Sola Osofisan
05-25-2009, 04:46 AM
NLNG Prizes May Become Global Contests
By Onyedika Agbedo
WRITERS and scientists of African descent across the globe may soon compete in the coveted Nigeria Prize for Literature and the Nigeria Prize for Science if the organisers, Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited heeds the call to make the contests global brands.
Initiated six years ago by the NLNG in partnership with the Nigerian Academy of Science (NAS), the Nigerian Academy of Letters (NAL) and the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), the events have become the biggest literary and scientific prizes on the continent, with each winner receiving $50, 000.
Minister of Information and Communications, Prof. Dora Akunyili, recently appealed to organisers and sponsors of the competitions to make them global brands.
To actualise this, the minister and the management of Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), Voice of Nigeria (VON) and Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC) have signed a memorandum of understanding to publicise the prizes and promote writers, scientists and their works.
The ministry and its agencies also pledged to broadcast the prize award activities, publicise the winners and broadcast for local and international audience the grand award night, the gala for the award of the prizes.
At present, the competitions are only open to writers and scientists resident in Nigeria. But their colleagues in other parts of Africa have consistently requested to be allowed to feature in the contest.
Among countries whose nationals are eyeing the events are South Africa, Ghana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Egypt.
Sources in the Ministry of Information and Communication said NLNG was being advised to open up the contests to other countries because of their huge potentials for re-branding Nigeria.
Under the new thinking, there were indications that the prize money would be raised in line with similar global events such as the Man Booker, the French Prize and Prix Goncourt.
It was learnt that the company had begun consultations with experts and stakeholders on the possibility of making these prizes global brands. NLNG has reportedly contacted organisers of BBC, Commonwealth and The Man Booker prizes with a view to understanding the business of running international prizes. The findings will be passed to the Academy of Science and the Academy of Letters for venting, The Guardian learnt.
Speaking on the development, journalist, theatre practitioner and literary critic, Mr. Ben Tomoloju said it would be better to consolidate the Nigerian scene before throwing the prizes open to the rest of Africa.
"My view is that Nigeria should consolidate the competition first before we make it an African affair," he said.
Guardian (http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/news/article06//indexn3_html?pdate=230509&ptitle=NLNG%20Prizes%20May%20Become%20Global%20Con tests&cpdate=240509)
By Onyedika Agbedo
WRITERS and scientists of African descent across the globe may soon compete in the coveted Nigeria Prize for Literature and the Nigeria Prize for Science if the organisers, Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited heeds the call to make the contests global brands.
Initiated six years ago by the NLNG in partnership with the Nigerian Academy of Science (NAS), the Nigerian Academy of Letters (NAL) and the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), the events have become the biggest literary and scientific prizes on the continent, with each winner receiving $50, 000.
Minister of Information and Communications, Prof. Dora Akunyili, recently appealed to organisers and sponsors of the competitions to make them global brands.
To actualise this, the minister and the management of Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), Voice of Nigeria (VON) and Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC) have signed a memorandum of understanding to publicise the prizes and promote writers, scientists and their works.
The ministry and its agencies also pledged to broadcast the prize award activities, publicise the winners and broadcast for local and international audience the grand award night, the gala for the award of the prizes.
At present, the competitions are only open to writers and scientists resident in Nigeria. But their colleagues in other parts of Africa have consistently requested to be allowed to feature in the contest.
Among countries whose nationals are eyeing the events are South Africa, Ghana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Egypt.
Sources in the Ministry of Information and Communication said NLNG was being advised to open up the contests to other countries because of their huge potentials for re-branding Nigeria.
Under the new thinking, there were indications that the prize money would be raised in line with similar global events such as the Man Booker, the French Prize and Prix Goncourt.
It was learnt that the company had begun consultations with experts and stakeholders on the possibility of making these prizes global brands. NLNG has reportedly contacted organisers of BBC, Commonwealth and The Man Booker prizes with a view to understanding the business of running international prizes. The findings will be passed to the Academy of Science and the Academy of Letters for venting, The Guardian learnt.
Speaking on the development, journalist, theatre practitioner and literary critic, Mr. Ben Tomoloju said it would be better to consolidate the Nigerian scene before throwing the prizes open to the rest of Africa.
"My view is that Nigeria should consolidate the competition first before we make it an African affair," he said.
Guardian (http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/news/article06//indexn3_html?pdate=230509&ptitle=NLNG%20Prizes%20May%20Become%20Global%20Con tests&cpdate=240509)