AI, Poetry, Documentary Filmmaking Are Focus
NLNG, sponsors of the Nigeria prizes competition, have officially unveiled the 2026 cycle with call for entries on Sunday, February 1, 2026. This edition focuses on Artificial Intelligence and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for The Nigeria Prize for Science and Innovation; Poetry for The Nigeria Prize for Literature and Documentary Filmmaking for the newly introduced The Nigeria Prize for Creative Arts.

Speaking on the prizes cycle, NLNG’s General Manager, External Relations and Sustainable Development, Sophia Horsfall, emphasised the relevance of the selected themes in a rapidly evolving global context.

Her words: “The themes for the 2026 cycle reflect the realities of a world being reshaped by digital intelligence and creative expression.”

She said through the prizes, NLNG continues to reinforce its commitment to innovative ideas and talents that are rigorous, relevant, and capable of shaping long-term national outcomes. “The introduction of the Creative Arts Prize further strengthens this commitment by recognising creativity as a critical component of development.”

For Science, she noted that extensive research has demonstrated the immense potential of ICT, artificial intelligence, and digital technologies in reshaping industries and societies.

Also speaking, the Chairman Advisory Board of the Science and Innovation Prize, Prof. Barth Nnaji, called on scientists and innovators from all over the world to submit quality entries that transcend theoretical concepts and demonstrate deployable, scalable and practical solutions.

“The Nigeria Prize for Science and Innovation is founded on the principle that science must move beyond abstraction into solutions that work. The Prize recognises innovations grounded in rigorous research, demonstrating technical maturity and clear potential for application within Nigeria’s development landscape. We are looking for works that are inventive, credible, scalable, and capable of delivering measurable outcomes,” Nnaji stated.

The prize is valued at $100,000, and it invites pioneering digital and artificial intelligence–based solutions that can enhance systems, improve efficiency, and support informed decision-making in critical sectors of Nigeria’s economy.

This year,the science prize retains the theme “Innovations in Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Artificial Intelligence, and Digital Technologies for Development” following a “no winner” verdict of the 2025 cycle.

Nnaji stated that the decision, though difficult, reinforced the Board’s commitment to upholding the integrity of the selection process and protecting the reputation of the Prize for Science.

While commending the courage and dedication of all who submitted entries, Nnaji noted their efforts reflect discipline and a desire to contribute to both national and global scientific discourse. However, as he stressed, that excellence was beyond effort, and that it required innovation, mastery of craft, and the ability to leave a lasting mark on human thought and development.

The Board chairman noted that the prize is not about rewarding scientific output, but safeguarding the values of creativity, originality, and scientific rigor that define truly outstanding work.
“To lower the bar would be to betray the trust of the public and diminish the legacy of the Prize itself,” Nnaji affirmed.

The quality that the science prize has been known for could best be captured in 2018 winner, Dr. Peter Ngene, Associate Professor of Inorganic Chemistry and Catalysis at the Debye Institute of Nanomaterials Science at the Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands, whose work, Nanostructured Metal Hydrides, which won a €2 million grant from the European Research Council.

Aside from Ngene, Prof Hipolite Amadi’s invention in 2023 was more about reducing the number of infant deaths in the country by at least 50 per cent.

With his invention, Polite Heart Sea Park, the Polite Oxygen Blendand the Polite Oxygen SplitaSystem, the Professor hopes to see a drastic reduction in infant mortality rate in the country as well as provide the same service at very minimal cost.

As at the time of the award in 2023, the Polite Heart Sea Park, was already being used in some hospitals across the country and was sold for N750,000 as against N6.5 million, which was the cost of similar products imported from outside the country.

For The Nigeria Prize for Literature, poets will be in the spotlight for the 2026 cycle. Nigerian authors resident in Nigeria and in diaspora are invited to submit poetry collections published from 2023 onwards. The prize, also worth $100,000, recognises literature’s enduring capacity to interrogate society, preserve memory, and articulate both personal and collective experience.

The Chairman of the Advisory Board for The Nigeria Prize for Literature, and The Nigeria Prize for Creative Arts, Prof Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo, expressed excitement at the establishment of the new Prize for Creative Arts.

She described it as a significant addition to NLNG’s over two-decade legacy of celebrating excellence.

“It reaffirms our belief that excellence transcends form, whether written, spoken, or filmed. The Creative Arts Prize challenges creators to confront truth, explore memory, and translate lived experience into meaningful work. At the same time, the focus on Poetry for The Nigeria Prize for Literature recognises the genre’s enduring role as a tool for reflection, resistance, and social inquiry, with a unique capacity to distil memory and interrogate complex realities,” she said.

The Nigeria Prize for Creative Arts debuts with Documentary Film under the theme ‘Identity’, with the prize valued at $20,000. Targeted at emerging Nigerian filmmakers aged 18 to 35, the Prize challenges young creatives to produce documentary films that explore individual, communal, and cultural identities, and to reshape global perceptions of Nigeria through rigorous storytelling, creativity, and visual excellence.