‘I’ll Pay My Rent, Buy Petrol & Back Young Writers’ — Ifowodo On His $100,000 Literary Prize
NIGERIA Prize for Literature winner Ogaga Ifowodo plans to use part of his $100,000 award to address personal needs and encourage the next generation of Nigerian poets.
The poet, whose collection Why Does God Need a Gun? won the 2026 prize, spoke humorously about how the money would ease some everyday financial pressures. He said it would help him pay his rent several years in advance and afford petrol selling at ₦1,400 per litre until the promised relief arrived.
Beyond those immediate concerns, however, Ifowodo has a more enduring ambition. He intends to establish a poetry prize at his alma mater, Federal Government College, Warri, to encourage students to explore their creative abilities.
Reflecting on the relationship between literary success and financial security, Ifowodo recalled Nigerian-British writer Ben Okri’s response after winning the Booker Prize for The Famished Road. As he remembered it, Okri joked that the prize money would allow him to buy a few more pencils for his writing.
For Ifowodo, the award offers a similar opportunity to support his work while creating something meaningful for others.
His proposed school poetry prize carries particular significance because Federal Government College, Warri, was where he wrote his first poem as a fourth-year student. The poem, submitted for the school’s annual festival of art and culture, won joint first prize for Independence House alongside a poem by a sixth-form student.
Decades later, the award-winning poet wants to return to that formative experience by giving other students an opportunity to discover their own literary talents.
“I would like to pay homage to the first step of my awakening as a poet with a poetry prize that would be open to all of the school’s students,” he said.
Although paying rent and buying petrol may offer immediate relief, the proposed prize could have a lasting impact on aspiring young writers. It would connect Ifowodo’s personal journey with a new generation of students who may be taking their first steps into poetry.
His plans therefore extend beyond celebrating a major literary achievement. They also reflect a desire to support the environment in which his own creativity first emerged and to help other students discover what their words can achieve.
