It is Time To Redeem Nigeria – Ilagha

Only in Nigeria, I suppose, do we hear of a prize money so widely advertised and so orchestrated as having been set aside for literary productivity, only to be denied in the long run on truly fallacious grounds.

Here’s what I think about the NLNG non-event. A poet is a man of feeling, and if I don’t express my feelings on this matter, I will be failing in my duty. The fact of the matter is that the Nigeria Academy of Letters, NAL, was not listed among the nine frontline poets contesting for the prize. And therefore, the Academy should not be in a hurry to spend one dime of the 50,000 dollars in question. The Academy should do the right, proper and honourable thing by rejecting the prize money.

Let’s face it. My name is Nengi Josef Ilagha. I am the author of January Gestures. It is the first chapter of a 12-part diary of poems running through the entire calendar. The book was published in 2007 alongside February Fabrics. March Marbles through December Decibels are all awaiting publication. I dare say no poet, living or dead, has ever embarked upon such a grand and elaborate odyssey. I stand to be corrected. Mark you, I was not disqualified for the 2009 Nigeria Prize for Literature. I made the shortlist of nine out of 163 poets, and if anybody says I didn’t win, they should prove it.

As things stand, I will do well to invoke a court injunction against spending the money, and I believe the spirit of Gani Fawehinmi would see reason with me. There must be lawyers out there who will take up this case with great pride and readiness. Yes, I will go so far as to sue the NLNG for attempting to bring my father’s honourable name to public disrepute.

I will not stand back and fold my hands. I shall not suffer fools gladly. I will crow like a noon-day cock. I will sound my gong like a distressed town-crier. I hereby lay claim to the sum of 50,000 US dollars, being the amount advertised and orchestrated by the NLNG as having been set aside for the 2009 Nigeria Prize for Literature. Ogaga Ifowodo is a well-known Nigerian poet and lawyer. I hereby contract him to prosecute the case, in his own interest. I am in earnest. Enough is enough.

In fact, I am embarking on an international campaign against the entire event. I read on the internet that Ahmed Maiwada was the only poet that was present at the venue. That is not correct. I shudder to recall that I was stopped at the entrance to the event, and ordered by bouncers to turn back even after I had identified myself as one of the contestants, touting my book. I stood to my full royal height, and insisted on witnessing the event all the way. It took the intervention of Emeka Agbayi to let me and my well-meaning guests in. I feel truly wounded. Frankly, I feel bloodied. 

Maiwada may have been the only poet with a formal invitation card, but I was there in person. Ask Maiwada. He came to my table, we shook hands, and he wished me well. Ask Emman Usman Shehu. Ask Chiedu Ezeanah. Ask Ike Okonta. Even Dim Odumegwu Ojukwu may jolly well be my witness. I am not an invisible man. In point of fact, I was very visible because I turned out in national colours suitable for an event of that magnitude. It is the first time in recorded Nigerian history when a poet would appear in patriotic green, white, green colours befitting of a king, and there are pictures to prove it. NLNG should check their photo file. Nigeria, I say, cannot afford to deny her own colours. 

I insist that it is outrageous for a beneficiary to be decided upon, outside the ring of contestants. I never heard of a fight between boxers slugging it out on the mart and then, in the end, it was the referee who went home with the golden belt. The entire event was a charade, and it brings the Nigeria Prize for Literature to great ridicule. We are faced with a classic example of a lopsided value system with no regard for merit. In the end, Nigeria as a nation would be the worse for it. It is time to redeem Nigeria. It is time for worship.

If NLNG is not prepared to part with the prize money, and hand it over nicely to me, they should stop parading themselves as the foremost literary sponsor in Nigeria. Come to that, if the multi-national agency felt obliged to lend a helping hand to the Nigeria Academy of Letters, it could have done so under a different platform, and the world would applaud. This prize was specifically for the winner, or joint-winners of the 2009 Nigerian Prize for Literature, as the case may be.

The professors who constitute the panel of judges (four of whom are confirmed members of the Academy) parade sterling credentials. Perhaps they should write poetry as one man and enter for the prize as well, instead of practically awarding the prize to themselves. It is a great shame that, after all that rhapsody by Professor Ayo Banjo about the newfound maturity in content and style as evident in the works of the nine Nigerian poets, the panel of judges could not decide a winner, to say nothing of joint winners. Evidently, it puts the credibility of the judges to question.

The worst case scenario, in my opinion, should be that all nine poets should share the prize money, since the distinguished panel of judges even failed to announce the shortlist of three that was promised at the World Press Conference staged at Eko Le Meridian in Lagos much earlier. What’s the point selecting nine out of 163 poets, and failing to decide the best three, if not a clear winner? I need my money. I live by the words from my pen. All those who say a labourer is not deserving of his wages have read the Bible upside down.

After this, NLNG should be more comfortable sponsoring the next beauty pageant or the next Face of Africa event. I can see them readily parting with the said amount in support of football, for instance. They may jolly well sponsor anything but intellectual endeavour. For how long do we continue to despise the fruits of our own labour? As I see it, the primary purpose of the award has been defeated, but NLNG will not get away with this pointless jamboree.

Only in Nigeria, I suppose, do we hear of a prize money so widely advertised and so orchestrated as having been set aside for literary productivity, only to be denied in the long run on truly fallacious grounds. Even if a composite anthology, a selection from the books of the nine poets was conceived, or even a promotional tour around the West African sub-region was proposed, it would have made more sense than this precipitate slap on the face of Nigerian literature.

I feel particularly scandalized by NLNG. They did this to my wife at the maiden edition in 2004. Bina Nengi-Ilagha clearly won the 20,000 dollar prize with her first novel, Condolences, a novel that remains acclaimed for its originality. Yet they brought in two other novelists to share the prize money, and even at that it was 5,000 dollars apiece. NLNG went back to Bonny with 5,000 dollars. Can you beat that? No, you can’t. I have every reason to be grateful to Wole Soyinka for his timely intervention at that event. Alas, there was no Soyinka at the 2009 edition, but that is not to say NLNG should go scot-free. Enough is enough.

I suggest that an independent arbitration panel constituted by international critics of poetry revisit the works of the nine poets in question and come up with the winner, since the task is evidently too much for the panel of judges set up by NLNG. Please ask me another question.