Akeem Lasisi
… literary prophets embrace caution
In a matter of hours, a Nigerian writer will win $100,000.
This is courtesy of Nigeria LNG, founder and sponsor of the Nigeria Prize for Literature, the grand finale of which holds in Lagos this evening.
The lucky winner, who will move from passion into money ‘instantly’ will be any of Henry Akubuiro, Abideen Ojomu and Obari Gomba – whose plays got shortlisted from the 11 that made the long list
It will thus be one of the best days to be a writer for whoever clinches the crest.
For one, one may need more than a calculator to convert 100,000 weighty dollars into naira nowadays!
In the past, many literary prophets would have coloured the sky with predictions: Obari will win it. Henry is bound to win. No. It is Ojomu etc.
But many seem wiser now as the prize has proved that it is capable of springing more than surprises.
The plays in contention:
Akubuiro’s Yamtarawala -The Warrior King: “But Yamtarawala is a smart man or so he believed. Having been crowned king and settled into his royal role at Diwar, he suddenly feels uncomfortable with his own children and decides to put them to an unusual test of loyalty. He recalls how he was able to conquer the various kingdoms, the ugly roles the children of those kings unwittingly played to enable him discover the secret behind their initial invincibility from external aggression. He does not want to fall to such dirty tricks, with his own children as ally to military adventurists; he knows how vulnerable a king can be if a chink can be found among members of the royal household. So Yamtarawala sets a stone to boil in a pot and asks his children to pick it up with a fork if it goes soft. Only his youngest son Marivirahyel among his six children is able to perform the unusual feat. Yamtarawala is alarmed that his own son has become so powerfully fortified with juju and could possibly challenge him and stake a claim to the throne. He then sends men to kill him, but Marivirayhel is an unusual young man, much to his father’s dismay.”
…
Gomba’s Grit: “Gomba’s Grit can best be understood in the context of political symbolism, with Pa Nyimenu representing both a troubled nation and her blighted people on whom all manners of political rascality and betrayals are perennially visited. The two political parties promise heaven and earth but deliver nothing, especially the Democratic People’s Alliance. United Progressives Party is jostling to upstage it with purported good intentions by bringing in a supposedly good man, Okote, but there’s already sabotage of its own processes from within, as it enters into unholy alliance with its rival party just to deal with Pa Nyimenu and everything he represents. By this unholy alliance of dark forces by the two parties, the market women and the youth are conscripted into committing evil against Pa Nyimenu, who is both symbolic of a blighted nation and her hapless people through the conspiracy of the political parties and their actors.”
….
Ojomu’s The Ojuelegba Crossroads: “Ojomu’s The Ojuelegba Crossroads, although deploying a complex language and dense imageries, manages to unravel the complex wounds the Nigerian society has inflicted on itself, but ultimately, it comes to understand that the language of law and order is what invariably pays in any society, Nigeria particularly. Senator Gwewiri and his thieving governor accomplice are vanquished by the law that remains unrelenting in insisting on what is right and ensuring that it is done. Not even the enormous powers the duo wields stop the law from taking its course. Ojomu therefore replots the way back to a path his country has long abandoned for an alien one that has damaged her health almost irretrievably. But Ojomu shows faith in the judiciary in his dramaturgy. This is indeed a brave stand in an era where the power of the ballot has been weakened for the ascendancy of the judiciary which now determines the outcomes of national and state elections. Will the judiciary stand Ojomu’s test of faith? Only the future can tell.”
Abideen Ojomu
Obari Gomba
Henri Aku
