US based poet wins $100,000 NLNG Prize for Literature

A Nigerian based in the United States ( US) has emerged the winner of $100,000 NLNG Prize for Literature during the 2022 award ceremony night at Eko Hotel in Lagos on Friday night.

Romeo Oriogun won the 2022 NLNG Nigeria Prize for Literature for his collection of poems titled Nomad.

Oriogun was declared winner at a ceremony tagged Touching the Stars held at Eko Hotels and Suites Lagos on Friday night.

The Chair of the Advisory Board of the Prize, Professor Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo, made the announcement Friday, at the Grand Award presentation ceremony for both Nigeria Prize for Science and the Nigeria Prize for Literature, 2022, at Eko Hotels, Lagos.

Oriogun, who is a poet and essayist, defeated the other two shortlisted contenders, Su’eddie Vershima Agema (‘Memory and the Call of Water’) and Saddiq Dzukogi (‘Your Crib, My Qibla’), to emerge winner.

‘Nomad’ has a fresh language and a nostalgic engagement with the themes of exile and displacement.

His collection of poems beat Su’eddie Vershima Agema’s Memory and the Call of Water and Saddiq Dzukogi’s Your Crib, My Quibla to the award which comes with a cash prize of $100,000.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo presented the award to Agema, who collected it on behalf of Oriogun.