Nigeria Prize for Literature: Will Idada be 2nd time lucky?

Though he has a precious chest of honours, one that he appears to crave but has so far eluded writer Jude Idada is the Nigeria Prize for Literature.

The screenwriter and producer studied Theatre Arts at the University of Ibadan and worked briefly in banking/consulting before migrating to Canada. It was in the country that he came fully into his own, emerging as a gifted screenwriter, producer and writer. Today, he is not only renowned in film circles but also has a large following on social media, especially Facebook, where he drops flash fiction daily.

Idada’s first attempt to win the prize worth $100,000 and sponsored by the Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG) was in 2014. He came agonisingly close with his stage play, ‘Oduduwa – King of the Edos’. Though the play made the final shortlist, he lost out to Professor of Theatre Arts and Drama at Delta State University, Abraka, Sam Ukala whose ‘Iredi War’ clinched the prize. Kaduna based Friday John Abba was the third finalist.

In 2015 when the prize which rotates yearly among prose fiction, poetry, drama and children’s literature ought to be given for children’s literature, no winner emerged. The Judges, Professors Uwemedimo Enobong Iwoketok, Charles Bodunde and Dr Razinat Mohammed as well as the international consultant, Prof Kim Reynolds, deemed none of the entries worthy.

Jude Idada

In their report, the Judges noted that most of the authors who submitted entries did not know the difference between children’s literature and literature about children. They also had poor mastery of the English language, said the Judges. “In most of the entries for this year’s contest, it was discovered that inappropriate prominence was given to the following: violence, eroticism, mediocrity, cheating in examinations, bullying, exploration in mysticism and negative peer-pressure,” the report read.

It continued: “Language plays a major role in literary production. Creative writers are normally expected to pay special attention to the use of language, particularly so concerning children’s literature. The Nigeria Prize for Literature demands stylistic excellence as manifested through an original and authoritative voice, narrative coherence, and technically accurate writing. Unfortunately, the entries this year fall short of this expectation as each book was found to manifest incompetence in the use of language. Generally, published works are expected to be attractive, attention-catching and of good quality. The entries assessed for 2015 The Nigeria Prize for Literature competition did not reflect the above attributes to an acceptable degree. Many of them showed very little or no evidence of sound editing.

“Given the above assessment, it is clear that no entry met the standard expected of a good literary work of children’s literature. Therefore, none of the entries is found suitable for 2015 The Nigeria Prize for Literature Award.” The prize money was subsequently used to fund a workshop for children’s literature authors later in the year. It is, however not clear if Idada entered that year.

Four years after that anti-climax, Idada is back among the finalists with his children’s book, ‘Boom Boom’ released March 2019. He has Dunni Olatunde (‘Mystery at Ebenezer Lodge’) and Oyehmi T. Begho (‘The Great Walls of Benin’) to contend with this time around. The trio emerged finalists from a long list of 11 announced in July and were all praised by the Judges including Professor Obodimma Oha, Professor Asabe Usman Kabir and Dr Patrick Oloko.

They rated ‘Boom Boom’, Idada’s work which shines the light on sickle cell (a disease from which at least 100,000 babies die annually according to 2014 statistics by the World Health Organisation) highly. The book, they said, “gives Sickle Cell Anaemia immense clarity in an absorbing and engulfing narrative. The main proposition of the novel is that nature inflicts pain, but has also made provision for its succour and cure. This solution is, however, hidden in a complex web of natural and social circumstances that human beings must unravel. The novel is an experiment in pursuit of this objective.”

The accolade notwithstanding, will the author of other works including ‘A Box of Chocolates’, ‘Exotica Celestica’, ‘Didi Kanu and the Singing Dwarfs of the North’ and the stage play ‘Sankara’ smile home on October 11 at the grand award ceremony?