Anglo-Nigerian writer Nikki May, one of the three authors shortlisted for the 2025 NLNG-sponsored Nigeria Prize for Literature, has congratulated her colleague Oyin Olugbile who emerged winner of the $100,000 award.
Taking to her Instagram story after the announcement on Friday night, the This Motherless Land author shared a photo of herself with Oyin and wrote:
“Congratulations @heyitsoyin.
A worthy winner.
No bad belle – I am truly happy for you,” she said.
Oyin’s book Sanya clinched the 2025 edition of The Nigeria Prize for Literature, one of Africa’s most prestigious literary honours, at the NLNG Grand Award Night held in Lagos on Friday.
Chairman of the Advisory Board for the Prize, Professor Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo, announced the winner out of 252 novels submitted for the prose fiction category this year.
According to her, Olugbile’s mythology retelling approach was distinct and daring for casting Sango as a female, and for projecting Yoruba mythology through a story that “captivates and meanders into a fantastical world.” She added that the author achieved this through lucid and straightforward language, making it easy to read.
Other shortlisted writers were Nikki May for This Motherless Land and Chigozie Obioma for The Road to the Country.
The longlist released earlier in the year also featured works such as An Unusual Grief by Yewande Omotoso, Fine Dreams by Linda Masi, Leave My Bones in Saskatoon by Michael Afenfia, New York, My Village by Uwem Akpan, Petrichor by Ayo Oyeku, The Middle Daughter by Chika Unigwe, Water Baby by Chioma Okereke and When We Were Fireflies by Abubakar Adam Ibrahim.
The 2025 prize cycle focused on prose fiction and recorded the highest number of entries since inception, underscoring the strength and diversity of Nigeria’s literary scene.
