How ‘Feast of Words’ Tackles Nationhood, Uplifts Young Poets

Yinka Olatunbosun

Flashback to December, Ikorodu played host to a community of young poets during the Festival of Words with the theme ‘Words for A Nation at Crossroads.’ First held in 2015 at the University of Ibadan, the 2022 edition which was held at Eriata Heights Event Place, Ikorodu, Lagos in an atmosphere of comradeship. Comprising of discussions, award presentations, night of traditional performances, wining and dining, it kicked off with a welcome address by veteran poet, arts administrator and President of the Poets in Nigeria Initiative (PIN), Sir Eriata Oribhabor who commended the organisers for impacting positively on the young generation of Nigerian writers.

A panel discussion segment on “Art for Art’s sake vs Arts for Social Good” was moderated by Kolade Olanrewaju Freedom. On the panel were poet-activist AJ Dagga Tolar, Kukogho Iruesiri Samson, and renowned author and social campaigner, Awodiya Funke who argued that art must first be art before anything else.

Young performers aged 10 and under from Adekunle Oguntoyinbo Shola’s House of Phebe Arts enthralled the audience with their exhilarating dance and oratory prowess. Other notable poetry, dance and musical performances were delivered by Paul Abiola Oku-ola, The 78th Psalmist, Yusuf Alabi Balogun aka Aremo Gemini, Victory Gburuke Ngei, Damilola Makinde (The Musical Being) and many others.

Awardees of WRR literary prizes include On-the-Spot Literary Contests won by Iyanu Sholaja with a N10,000 cash prize; the Albert Jungers Poetry Prize (AJPP) won by Olajuwon Joseph Olumide with a N25,000 cash prize; and the Eriata Oribhabor Poetry Prize (EOPP) won by Oluwafisayo Akinfolami (1st place winner), Nwuguru Chidiebere Sullivan (2nd place winner), and Abdulrahim Hussani (3rd place winner) who shared the total sum of N100,000 cash prize.

As a wrap to the 2022 edition of the Nigerian Students Poetry Prize (NSPP), the largest prize of its kind in Nigeria, PIN held the Nigerian Students Poetry Prize (NSPP) Awards 2022 to honour the winners of the Prize. NSPP moderator, Kolade Freedom, delivered a presentation on the administration of the Prize from the opening of submissions on January 15 to the conclusion of judging in December.

Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK), Awka’s Chinualumogu Godsent Ofodile, the University of Ibadan’s Mahbubat Kanyinsola Salahudeen and the University of Calabar’s Joshua Okon Effiong won a total of N475,000 in total as Winner, 1st Runner-Up and Second Runner-Up respectively. Winners of the shared N75,000 consolation prize were Younglan Talyoung of the University of Jos (UNIJOS), Ayoade Olamide of Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU) Ago-Iwoye, and Olowonjoyin Muhammed Sanni of the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN).

Among the performers at the African Night were the internationally renowned Yorùbá poet, storyteller and troubadour Aremo Gemini, Sir Eriata aka Merchant of Poetry, and Luqman Onike aka Òlukùmọ̀.

Speaking on the event, the CEO, Feast of Words Samson Kukogho revealed that his literary development organisation, Words Rhymes & Rhythm (WRR) Ltd will continue to support young Nigerian creatives through literary development interventions since 2012

He said: “Our mostly youth-targeted initiatives include the Brigitte Poirson Poetry Contest, the Green Author Prize, the Albert Jungers Poetry Prize, the WRR Chapbook Series, the Eriata Oribhabor Poetry Prize, and the annual Feast of Words literary festival. Like most of our initiatives, we started Feast of Words (FOW) to close a gap. I observed at the time that most of the literary festivals did not consider the need to include emerging creatives in planning their programmes. They have high registration fees and only feature notable names in their programmes. As such, many young and talented individuals miss out because they are largely unknown in the industry and cannot afford to pay high festival registration fees. 

“FOW has no registration fees, provides food and free books and allows anyone talented to perform. Over the years, it has become a much-anticipated opportunity for young writers from all over Nigeria to interact and network face-to-face.”