Adimora-Ezeigbo replaces Banjo as Nigeria Literature Prize board chair

Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo, an emeritus professor of English at the University of Lagos, has been named chairperson of the Advisory Board for the Nigeria Prize for Literature to flag off the 2021 cycle of the competition.

At a virtual event to introduce the new advisory board members and hand over the entries, Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas’ (NLNG) General Manager for External Relations and Sustainable Development, Mrs. Eyono Fatayi-Williams, appreciated Emeritus Professors Ayo Banjo Banjo and Ben Elugbe for their selfless service to the body, adding that the outgoing board, which included the late Prof. Jerry Agada, oversaw the growth of the organisation into Africa’s foremost literature competition “best known for its principles of excellence and integrity.”

A past winner, Prof. Adimora-Ezigbo, exchanged baton with Banjo, an emeritus professor of English at the University of Ibadan, who served as chairman since the inception of the prize in 2004.

She won the award in 2007 in the Children’s literature category alongside Mabel Segun. She has also served on the panel of judges for the prize. Other members of the board are Profs. Olu Obafemi and Ahmed Yerima.

The new board assumed duties yesterday, as 202 entries in prose fiction, carried over from 2020 into the 2021 cycle after the prize’s postponement due to the coronavirus outbreak, were handed over to a panel of judges to mark the start of the cycle.