PIN poetry competition produces winners

Poets in Nigeria (PIN) have announced Bakre Fadil Adedamola, Ajah Henry Ekene and Bona O. Solomon as prize-winners for the 2017 edition of Nigerian Students Poetry Prize. The competition, which opened since February this year, received about 725 poems from students drawn from over 100 tertiary institutions in Nigeria and abroad.

Adedamola, a 400-level student of Philosophy at the University of Ibadan, clinched the first prize with his poem ‘Mixed History,’ while Ekene, a medical student of University of Benin, won second position with his poem ‘Song of Freedom’. Solomon, a student of Guidance and Counselling, University of Ibadan, took the third prize with her poem ‘Beach Chronicles.’

The winners will get N200,000 and an exclusive feature in the seventh issue of PIN Quarterly Journal and NSPP’s anthology of top 100 poems to be released later in the year. Professor Akachi Ezeigbo, chair of the judging panel that also includes Denja Abdullahi, Ismail Bala, Kukogho Iruesiri Samson, Bassey Asuquo, Oladele Babajamu, Izuchukwu Okeke and Ceri Naz, appraised the winning poems. In a statement, the chair of jury said, “I have chosen the winning poem ‘Mixed History’ and the two runners-up ‘Song of Freedoms and

‘Beach Chronicles’ not just because of the content, but more importantly, because they are virtually error-free and make judicious use of imagery, especially as seen in the skillful use of symbols and metaphors. They are charming poems in every sense of the word and explore serious themes and interesting ideas.”The competition has received over 1,000 entries since inception in 2016. It has also stimulated creativity among Nigerian undergraduates.