Ifowodo wins $100,000 Nigeria Prize for Literature
Ogaga Ifowodo has won the 2026 Nigeria Prize for Literature and its $100,000 prize money for his poetry collection, ‘Why Does God Need a Gun?’. Read More:…
The Nigeria Prize for Literature, sponsored by NLNG (Nigeria LNG Limited), is widely regarded as the country's most lucrative literary award and one of the largest literary prizes on the African continent. Instituted in 2004, it rotates annually among four genres — prose fiction, poetry, drama and children's literature — and has previously gone to writers such as Gabriel Okara, Ezenwa-Ohaeto, Tade Ipadeola and Chika Unigwe, among others, helping to spotlight Nigerian literary talent both locally and internationally.
This year's poetry category win went to Ogaga Ifowodo, an established poet, lawyer and academic whose earlier work has engaged with Nigeria's political and human rights history. Both Punch and Premium Times confirm the award and prize sum, with Premium Times additionally noting that the winning collection, 'Why Does God Need a Gun?', explores religious and political violence in Nigeria from the perspective of a victim — a theme that resonates with ongoing national debates over insecurity and communal conflict. Details on the judging panel's full citation, the shortlist, and the award ceremony have yet to be widely reported.