Henry Akubuiro

Are you a student poet? Your passion can now earn you cash beyond fun.  Three lucky Nigerian undergraduates will share the sum of 300,000 in the 2018 Nigerian Students Poetry Prize, courtesy of PIN (Poets In Nigeria).

Mr. Eriata Oribhabor, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, who made this revelation on the occasion of the Call for Submission of Poems, which held at Virgin-Rose Resorts, Victoria Island, Lagos, recently, said PIN was founded 2015 in Surulere, Lagos, with the fundamental reason of promoting reading, writing and performance poetry across the country towards enhancing the culture of reading.

A year after its establishment the Nigeria Students Prize, he said, was birthed on January 15, 2016, at the University of Ibadan. The second edition, he added, was successfully hosted by the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu campus, June, last year.

Towards delivering on its mission and vision statements, PIN, said the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, organises the Nigerian Poetry Prize, PIN Quarterly Journal, PIN Annual Food Poetry Contest, PIN Photo Poetry Contest, PIN Monthly 10-day Poetry Challenge, Steps and Stops, and Living Gists, among others.

“Within two years of existence, PIN is building on various successes which include the declaration of October as month of Freedom and Creativity celebrated nationwide at various PIN Connect Centres in 2017.”

The Secretary, PIN, and Moderator of NSPP, Mr Kolade Olarenwaju Freedom, while unveiling the NSPP Call for Submission of Poems, disclosed that, since its inception in 2016, the prize had received over 1000 entries from students drawn from over 100 tertiary institutions, thereby “cementing its place as the nation’s foremost poetry platform for students.”

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The deadline for the 3rd edition of the prize has been set for 28th February, 2018, and the winners of the 2018 edition will be awarded in May at Godfrey Okoye University, Enugu. Previous winners of the prize include Noah Oladele (Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife), Chinelo Nwangwu (University of Ibadan) and Chisom Okafor (University of Nigeria, Nsukka) in 2016; Bakre Fadil Adedamola (University of Ibadan), Ajah Henry Ekene (University of Benin) and Bona Solomon (University of Ibadan) in 2017.

Adelaja Ridwan, winner of the 1st Ken Egba Poetry Prize organised last year during the Poetry Festival Calabar was handed his 40,000 prize money at the event. He wasn’t present during the award ceremony in Calabar. Mr. Kayode Adegbiti, CEO, Curious Software, who built the PIN website, was recognised by the PIN Board of Directors.

Eriata explained that funding for the first edition in 2016 was provided by himself, while the 2017 was provided by Theresa Ameh, an Abuja-based writer. The current edition, he revealed, was provided by Godfrey Okoye University.

In her contribution, the manager of Virgin-Rose, Victoria Island, Lagos, said the competition should not be restricted meant to literary students but any student talented in poetry. In response, Funke Awodiya, a member of the Board of Trustees, said it was open to every undergraduate poet, irrespective of his discipline. She cited the example of an Agriculture undergraduate who had won the prize.

While the star prize winner will receive the sum of ₦150,000, the two runners-up will receive ₦100,000 and ₦50,000 respectively. Entrants, he emphasised, must be from a recognised tertiary institution.

Guidelines for submissions stated that submissions should be to be made at https://nspp.poetsinnigeria.org.ng, with strict adherence to the instructions thereon. Besides, poems must be original, intellectual property of the entrants, and an entrant is entitled to a single entry of 30 lines maximum. There are no fixed themes and entries submitted must be previously unpublished. All entrants are expected to purchase either one or both editions of the anthology of the top 100 entries uploaded on the submission portal. Enquiries should be channeled to: [email protected].