2022 has been a fascinating year for poetry in Nigeria, with so many things happening and great publicity coming the way of her poets. The genre and its practitioners have become more prominent and become the topic of several conversations. The art has gotten more recognition for various reasons, including literary prize wins and attendant media attention, better positioning of poets, the election season and others.
One of the biggest talking points that has put Nigerian poetry and poets in the limelight and spot map is prizes. No contesting this one. Nigerian poets have been in the news for winning big international prizes and recognition with brilliant entries. Some of them include
- Tares Oburumu, who won the Sillerman Prize with his book, origins of the syma species.
- Saddiq Dzukogi, whose collection Your Crib, My Quibla is one of the amazing works full of passion and vulnerability that has been in the spotlight since 2021 when it was published. For 2022, it has clinched the Derek Walcott Prize and co-won the Julie Suk award. The same book was shortlisted for the NLNG-sponsored Nigeria Prize for Literature. Saddiq Dzukogi was also first runner-up for the 2022 Maureen Egan Writers Exchange Award.
- Hussain Ahmed who won the Orison Poetry Prize 2022 for his work, ‘Blue Exodus.’
- Abu Bakr Sadiq who won the 2022 IGNYTE Best Speculative Poetry Award.
- Hafsat Abdullahi, Yewande Akinse and Anita Michael who won the World Bank sponsored #YouthActOnEDU competition themed on Education in Western and Central Africa. [Hafsat is currently trending across social media for her performance video, ‘To the girl in English class’, as at the time of posting this, it has over 1.7 million views on Tiktok alone and is gaining more views on several other shared networks!]
- Samuel Samba was the second prize winner for the MONO Poetry Prize 2022.
- Shitta Faruq Ademola, who won the World Voices Magazine’s Poetry Contest 2022.
- Joshua Effiong who won second place in the Creator of Justice Award 2022 by the International Human Rights Art Festival. He came third position in the Nigerian Students Poetry Prize 2022.
- Tolu Oloruntoba, who won the Griffin Poetry Prize 2022 (worth $65,000!) with his book, The Junta of Happenstance. The same book won the Governor General’s Award for English language poetry at the 2021 Governor General’s Awards in Canada.
- Titilope Sonuga who is the 9th poet laureate, City of Edmonton, Canada. [Titilope has continued to drip the beauty of poetry in performance and words, an indisputable queen of verse]
A prominent shortlist for this year is from the veteran writer Nduka Otiono whose work, DisPlace: The Poetry of Nduka Otiono was nominated for the Canadian Archibald Lampman Award. Yomi Sode is also on the shortlist for the British T. S. Eliot Prize for Poetry 2022, with the winner expected to be announced on January 16, 2023. Adedayo Agarau and Chisom Okafor, prominent poets expanding the envelope for the craft were also on the shortlist for the African Poetry Prize 2022.
One of the biggest influences that shed great light on poetry this year has been prominent prizes like the Nigeria Prize for Literature, the Pan-African Writers Association’s Poetry Prize, Association of Nigerian Authors Poetry prize, among others.
The $100,000 NLNG-sponsored Nigeria Prize for Literature, which focused on poetry this year, is one of the biggest influences on putting poetry and poets at the centre of attention in Nigeria. One of the major talking points that increased the buzz around the prize this year included compositions ranging from the judges to the longlist and eventual shortlist. The season started with the announcement of an unusual assortment of judges, comprising multiple award-winning authors, E. E. Sule (Professor Sule E. Egya), spoken-word maestro Dike Chukwumerije, and Toyin Adewale-Gabriel. From 287 submitted works, a longlist of 11 poets was drawn in a Facebook live announcement by the Chair of the Advisory Board, Professor Akachi Adimora Ezeigbo.
The 11 books on the longlist released on Friday, 8th July 2022, in alphabetical order by their titles, included Augusta’s Poodle by Ogaga Ifowodo, Coming Undone As Stitches Tighten by Iquo DianaAbasi, Dispossessed by James Eze, Ife Testament by Olusegun Adekoya and Memory and the Call of Waters by S. Su’eddie Agema. Others are Nomad by Romeo Oriogun, The Lilt of The Rebel by Obari Gomba, The Love Canticles by Chijioke Amu Nnadi, Wanderer Cantos by Remi Raji and Yawns and Belches by Joe Ushie.
From then on, the buzz began. There were a series of social and traditional media events, readings and performances of the longlisted authors, which increased upon the announcement of the shortlist which comprised the friends, Romeo Oriogun, Saddiq Dzukogi and Su’eddie Agema. The grand finale, aptly titled ‘Touching the Stars’, featured several top writers and other power brokers in the country. The prize was streamed live on Facebook, YouTube, Arise TV and other channels, with the various fans of the three shortlisted authors watching with bated breaths while hoping for their respective candidates to win. Romeo Oriogun got the ultimate bragging rights with his beautiful collection, Nomad, clinching the prize presented by former President Olusegun Obasanjo and collected by S. Su’eddie Vershima Agema (me) on behalf of Romeo and other Nigerian youths all over the world. Since then, there have been more media coverage for the shortlisted trio and festival appearances, with more scheduled for later this year. The agreed decision of the shortlisted trio to share the prize money to some ratio, and re-emphasised by Romeo after winning, brought more thrill as it was unprecedented.
Before the Nigeria Prize for Literature, the Pan-African Writers Association’s (PAWA) Poetry Prize, worth $2,000 had been a talking point, especially with its composition of an all-Nigerian shortlist including Echezonachukwu Nduka with his Chrysanthemum For Wide Eyed Ghosts, Tanure Ojaide with A Poetic Diary Of The Coronavirus Epidemic, Servio Gbadamosi with his Where The Light Enters You, Olumide Olaniyan with Akimbo In Limbo and Obari Gomba with The Lilt Of The Rebel. The prize was eventually won by Obari Gomba.
The Association of Nigerian Authors poetry prize announced on 29th October 2022 at the Association’s annual convention held in Abuja brought excitement. The shortlist for the prize featured five poets, three of whom had won the prize in previous years. The list included two-time ANA poetry prize winner, Obari Gomba’s The Lilt of the Rebel (Longlisted for the NLNG prize too); 1999 ANA Poetry prize winner, Kabura Zakama’s Chant of the Angry; 2014 ANA Prize winner, S. Su’eddie Vershima Agema’s Memory and the Call of Waters; Stanley Ejiogu’s I Know a Thing or Two about Madness; and Charles Akinsete’s Dances of a Savage. S. Agema won the prize to many commendations across various social media spaces.
Chinualumogu Godsent Ofodile, Mahbubat Kanyinsola Salahudeen and Joshua Okon Effiong were announced as winners (first, second and third respectively) for the seventh edition of the Nigerian Students Poetry Prize (NSPP) at an awards ceremony which took place yesterday, 10th of December at Eriata Heights, Ikorodu, Lagos. This brought much talk and celebration. Shortlistees for the award included Ayoade Olamide (Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye), Raheemah Olawuyi Olabimpe (University of Ilorin), Joseph Peter Akpan (University of Uyo), Younglan Talyoung (University of Jos), and Olowonjoyin Muhammed Sanni (University of Ilorin).
Another competition that brought much discussion of poetry to various tables in Nigeria was the La Casera Spoken Word challenge with its rich prize of One Million Naira, which was eventually won by 78th Psalmist (the stage name of David Osaodion Odiase) on July 8, 2022. The runners-up, Loveth Liberty and Divine Titus took home N500,000 and N300,000, respectively. Al-amin Alhassan and Hafsat Abdullahi made the final five too.
Similarly, younger writers were mostly the pick of Lagos/London poetry competition organised by The Poetry Translation Centre, alongside the Nigerian Book Buzz Foundation. They include Isaiah Adepoju, Muiz Ọpẹ́yẹmí Àjàyí, Rahma Jimoh, Sodïq Oyèkànmí and Iheoma Uzomba.
The Ake Arts and Book Festival 2022 Climate Change Poetry Prize also caught people’s attention. Olumide Manuel prayed fervently for the prize as he submitted and God did it! Others who made the final list include Habiba Dokubo-Asari and Ayobami Kayode.
There have been other prizes like the HIASFEST prizes, Benue Book and Arts Festival prizes, Lagos International Poetry Festival slam, the Abuja Literary Festival slam, the Neptune Prime Poetry Competition, Eriata Oribhabor Poetry Prize, Nigerian Students Poetry Prize, the Ake-Festival affiliated Climate Change Poetry Prize, which have sought to give some reward to poets for their craft, while putting the names of poets on the lips of the general public beyond the single poetic community.
Apart from the prizes, poetry also had several outings and patronages that continue to introduce new admirers. Notably, the First Lady of Benue State, H.E Dr Eunice Erdoo Orom, presented her book, An Anthology of Living Words, an anthology of fifty poems from various poets to commemorate her fiftieth birthday on 27th August 2022. Published by the premier publishing house, SEVHAGE, the collection features names not traditionally associated with the arts, including the celebrant and other significant female political actors like the wife of the Vice President, H.E Dolapo Osinbajo, the former first lady of Ekiti, H.E. Bisi Adeleye Fayemi, and many other known and unknown poetic voices. The decision of Dr Ortom to give the books out during her public celebration meant that a thousand copies of new Nigerian poetry found their way into the public space and the homes of the high and mighty, as well as other everyday Nigerians.
The primaries stage of the Nigerian election season featured performance poets like Bash Amuneni as part of their bid to wow stakeholders to give them the vote. Now that the primaries have been won and lost, there are invitations to more performance poets to be part of the campaign season which starts soon.
Away from the prizes and politics, poetry has gotten coverage in the acts of various actors. In 2022, The performance poets have kept pushing the envelope for the genre with leading proponents like Bash Amuneni (prominently), Efe Paul Azino, Lord Dike Chukwumerije, Olumide Holloway, Loveth Liberty, Hafsat Abdullahi, Hader Otaki, Deji Ige, 78th Psalmist, Tobi Abiodun, Amina Ahuraka, Raphael Ndifreke, Younglang Talyoung, Elizabeth KJ Umoru, Debbie Johnson, Abas ‘Elder’ Shittu Suleiman, and Pariolodo Falade spreading poetry’s flame.
There have been rich book events and launches of poets like Oko Owi Ocho Afrika, Nathaniel Soonest, Dami Ajayi, Ogaga Ifowodo, Andrew Bula, Amrah Aliyu, Oby Iloakasia, Olanike Asake Crownway, and Umar Yogiza Jnr. Olanike Asake Crownway’s Secrets in Solitude has been making the rounds in Ibadan while Amrah Aliyu’s interestingly named Breasts are the Names of Flowers has caused a buzz around Abuja and Minna. Pacella Chukwuma-Eke and Abdulrazaq Salihu are two teenagers who have also won several awards, in addition to being featured in several literary mags. From the 2022 HIASFEST, a teen festival, and on, they have kept creating a space for themselves and earning much on the poetry front, despite being multi-genre artists…and they only seem to be getting better.
One of the most colourful poets in this season, though has been KSR superstar, Umar Abubakar Sidi with his book Like Butterflies Scattered About by Art Rascals, beautifully illustrated with some paintings by the creative novelist, T. J. Benson. From Port Harcourt to Abuja, Lagos and Kano, Umar’s readings have been performative with crowds always filling every space of the places where the readings are heard. The surrealist poet has had a good year even as he has branched into paintings which he seems to have mastered in little time.
Another artist who has had a fine poetic year is Iquo DianaAbasi who launched a poetry collection, Coming Undone as Stitches Tighten and spoken word album (‘Beyond the Staccato’) at the same time, to rave reviews. Shortly after, her poetry collection, Coming Undone as Stitches Tighten was nominated for the Nigeria Prize for Literature… She has appeared at festivals and other venues delighting audiences with renderings of her native culture and a good dose of the written word fusing the oral with the written, the traditional with the modern…
On the international stage, Gbenga Adesina was in the news recently as a star of the Global Translation Night in New York. The Brunel (2016) and Narrative (2020) Prizes winner was the toast of a packed audience for his poetry rendition at an event held in his honour by Colgate University in October, last month.
Oluwatamilore Osho is another writer creating waves abroad with one of her poems, ‘Lullabies for Dreary Days’ being showcased across gigantic billboards in London! Not a small feat. She was also part of the 2022 Unserious Collective Fellowship winners. [The Unserious Collective Fellowship is run by the poets, O-Jeremiah Agbaakin, Nome Patrick, Pamilerian Jacob, Michael Akuchie, Adeboyo Kolawole Samuel and Adedayo Agarau. It seeks to support younger writers and in 2022 had its first fellows: Jesuferanmi Lewis igbinigie, Oluwatamilore Osho, Hannefah Bello, and Njoku Nonso. The finalists for the fellowship were Chiwenite Onyekwelu, Emmanuel Akin-Ademola and Nwuguru Chidiebere Sullivan].
Some other poets making waves and getting traction, especially digitally include Jide Badmus (renown for his lusty poems), Flourish Joshua (President of the Frontiers Co, and founding editor of Olumo Review), Sabouke and Baaru Seri, Zaynab Bobi, Pamilerin Jacob, Joshua Effiong, Michael Imossan, Nwaguru Chidiebere Sullivan, Omoalukhe Omoye, Anthony Okpunor, Abdulkareem Abdulkareem, Odu Ode, Nnamdi Ndiolo, Abu Bakr Saddiq, Jakky Bankong-Obi, Chinua Ezenwa-Ohaeto, Rasaq M Gbolahan, Taiwo Hassan, Akpa Arinzechukwu, Roseline Mgbodichinma, Ayobami Kayode, Chinedu Gospel, Ejiro Elizabeth Edward, Deborah Ajilore, Damilola Omotoyinbo, Praise Osawaru, and Martins Deep. To these tribe of warriors and more, poetry in 2022 says a big thank you since they have been the faces behind verses in the most reputable literary platforms globally from Poetry Magazine, Frontier Poetry, Abynthe Magazine, Indianapolis Review, Vast Chasm Magazine, Kenyon Review, Chestnut Review, River Heron Review and just about every significant journal or magazine you can find out there. These are the ones bringing Nigerian poetry more to the oyibo front and showing that truly Naija no dey kari last.
It is impossible to talk about everything and leave out the outstanding Lagos International Poetry Festival (LIPFest) as put together by ace performer, Efe Paul Azino and his team. This year’s edition, titled ‘Babel’ held from October 27th to 31st in various venues at the Lagos Island. The mostly in-person sessions had poetry superstars from around the world including Rudy Francisco, Omar Bin Musa, Siphokazi Jonas, Toni Kan, Dami Ajayi, T. J. Benson, Aja Monet, Amy Shimshon Santo, Debris Stevenson, Elizabeth Johnson, Dike Chukwumerije, Bash Amuneni, Umar Sidi, Su’eddie Agema, Servio Gbadamosi, Henneh Kwaku Kyereh, Muiz Opeyemi Ajayi, Rahma Jimoh, Joel Francois, Younglang Talyoung, Loveth Liberty, Toby Abiodun, 78th Psalmist, and Raymond Antrobus. Other artists included the celebrated Titilope Sonuga and the awesome Romeo Oriogun. There were several panel conversations, recitations, a Church of Poetry service and a slam worth one million naira won by Deborah Johnson, who had won the Abuja Literary Society’s slam contest less than a month before! LIPFest gave life to poetry and continued in the light of previous years of the same festival.
Another performance that has captured the hearts of Nigeria and made poetry accessible, bringing sponsorship and funds to the pool, is Dike Chukwumerije’s MADE IN NIGERIA, which has been staged across the various geopolitical zones in at least nineteen out of Nigeria’s 36 states + Abuja. Dike is noted as one of those who have made performance poetry ‘gate-able’ as his shows are usually sold-out. Having staged various shows in different cities this year, even Governors, celebrities and people on the streets have come to give proper salutations to poetry, thanks to this giant of poetry on the stage and page. He is currently on tour and is not done yet, as he conquers more spaces to stamp poetry’s hold on 2022.
78th Psalmist, in addition to his fine year as an award-winning trending performance poet caused a historical first for poetry as the first of his docupoetry series, ‘Tigerclaw’ (part of the project, BIAFRA: A Nation Underwater, On Fire) was screened at the African International Film Festival. This evoked memories of another screening that was done as part of the Lagos International Poetry Festival, that of #WeAreDyingHere, which chronicles the journey of three soldiers forced to survive in a war they did not choose. These screenings, in addition to others planned for later, are bringing a new dimension to poetry events in a bid to expand the traditional frontiers of verse.
In Northern Nigeria, there is a revamping of poetry, especially with Engausa poetry, which is a fusion of English + Hausa that is giving expression to new ways of delivery which several younger writers are falling in love with. It has been the rave of TEDX presentations, general shows and festivals [and there have been a lot in the North from the Sokoto Book and Arts Festival, Kaduna Book and Arts Festival, Katsina Book and Arts Festival, Borno Book and Arts Festival, ABU Festival, to the Hausa International Books and Art Festival). In the region, figures like Ismail Bala, Khalid Imam, Ola Ifatimehin, B. M. Dzukogi, Sada Malumfashi, Salim Yunusa, Uchenna Emelife, Yusuf S. Ambursa, Abdulbaki Ahmad, Asabe Kabir, and Halima Aliyu, among many others, have kept fanning the fine embers igniting the hearts of readers and partakers of poetry in various forms. Towards the Eastern part, Amarachi Attamah, one of the faces of indigenous performance, seems to have become a bit more silent this year, due to international engagements. Ken Ike-Okerre, through the Enugu Literary Society and Adachukwu Onwudiwe have kept creating platforms for poetry to be showcased, criticised and harnessed in this season in the region. The South-west has been a bit quieter than usual. Still, with events by Servio Gbadamosi’s Sankofa Initiative, Efe Azino’s Lagos International Poetry Festival, the Ake Arts and Book Festival, Quramo Festival, Lagos Book and Arts Festival, plus the continuing works of people like Pamilerin Jacob, there is still a lot to enjoy in the region. One of the year’s big surprises might be Abuja, where there seems to be one poetry event or the other every week.
There are several other aspects and dimensions to the celebration of 2022 as the Nigerian year of poetry and it would probably take a full book to express its entirety. It is evident that for this year, no one can claim that poetry is an ignored genre. It is also interesting that far more younger writers are the rave in the poetic glorious madness and successes, signifying the coming-of-age of a new order, of sorts, without neglecting the staying power of those a bit older.
Several people and organisations have supported the growing interest in poetry and the massive love it has achieved this year such that it has become the most talked-about and engaged literary genre in Nigeria for 2022. This is a shoutout to these people and establishments: the NLNG, Koko Kalango, Ismail Bala, Efe Paul Azino, Bash Amuneni, Servio Gbadamosi, Bibi Ukonu, Abdulkareem Baba Aminu, Molara Wood, Olongo Africa, Olumide Holloway, Onyeka Nwelue, Kola Tuboson, Brittle Paper, Nosakhare Collilns, Henry Akubuiro, Umar Yogiza Jnr, Hussain Zaguru, Wale Okediran, Emman Shehu, Anote Ajeluorou, Jahman Anikulapo, Amarachi Attamah, Paul Liam, Salamatu Sule, Adedayo Agarau, Romeo Oriogun, Dami Ajayi, Pamilerin Jacob, Odoh Diego Okenyodo, Oko Owi Ocho Afrika, Jerry Adesewo, B. M. Dzukogi, Eriata Oribhabor, Kukogho Iruesiri Samson, T. J. Benson, Blessing Ojo, Eugene Yakubu, Naseeba Babale, Poetic Wednesdays, Kabura Zakama, Maria Ajima, Onwanyi Ulegede, Moses Tsenongu, Maik Ortserga, Salim Yunusa, Sada Malumfashi, Edozie Udeze, Nzube Nlebedim, Shittu Fowora, Uchenna Emelife, Hader Otaki, Lola Shoneyin, and various media houses.
Organisations like the Yasmin El-Rufai Foundation, Abuja Literary Society, Poetic Wednesday, Open Arts Foundation, Purple Silver, SEVHAGE series, Benue Poetry Troupe, Enugu Literary Society, Book Buzz Foundation, Spine and Label Bookshop, Adam’s Pages, and the Mbari Series of the Association of Nigerian Authors have kept putting up various events and readings to keep poetry in the public eye, meeting the needs of a growing audience.
There are several others who space and time cannot allow us hail. We see you, we value you and thank you.
KSR has continued to do its bit through projects like our Poet Talk Series led by Zakiyyah Dzukogi, Poetry Bush Bar, and more. Our team, led by myself – S. Su’eddie Vershima Agema, Carl Terver (digital editions editor) and Mohammed Diko (media manager) are playing our part of giving more room to poetry voices across Africa. Alongside our founding members, Richard Ali, Umar Abubakar Sidi, Funmi Gaji and Rasaq Malik Gbolahan, you can be sure there will be more to help concretise this fine year of poetry.
This piece talks about some of the big things that has happened to poetry in Nigeria this year and some of the people involved but this list is only a snippet of the bigger picture and only a minute portion of the whole scenario is presented here.
The beauty of everything is the year is not even over yet!
To every poet out there in Nigeria; well done, and congratulations on your fine year. It only gets better. The years shall sing your song, keep stringing those words. Salut!
EndNote:
This article is by no mean exhaustive and carries only a fragment of the things happening on the Nigerian poetry scene. I have been able to enrich this work with generous contributions from friends on Twitter including Zaynab Bobi, Salim Yunusa, Rahma Oluwaremilekun Jimoh, and many others. To these ones and all who gave constructive feedback, thank you.
Is there anyone who has contributed to making 2022 a Nigerian year of poetry? Please, send us a mail at sueddie.ksr@gmail.com with why you think so and let’s celebrate them!
COVER PICTURE: All pictures courtesy of the photographed.
