The Nigeria Prize for Literature was instituted in 2004, and its overall objective is to 'encourage and stimulate authorship' and 'the development of Nigerian literary culture in terms of creative writing, production and reading.'It is an annual competition which rotates among the four genres of Prose Fiction, Poetry, Drama and Children's Literature. It has since proved to be a huge success and is now keenly contested for by authors (both old and new) not just because of its huge monetary value (this year's prize, for example, attracts a whopping 100,000 USD) but also because of the professional recognition is brings.The NLNG is really to be congratulated for its foresight and its determination to contribute to national development by instituting the two prizes of Science and Literature. As someone who has been professionally associated withLiterature for almost four decades now, both as a Teacher and a Critic, I am particularly thrilled by the recognition that this prize affords Literature in a world increasingly dominated by the imperatives of Science and Technology, and a national educational policy determined to marginalise the Humanities.My Appointment As JudgeMy appointment as a judge was conveyed to me via a sudden telephone call, in which I was told by an anonymous voice that I had just been appointed a judge of the NLNG Literature Prize. At first, I thought it was a joke, but in spite of my suspicion, I managed to say a feeble 'thank you, I appreciate it.' I was driving and could not interrogate the caller. When I arrived home I tried to put a call through to the caller but to no avail. The following day however, Prof Munzali Jibril, (the former NUC Executive Secretary) called to confirm that I had indeed been appointed as one of the five judges and that the contest for the year had to do with Children's Literature.Subsequently our names appeared in one or two national dailies, allaying any doubts about my appointment. This was eventually followed by a formal letter, dated April 4, 2011, and signed by the General Manager, External Relations, Siene Allwell Brown. I must say that I consider it a great honour and privilege to have been appointed a judge not just for the huge honorarium, but for the professional and academic recognition it implies.Our First Meeting In LagosIn response to an earlier e-mail I had sent to the NLNG website, our inaugural meeting was finally confirmed by e-mail from the Senior Public Relation Officer, Emma Nwatu, for 3rd June 2011. Check-in at Protea Hotel Kuramo Waters was on 2nd June and Departure on 4th June 2011.The meeting started as scheduled at about 10:00 am. First there was a Plenary Session involving the Science and Literature Boards and the Panel of Judges. After a short address by the Manager, Corporate Communication and Public Affairs, Mr Ifeanyi Mbanefo, during which he formally introduced the Chairmen of the two Boards (Professor Umaru Shehu and Professor Ayo Banjo) we were each told to introduce ourselves, since we were mostly meeting each other for the first time. The Plenary Session was then addressed by the Chairmen of the Advisory Boards, each of whom made general comments on the administration of the two prizes. Members were then called upon to make contributions and observations, if they had any. My own contribution was in line with that of the Chairman of the Advisory Board of Science, Professor Umaru Shehu, on the need for some zoning arrangement (without the usual political coloration, and without necessarily compromising standards. I will say more on this in my Observation and Recommendation at the end of the Report.)After a short break, the two groups met separately to receive the entries for the 2011 Prize and to discuss criteria for judging, under the auspices of their respective Advisory Boards.At the meeting of the Literature Group, the 2011 entries for the Competition were presented by the Secretariat and handed over to the Advisory Board and the Panel of Judges.Altogether, one hundred and twenty three (123) books were presented, after which the Board and the Panel set to work, immediately, shortlisting the entries on the basis of such criteria as, title, overall packaging or visual aesthetics (gloss, print, colour, editing quality), illustration, year of publication etc... In the end 43 books were able to make it past this initial stage; a total of eighty (80) were rejected.The next stage was to involve a further short-listing to twenty (20), after the judges would have read and properly screened or scrutinized the remaining forty three (43) entries, on the basis of criteria which were collectively agreed upon under the direction of the Chairperson, Professor Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo. Characterisation, Plot, Cultural Relevance, Core Values, Illustration etc were some of the criteria used. Since these were mostly to do with the aesthetics of prose fiction, in the actual scoring, we had to individually factor in other criteria to take care of the poetry entries, such as imagery, rhythm of rhyming scheme involving alliteration etc, poetic diction, metaphor etc, etc.The inaugural meeting, in my view, went without a hitch and, to cap it all, the judges were each presented with our once-and-for-all yearly honoraria up front, showing the confidence reposed in the judges by the NLNG.Even though eighty (80) entries were rejected, at the initial screening, the huge number of entries (one hundred and twenty three) is a fair indication of the fact that the Competition is well on its way to realising one of its primary objectives, which is to stimulate authorship in Nigerian literature.Shortlist Of Twenty (20) And Eleven (11)Mr Emma Nwatu, the Senior Public Relations Officer NLNG, did a fine job of exerting pressure on the Judges through the Chairperson, to ensure that we produced our shortlist of best twenty (20) within the stipulated time. The deadline of July 9 was met by the Judges; my own list was sent on the 6th of July (see Appendix 1 attached). Another list of best eleven (11) was then asked to be produced based on the spreadsheet sent to us by the NLNG.Accordingly, my own list (of 11) was sent on July 20th.Second Meeting In LagosThe second Joint Meeting of the Advisory Board and Panel of Judges took place at Eko Hotel on 22/07/11. First, we were addressed by the Manager, Corporate Comm & Public Affairs, who was fulsome in his praise of the Advisory Board and the Judges for their commitment, professionalism and transparency.In his own short address the Chairman of the Advisory Board called on the Panel of Judges to be professional and thorough. He then called on the Chairperson of the Panel of Judges, Professor Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo, to present her report. Seventeen (17) books that had made the list of three Judges or more were presented by her. It was from this that the Judges produced the shortlist of eleven (11). However, after further harmonisation of the initial lists of the Judges, it was discovered that twelve (12) and not eleven (11) had actually made the second shortlist.The Chairperson then gave reasons why some of the entries were rejected, such as punctuation and grammatical errors, poor editing and production etc. The Judges were now left alone to decide on a shortlist of six (6), out of which, after a thorough deliberation, the final shortlist of three (3) was arrived at. It was then jointly agreed with the NLNG and the Advisory Board that the shortlist of three (3) would be announced in September in a Press Release, which was eventually sent to us via e-mail.In all of these, what I found truly remarkable was not just the fairness and transparency of the whole process, but the convergence and near-similarity of the Judges' choices. Personally I feel humbled that the first three on my list of twenty (20) and eleven (11) ended up being the ones on the final shortlist of three (3). Also remarkable is the harmony, the openness, and the camaraderie that have so far characterised the whole exercise, due largely to the consensual approach adopted by the chairperson, Professor A. Ezeigbo.Professor Yakubu A. Nasidi is of the Facultyof Arts, Ahmadu Bello University,Zaria.
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