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The late dramatist
and poet, Esiaba Irobi, has won the 2010 Nigeria Prize for Literature.
Irobi’s play, ‘Cemetery Road’, was adjudged the best ahead of Ahmed
Yerima’s ‘Little Drops…’ and Onukaba Adinoyi-Ojo’s ‘The Killing
Swamp’ for this year’s prize awarded for drama.

Ninety three
entries were initially received before the panel of judges comprising
theatre scholars, Dapo Adelugba, Mary Kolawole, John Ilah, Kalu Uka,
and Tanimu Abubakar, who pruned them down to 11. Irobi, Yerima, and
Adinoyi-Ojo made the final shortlist of three announced at a press
conference on August 11.

Reading the report
of the judges at the Grand Award Night held on Saturday, October 9, at
Eko Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos, Adelugba, chair, panel of judges,
said ‘Cemetery Road’ met all the eligibility criteria of the prize
endowed by Nigeria NLG Limited and administered by the Nigerian Academy
of Letters (NAL). The criteria are relevance and originality;
compliance with the highest standards of literary and dramatic
production; dramaturgy; setting and linguistic appeal; and stageability.

He explained that
the play “is about living, loving, and dying for the things we hold
dear.” Adelugba added that the dialogue of ‘Cemetery Road’ crackles and
that the play advances the frontiers of drama. Ayo Banjo, a member of
the Literature Committee, thereafter announced Irobi as winner of the
prize.

Irobi, author of
plays and poetry collections including ‘The Colour of Rusting Gold’;
‘Hangmen Also Die’; ‘Inflorescence: Selected Poems, 1977- 1988′;
‘Nwokedi: A Play’, and ‘Why I Don’t Like Philip Larkin’ died on May 3,
2010, in Berlin, Germany. His ‘Cemetery Road’ had earlier won the World
Drama Trust Award for playwriting in 1992.

His brother,
Osondu, collected the prize on his behalf at the ceremony where the
winner of the Nigeria Prize for Science, Akaehomen Ibhadode, a
professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Benin, also
got his prize. Ibhadode won the award for his work, entitled
‘Development of New Methods for Precision Die Design.”

Hall of Fame

Twenty eight
Nigerians were also inducted into the Hall of Fame for Letters and
Science at the event. Afrobeat creator, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti; Nobel
Laureate, Wole Soyinka; novelist, Abubakar Imam; historians J.F.
Ade-Ajayi and Kenneth Dike; author of ‘Things Fall Apart’, Chinua
Achebe; the late potter, Ladi Kwali; and scholars, Emmanuel Obiechina
and Micheal Echeruo, amongst others were inducted into the Nigerian
Hall of Fame for Letters.

The late mathematician, Chike Obi; psychiatrist, Adeoye Lambo;
neurologist, Benjamin Osuntokun; Oladipo Akinkugbe; ophtamologist,
Adenike Abiose; medical doctors, Idris Mohammed and Umaru Shehu, and
seven others, were inducted into the Nigerian Hall of Fame for Science.