Author and member of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), Taofeek Olatunbosun, has emerged the winner of the maiden Young Adult Literature Prize (YALP).
Olatunbosun’s ‘Truth and Dare’ clinched the overall prize from a shortlist of three works, including Hajarah Bashar’s ‘Portraiture Of A Dreamer’, and Yohanna S. Daniel’s ‘The Northern Boy’, which won the South-South, North-Central and North-East geopolitical zones, respectively.
Other geopolitical zonal winners included Michael Igbonekwu’s ‘Mysteries of the Haunted House’ (South-East), Sima Essien’s ‘Dreamwalker’ (South-South), and Bilqisa Abubakar’s ‘The Last Sacrifice’ (North-West).
Each of the zonal winners received a cash prize of N250,000, with the overall winner Olatunbosun walking away with an additional N750,000 as grand prize.
Receiving the prize from YALP Patron, Lieutenant General T. Y Buratai (rtd) and Amb. Babagana Kingibe, Olatunbosun, whose deceased father and older brother served in the Nigerian Army, said he drew his inspiration for his winning work ‘Truth and Dare’ around the mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of his deceased older brother’s son, who committed suicide post his father’s death in the line of duty in Maiduguri, Borno State.
“I came about the story when I visited my elder brother’s house in Jaaji, Maiduguri. His son died a month after his father. He died by suicide in their house. I first wanted to see where he (my nephew) studied. He was nicknamed brainbox. Even his teacher told me that we lost ‘a great person’. We had no choice but to bury him. Coincidentally, that was the period when General Buratai was the Chief of Army Staff.
“It was a story of passion, a story on the mystery of the death of my nephew. The book is my medium of explaining his death. I appreciate the spiritual aspect of this process which came full circle with the book and I meeting General Buratai,”Olatunbosun stated.
Organised by the T.Y Buratai Literary Initiative (TYBLI), the Young Adult Literature Prize (YALP), is supported by the former Chief of Army Staff, General Buratai. The literary initiative, chaired by author and researcher, Dr Lizzy Ben-Iheanacho, promotes leisure reading amongst students and young adults through the distribution of book boxes to schools.
“What better way to catch young readers than cultivating writers for their genre of reading. This prize is a result of the conversation with its sponsor a year, three months and a day ago, where I told him it’s high time he sponsored a literature prize.
“He wanted an occasion where we had multiple winners rather than one winner to encourage increased participation. We had 50 entries from Nigeria – 25 males and 20 females, five voided submissions and one submission from Kenya,” Ben-Iheanacho said.
Commending the winners and the prize administrators, General Buratai expressed hope of an increase in the prize money, noting that it was key considering the harsher economic times which has devalued the naira, and the increased need to support local and burgeoning writers.
The evening ended with the announcement of an increase of the annual YALP grand prize to a N1.5 million, with the 2025 edition to be supported by renowned diplomat, Amb. Babagana Kingibe.
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