Ogaga Ifowodo wins $100,000 Nigeria Prize for Literature

Ogaga Ifowodo has won the 2026 Nigeria Prize for Literature with his poetry collection, ‘Why Does God Need a Gun?’, earning the $100,000 prize.

According to PUNCH, the winners were announced at NLNG’s Grand Award Night in Lagos, with Peter Oghenetega Oke and Feranmi Abiola emerging joint winners of the inaugural Nigeria Prize for Creative Arts.

Ifowodo’s collection emerged from 223 entries, while Oke’s Beyond Tarkwa Bay and Abiola’s Mara Mania shared the $20,000 creative arts prize.

Chairman of the Literature Prize Advisory Board, Professor Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo, said the shortlisted works explored identity, nationhood, extremism, displacement and conflict.

“These are works deeply rooted in the Nigerian experience, yet they reach far beyond our borders,” she said.

NLNG Managing Director Adeleye Falade said the prizes recognise excellence in science, literature and the creative arts.

“Together, the Nigeria Prizes have become enduring national institutions and powerful reminders of what is possible when excellence is recognised, rewarded and encouraged,” Falade said.