Cheluchi Onyemelukwe-Onuobia’s ‘The Son of the House’ has won the 2021 Nigeria Prize for Literature sponsored by Nigeria LNG Limited.
Onyemelukwe-Onuobia, a professor of law at Babcock University, Ilishan-Remo, was declared the winner of the $100,000 prize ahead of Abi Dare’s ‘The Girl with the Louding Voice’ and Obinna Udenwe’s ‘Colours of Hatred’ by the panel of judges of the literature prize at the grand award night held on Saturday at Eko Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos.
“After a scrutiny of the three novels, the Panel of Judges and the Advisory Board have, in consideration of its profundity of technique and subject matter as a Nigerian family saga, its thematic depth and social relevance as a commentary on the diversity of collective experiences that shape, hold and mar families in postcolonial Nigeria, and its feminist undertones, found Cheluchi Onyemelukwe-Onuobia’s ‘The Son of the House’ outstanding, and declare it the Winner of the 2021 Nigeria Prize for Literature,” Chair, Advisory Board, The Nigeria Prize for Literature & Literary Criticism, Professor Akachi Adimorah-Ezeigbo declared in a befitting climax to the evening’s proceeding.
Earlier, Canada-based academic and poet Uchechukwu Peter Umezurike was awarded the Nigeria Prize for Literary Criticism worth N1 million for his critical essays, “Self-Publishing in the era of military rule in Nigeria, 1985 – 1999”, “Postcolonial Ogres in Ngugi Wa Thiong’o’s Wizard of the Crow”, and “Land of cemetery: funereal images in the poetry of Musa Idris Okpanachi”.
His essays, according to the judges, was the best out of four submissions received. Professor Olu Obafemi, who read the Advisory Board’s statement, noted: “Above all is the relevance of this author’s papers to literary studies in Africa, especially Nigeria. The publications contribute to scholarship in postcolonial studies and publishing as the works highlight and explicate postcolonial realities of disenchantment, alienation, exploitation, oppression, neocolonialism, deprivation, power relations, political leadership, loss of freedom, failure of leadership, abuse of power, and the gap between the rulers and the ruled. These issues, though peculiar to the African continent and the Nigerian nation-state, are universal. In this way, the writer rescues African/Nigerian imaginative works from their putative appellation in the West as anthropological materials.”
While Onyemelukwe-Onuobia was physically present at the grand award night attended by eminent Nigerians and the literati, Umezurike joined virtually from Canada.
Responding to his emergence as the winner of the Prize for Literary Criticism, Umezurike said, “I’m truly honoured for receiving the prize. The panel awarded my work such storied recognition,” adding that literature has enriched his life. He didn’t fail to thank the NLNG, his family and his PhD supervisor in Canada.
Also speaking, Onyemelukwe-Onuobia went on a thanking spree, appreciating God, her parents, husband, children, publisher, the team at her university and law firm, the judges and sponsors.
Earlier in a keynote address, Managing Director/CEO, Nigeria LNG Limited, Dr Philip Mshelbila, affirmed its commitment to the three prizes it sponsors. They are The Nigeria Prize for Science, The Nigeria Prize for Literature and Prize for Literary Criticism while congratulating the winners.
He said, “The Nigeria Prize for Science, The Nigeria Prize for Literature and The Nigeria Prize for Literary Criticism are designed to encourage the daring mind to imagine, create and innovate with the intent of turning the wheel of development and leading to the emergence of a better man, a better society and a better world.”
With her emergence as the winner, Onyemelukwe-Onuobia joins an exclusive list of past winners, including Gabriel Okara, Professor Ezenwa Ohaeto, Professor Ahmed Yerima, Mabel Segun, Professor Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo, Kaine Agary, Esiaba Irobi, Adeleke Adeyemi, Chika Unigwe, Tade Ipadeola, Professor Sam Ukala, Abubakar Adam Ibrahim, Ikeogu Oke, Soji Cole and Jude Idada.
The judging panel for the 2020/2021 edition of the Literature and Literary Criticism Prizes were Professor Toyin Jegede (chair) of the University of Ibadan, Professor of Literature, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Tanimu Abubakar, and Senior Lecturer in English, University of Lagos, Dr Solomon Azumurana. Zimbabwean author Tsitsi Dangarembga was the International Consultant.
