Okediran’s Day Of Glory   

The 3rd Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature holds in Lagos. By Nehru Odeh

Wale Okediran (r) and Kopano Matlwa

Dr. Promise Ogochukwu, writer and founder of the Lumina Foundation lives up to her first name. When she initiated the Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in 2006, she wanted to encourage African writers not just to read but to write well. Four years on, the multiple award-winning writer has kept that dream alive. The maiden edition of the biennial award, which is $20,000 in prize money, was won by Sefi Atta with her novel, Everything Good Will Come. In 2008, Nnedi Okoroafor won the prize with her novel, Zohrah the WindSeeker. Ogochukwu kept her promise for the third time on 30 April 2010, when Prof. Wole Soyinka, after whom the award is named, presented the 3rd edition of the prize to two joint winners, former president of the Association of Nigerian Authors, ANA, Dr. Wale Okediran, the author of Tenant In The House and the South African writer, Kopano Matlwa, the author of the award-winning novel, Coconut. The ceremony held at the Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos.

This year’s award was unique in several respects. The three shortlisted writers, Wale Okediran, Kopano Matlwa and Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani, author of I Do Not Come To You By Chance, were selected from 330 entries received from all over Africa. The five judges were not just drawn from different parts of Africa, they have distinguished themselves in their various fields. The judges were D. Shabbur Shabbur, Prof. Olu Obafemi, Liesle Louw, Sidabo Makubbo and Prof. Solomon Mensah.

In her welcome address, Mrs. Francesca Emmanuel spoke eloquently about the importance of the award. “One of the aims of the Lumina Foundation is to encourage people to read and write. If we want to read and hopefully to be inspired by what we read, we must have good writing. If our focus is Africa, we must promote great minds from Africa who are proud of our values and tradition and can bring out the beauty and dignity of our Africaness,” she said.

Mrs. Emmanuel also said it was in order to underscore the importance of the award that it was named after Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka who she described as a patriot, a fighter for equity, justice and good governance, a sound intellectual and a citizen of the world grounded in African values. “To emphasise the seriousness of this award, we had to look for a reference point, a Samuel who is an embodiment of all our aspirations. We found that Samuel in Prof. Wole Soyinka,” Mrs. Emmanuel disclosed.

Other activities lined up that evening included the recitation of an ode, which was a song of praise in four sections. The ode was performed by the Crown Troupe of Africa led by Segun Adefila. Mrs. Emmanuel read the prize symbol which, according to her, is the symbol of knowledge, creativity, courage and justice. The Nefertiti, a cultural group, also performed, rendering their songs in many Nigerian languages. And the Crown Troupe staged two of Professor Wole Soyinka’s plays, Death And The King’s Horseman and The Trials of Brother Jero.

However, the highpoints of the tension-filled evening were when the winners were announced and the awards presented to them. Before then Prof. Soyinka had already decried the situation in which awards had in the past been given only to females and Nigerians. After Prof. Olu Obafemi had read each of the judge’s remarks, the winners were announced and awards presented to them. And that brought the ceremony to a close.

Tags:  Kopano Matlwa, Wale Okediran, Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature