Nigerian-born poet and lawyer, Ogago Ifowodo, has clinched the 2026 NLNG-sponsored Nigeria Prize for Literature, defeating Tares Oburumu and James Ngwu Eze.
The Nigeria Prize for Literature, established in 2004, is one of the country’s most prestigious literary awards.
The advisory board for the prize, chaired by Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo, announced Mr Ifowodo’s victory at the award ceremony held on Friday in Lagos.
Mr Ifowodo clinched the coveted prize with his poetry collection “Why Does God Need a Gun,” beating Mr Eze’s “Unbind Me Now” and Mr Oburumu’s “Flora’s Love Colony.”
Ms Adimora-Ezeigbo hailed the collection for its “exploration of religious and political violence in Nigeria using rich allegorical style.”
The collection was also reviewed not only as an indictment of terror in the country but also a hymn for the vanished and the waiting, for every child whose laughter was silenced and for every parent who still keeps a place at the table.
Mr Ifowodo’s latest achievement reflects a distinguished literary career spanning several decades. He is an author of several poetry collections, including “Homeland and Other Poems,” “Madiba,” “The Oil Lamp” and “A Good Mourning.”