

Friday John Abba, a playwright, was Chairman of Kaduna Writers’ League and former Vice Chairman of the Kaduna State chapter of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA).

A playwright, theatre director, film producer and an academic, Sam Ukala was the Chairman, Delta State chapter of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA). Ukala’s other published plays include The Slave Wife, The Log in Your Eye, Akpakaland and Break a Boil.

October 7, 2014
NLNG awards $1.5b contract for six ships

The Nigerian Liquified Natural Gas (NLNG) Company has signed a $1.5 billion contract with a South Korean firm to construct six new ships for the liquified gas company.

The Managing Director of NLNG, Babs Omotowa, who spoke in Abuja at the weekend, said the bidding and tendering for the project were transparent, arguing that the gas firm “got value for money when you look at our estimates and benchmarks”.

As part of the value for money recorded by the firm, Omotowa said: “The first thing was to create opportunity to resolve some of the social issues that existed. So, we looked at the issue of employment, capacity creation and decided to use this ship building contract to address some of those issues.”

In the deal, Omotowa said: “We signed into the contract that we will have 600 Nigerians trained in ship building; 200 of them will work in the yard of the vendor for two years and be able to learn about ship construction while the remaining 400 will be trained in specialised skills here in Nigeria. As we speak, 200 of them are in South Korea and in two years time when the ship would have been finished, they will come back with the ship with a lot of knowledge and technology.”

The other thing the gas company did was to think about the use to which goods and services made in Nigeria will be incorporated into the new ships to be constructed.

Omotowa said: “We, then, looked at ship building and thought of the aspects of ship building that can be made in Nigeria like cables, furniture, anodes, paintings and all of that; so, again we put in the contract that all those items that can be made in Nigeria will be supplied from Nigeria to South Korea and by doing that, we worked with a lot of local manufacturers of these goods because the Koreans will tell you that their standards are not good enough. So, we worked with Nigerian manufacturers and brought in international agencies to support the development of their goods.”

He said a lot of those companies had shipped several goods to South Korea, including cable metal which just sent out over N165 million worth of goods to Korea for ship building.

Also to build local capacity from the ship construction contract, the NLNG boss said the company got the ship manufacturers “to send down to Nigeria, simulators and they have sent down two simulators that are worth several billions of naira that are now going to be installed in our facility in Bonny. What that means is that the training of Nigerians that people use to go to Europe and South Korea, and only few people could afford that we can now do those training in Nigeria and save quiet a lot of money.”

In addition, an agreement was reached with the ship builders “to build a dry docking facility in Nigeria. We got them to commit about $40 million and provide technical partnership; we’re currently working together on the feasibility study and we are about now selecting a location where we will be able to build this dry dock facility. This will build significant capacity in the country and create lots of jobs for Nigerians.”

They were able to achieve all these because procurement profession in Nigeria has been able to make the difference by getting the most value for money spent.

Omotowa said: “This is procurement professionals going beyond the normal tendering process that we would have stopped at to looking at societal needs and using our activity to resolve and contribute to making the country a better place.”

He challenged all those in the procurement profession “to look beyond tendering that procurement professionals can make. Procurement specialists should develop deeper understanding of the economy to make an impact, it is also important that we develop long term strategies in a manner that will derive value”.

Procurement professional he said “must have broad knowledge, must be trusted as a partner and work with the highest integrity, must build alliances and networks, must understand their stakeholders and build a relationship with those stakeholders, must be attuned with the latest technology for innovation and creativity because technology has brought changes to procurement activities and it is still changing.”

September 8, 2014
NLNG Literature prize finalists named

The final shortlist of three writers has been approved by the Advisory Board for The Nigeria Prize for Literature sponsored by Nigeria LNG Limited.

The three shortlisted writers are Friday John Abba (Alekwu Night Dance), Jude Idada (Oduduwa, King of the Edos) and Sam Ukala (Iredi War).

An initial shortlist of eleven was released in July.

According to the Chairman of the Advisory Board, Emeritus Professor Ayo Banjo, the eventual winner of the competition will be announced at a press conference on 9th October, 2014.

Friday John Abba, a playwright was Chairman of Kaduna Writers’ League and former Vice Chairman of the Kaduna State chapter of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA).

Playwright, theatre director, film producer and an academic, Sam Ukala was the Chairman, Delta State Chapter of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA).

Ukala’s other published plays include The Slave Wife, The Log in Your Eye, Akpakaland and Break a Boil.

Jude Idada, a screen writer, filmmaker and dramatist, has published works in the three genres of literature.

He is the author of Flood, Brixton Stories and Lost. He is also the winner of the 2013 Association of Nigerian Authors’ Prize for Drama with his book, Oduduwa: King of the Edos. Idada, who currently lives in Canada, is a graduate of Theatre Arts, from the University of Ibadan.

September 5, 2014
‘Nigerian writing has long come of age’

For 10 years now, the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited has been giving $100,000 to the best Nigerian writer yearly. It is the highest Literature prize in the country. It also sponsors of the CORA book party, which brings together the shortlisted authors and book lovers. Why does the company promote creative writing? In this exclusive interview with Evelyn Osagie, the NLNG General Manager, External Affairs, Mr Kudo Eresia-Eke, a poet, says literature is the soul of life as it excites the reading culture.

what is your opinion on the state of the creative writing in the country?

The Nigerian writing has long come of age. No matter how you look at it, when you talk literature on the world scene, Nigeria is present. And now we are blossoming and expanding. The quality and the quantity are increasing. If you look at the breadth of experiences that we are sharing today, it is far much more than what we used to know. We have indigenous, those in the Diaspora and we have the mix. Different kinds of cultures come into play and people are experimenting. And we see the spectrum of those, who were shortlisted recently. From the list of hundreds that participated only 11 were shortlisted. Their ages (17 and above), their educational background (there is a professor), give you an idea of the breadth. Young people are getting into the spree, as young as 17, that gives you an idea of how much impact is being made. It is getting to the grassroots and that is great to know.

As a businessman, do you think literature has the economic potential worth investing in?

The truth is our interest in literature is not so much for the business side. There would be those, who would reap from it. Publishers, promoters and writers may reap from it, but our interest is in promoting literature purely as literature; promoting the reading culture because when we excite literature, it would excite enough quality that people would be attracted to. And this would influence more people to get involve; it would also influence more readers, the growth of our nation and excellence. And we never know where it would lead to because once you light a candle; you’d never know how many other candles that candle would ignite.

Ten years on, how has the journey been so far in sponsoring the Literature Prize?

It has been fulfilling for the company. To have initiated a Nigeria Prize for Literature, which in such a short span has assumed a continental and possible world stature, attracting response and support from across the spectrum of writers and lovers of literature worldwide. The Prize was instituted for the benefit of Nigeria, and so we are happy that Nigeria is reaping the benefits, as you can see from the value and volume of literature inspired, the enthusiasm and energy of book lovers/affiliated workers generated, and the excitement of the reading culture in our land.

Were there challenges encountered during the period?

Nothing prospers without challenges, so for the Prize to acquire the level of reputation and respect it enjoys today, we had to painstaking work at the challenges not as stumbling blocks, but as climbing blocks. There have been quite a few of those challenges, which nevertheless have helped the Prize to be better honed for greater acceptability and worthiness. Of course, not much would have been achieved without the huge support enjoyed from the Advisory Board, the judges, the writers and the media that have worked with us all the way.

Supporting Literature over the years, what does NLNG stand to benefit from this venture?

That’s a very good question because sometimes when you look at it, it seems there is a disconnect between a gas company, a technology-based company, supporting literature. But this is where we link up. The vision of the Nigerian LNG is to be a global company helping to build a better Nigeria. Now, no nation can be built in darkness, the writers bring light and enlightenment, they bring intelligence, they excite the reading culture. Technology cannot improve if people don’t read. So, it instigates reading – they make us read, learn and make us students…excited pupils who want to know things about the world. That is where they come in. So they are a fundamental pillar for nation-building, fundamental pillar for improving and making Nigeria better – that is why we doff our hats for the writers.

So, you belong to the school of thought that says there exists a more profound connection between literature and science?

Yes. The basis of science is literature, because except you learn to read and write, you can’t express yourself in science. Notice that a lot of the science writers are originally from the literary background; that is the only way they can express complex ideas in simple terms that children can understand and that people can appreciate. So, writing is also part of science.

What informed NLNG decision to extend the prize to Nigerians in the Diaspora?

Nigerians are fundamentally very determined people and we love competition. And the more we compete, the better we get. A Nigerian is a Nigerian no matter the part of the world, he or she lives. It doesn’t matter whether you live in the moon, if you are a Nigerian please get on it. And we believe Nigerians can compete with those from any part of the world.

What stands the Prize out from others in the country?

I think the support it enjoys – from a whole spectrum of society. It enjoys support from the media, the arts, the academia, local and international audience. It stands very high when you look at the quality of judges and members of the advisory board. It is eminent and loved. There is a good reason behind it.

What is that reason?

Laughs. The integrity of the process and people can see that.

August 27, 2014