Home / Arts & Entertainment / ExodusForArt lauds Glo over Literature Prize for students
Chief Mike Adenuga, CEO of GLOBACOM

ExodusForArt lauds Glo over Literature Prize for students

Chief Mike Adenuga, CEO of GLOBACOM
Chief Mike Adenuga, CEO of GLOBACOM
glo
The latest entrant into the world of promotion of literature in Nigeria, the telecom giant, Globacom, which launched a literature prize for undergraduates of higher institutions recently, has received pats on the back for its efforts from another foremost literary promoter in the country, ExodusForArt, a literary NGO.
In a press statement signed by the President of ExodusForArt, Mr Tunji Ajibade, the organization noted that, “it was with great pleasure we received the effort by Glo, a household name in the telecom industry in Nigeria and across continents, to give literature a boost through this award that targets students, and generally the younger generation of creative writers which ExodusForArt has especially been interested in. This is more so as we have noticed that many of the founding fathers of what is now known as African literature do not arrive at the top through some formal or structured platform, a situation which we are striving to change by creating various literary platforms through which new generation of Nigerian creative writers could be encouraged and trained. Part of such efforts had been the use of creative writing workshops and literary prizes which we hoped would generate more interest and carefully mold newer generation of talented creative writers.”
The literary organization praised the fact that Glo would give awards in three different genres of creative writing – Fiction, Poetry and Drama – while further noting that this would encourage talented writers in the different genres to participate each year. It also gave thumbs up for the prize money of 1.5 million naira set aside for each category. “It is against this background and the fact that corporate sponsorship for literature in Nigeria has been difficult to come by that we praise the management of Glo for making this immense contribution to literature,” it stated.
According to Ajibade who was 2010 ANA/Esiaba Irobi Prize for Play writing Nominee, 2011 and 2013 Golden Baobab Prize (continental) Nominee, and the 2014 ANA Prize for Drama Winner, this contribution by Glo would be a pacesetter with the potential of attracting other corporate bodies to assist in boosting literature in the country. “We are confident that Glo’s involvement would contribute positively in more than one way to the development of literature in Nigeria. Apart from the fact that the literature prize would get younger generation of Nigerians to sit and spend their time positively through creative writing, other corporate bodies would take a cue when an eminent company such as Glo takes interest in literature. There are possibilities for the telecom industry in literature which are yet to be fully looked into, and not only the telecom industry but the banking, manufacturing, and the ICT sectors as well.”
While he called on Glo not to rest on its oars but to explore more possibilities in assisting literature in the country, Ajibade lauded the support that Nigeria’s literary giant and Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, gave the Glo initiative. He expressed the hope that Soyinka would continue to do his best to encourage new generation of writers who could make Nigeria proud as he had done. “It is because we have literary giants such as Prof. Wole Soyinka to lead the way that many of us are proud to be identified as creative writers and passionate about raising new generation of Nigerian writers. That the man popularly known as Kongi fully supports this Glo initiative is noteworthy. We therefore commend him as he has generated immense interest in this effort, and we hope he would continue to inspire new generation of creative writers.”
Ajibade called on talented creative writers who are undergraduates to seize this opportunity provided by Glo and see the initiative as a platform for them to compete and hone their skills in the process in preparation for their longer journey in the literary world.
According to Ajibade, ExodusForArt is a literary organization that believes literature in Nigeria needs to exit many of the constraints that affected it in the past, hence the name of the organization. Its vision is to create structures for the promotion of literature, and thereby sustain Nigeria’s pre-eminent presence on the global literary map. The literary NGO has been organizing national creative writing workshops for younger generation of creative writers since 2012, and it has several other structures meant to raise new generation of creative writers.

About Global Patriot Staff

Check Also

Military releases pictures of killed personnel; Debunks claim of reprisal attacks on Okuama Community

By Sumaila Ogbaje Abuja, March 18, 2024 The Nigerian Military has debunked claims that it …

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *