Joshua Chizoma is winner Ken Saro-Wiwa Prize for Review 2021

By Godwin Okondo

* Prize rekindles hope for culture of critical thinking

IT was a moment of sigh-heaving for the sole juror of the Ken Saro-Wiwa Prize for Review of books, Anote Ajeluorou, while announcing the winner at Lagos Book & Art Festival (LABAF 2021) that held last month at Freedom Park, Lagos. He had lamented the declining level of book reviewers coming out of Nigerian universities and feared for the future of critical thinking and how it would impact negatively on the critical gaze required to review of books and other cultural productions and performances including film, music, theatre, fashion and visual arts in the country’s culture and media eco-systems. But it appeared his fears were largely unfounded with the outcome of the the 2021 Ken Saro-Wiwa Prize for Review of Books initiated by LABAF for three years now and sponsored by the Nigeria Liquified Natural Gas Limited (NLNG), also sponsors of the Nigeria Prize for Literature, NPL. The prize was curated by poet and festival administrator, Osaze Samuel.

”As a longtime operator in the Nigerian newsroom as Arts editor, I had always worried that those leaving our universities are not bringing anything new to critical thinking in terms of reading a book, understanding it and critically engaging it through a review to add to the reader’s enjoyment of it,” Ajeluorou said.

”But with the level of critical thinking that went into these reviews by some 11 reviewers, it’s clear the future is bright. We can only encourage and support these young reviewers so they excel in the critical craft of reviewing books and other cultural forms like films, theatre, music, etc.”

He promised to publish the winning reviews in his online art and culture platform, AnoteArtHub (www.anotearthub.com) that was also launched at LABAF 2021.

Joshua Chizoma won the prize while Feyintola Chukwuedo and Adepoju Isaiah Gbenga are first and second runners up respectively. Chizoma will receive a Kindle and the 11 longlisted books, Chukwuedo will receive a Kindle plus three books on the longlist while Gbenga will get a Kindle plus the winning book.

Incidentally, the book reviewed for the prize in this year’s Ken Saro-Wiwa Prize for Review is the book that won The Nigeria Prize for Literature 2021, ‘The Son of the House’ by Cheluchi Onyemelukwe-Onuobia, which took the reviewers just two weeks to read and submit the review. While explaining the rationale for the prize contest, General Manager, External Relations and Sustainable Development, Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited, Mrs. Eyono Fatayi-Williams, commended LABAF for its steadfastness in committing to literary and cultural excellence through the yearly festival that was in its 23rd season this year.

According to her, ”For over two decades, the Lagos Book & Art Festival (LABAF) has significantly impacted participants by empowering them with transformational knowledge. The festival continues to demonstrate how the arts — literature especially — supports the development of society by providing insights into the human experience and allowing readers, attendees or participant observers to connect at a basic emotional level that constantly reminds us of our shared humanity.

“It is global knowledge that good literature promotes public enlightenment and in turn provokes positive action towards nation building. This obviously resonates with Committee for Relevant Art (CORA), organisers of LABAF, as well as Nigeria LNG Limited, sponsor of The Nigeria Prize for Literature, The Nigeria Prize for Literary Criticism and The Nigeria Prize for Science.

“Nigeria LNG has conscientiously sponsored the prizes as part of our contribution towards inspiring excellent works of literature in terms of content and publishing. So far, the annual literature prize has celebrated 14 winning works on Literature, three on Literary Criticism, and recorded well over 2200 entries on Drama, Prose Fiction, Poetry and Children’s Literature, from hundreds of authors resident in Nigeria and elsewhere in the world.“