2nd Fireflies Prizes For Prose And Poetry Competition
2nd Fireflies Prizes For Prose And Poetry Competition
…Eliongema, Castro win big, go home with cash prizes
By Sylvanus Ekpo
The art community converged in Lagos on Saturday 26th October for the 2nd edition of the Late Dr. Sesan Ajayi Fireflies Prizes for Prose and Poetry. It was held at the Business Club Alausa Ikeja in honour of the late Literary Icon and Poet, Dr. Sesan Ajayi.
Top winners of the Prizes were Eliongema Udofia of the University of Uyo who took home the first prize in Poetry with a cash award of one hundred thousand naira. Another first prize went to Castro Ailele Osemwingie who won the Prose category and also went home with a cash prize of one hundred thousand naira.
Others who were runners-up included Miss Ayodele Oluwayemisi Elizabeth who took the second position in Prose while Sofia Damilola Ojikutu took the third position with cash prizes of fifty and thirty thousand naira respectively.
In the poetry category, Messrs Agboola Tariq Adebola and Michael Emerald Oladosu went home with the second and third prizes.
In his keynote address, Mr. Ayo Baje, a renowned Analyst and poet spoke eloquently about the search for meaning for young writers and enjoined the winners to keep the fire burning.
He attributed the theme of the event which was “The Empty Nest: Nostalgic Contemplations” to mean the rebirth of a nation in the throes of a crisis and urged the young laureates to stay focused and hone their craft to greater heights.
A poet Laureate, Mr. Olumide Akinwumi-Oke, spoke profusely about Sesan Ajayi and the legacy he left behind at the Olabisi Onabanjo University and in the hearts of his admirers. He told his audience that even though he read Law at the University, he often found himself gravitating towards the arts department because of the influence of Sesan Ajayi.
He congratulated the winners and promised that an anthology of their works would be published later.
Mr. Osinach Ezema, a Tetfund Research Fellow, and one of the judges, spoke about the need for originality in the creative works of contestants. He noted that from more than a hundred entities submitted for the competition, a lot of them were disqualified for relying solely on Artificial Intelligence (AI) instead of using their natural abilities. He commended the shortlisted candidates for staying true to the rules of the competition.
Other judges included Professor Jendele Hungbo, currently Professor of Comparative Media Studies & Dean, Faculty of Arts, Management and Social Sciences the Kola Daisi University.
Another judge of the competition was Professor Senayon Olaoluwa, a Professor of Diaspora and Transnational Studies & Director, TETFund Centre for Excellence, Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan.
Chairman of the Planning Committee, Olaniyi Akingbogun, who was in London and spoke through Zoom, said he was delighted that the second edition of the competition was fierce and ended well.
Also speaking via Zoom, a colleague of Dr. Sesan Ajayi, Professor Josephine Alexander, sent her goodwill message from Botwana. She said that Sesan Ajayi was dedicated and committed to scholarship. “He lives in all of us”, she said. She announced that even though Sesan Ajayi died at the young age of 34, his PhD was awarded posthumously.
Poems and Prose were read by the contestants and authors at the event such as Dr. Niyi Adebanjo and a poet, Halima Abdullazeez, to the delight of the audience.
Speaker after speaker eulogized the man, Dr Sesan Ajayi and what he stood for while he was alive. Widely regarded as phenomenal,
Ajayi nurtured a generation of art enthusiasts who came together to put up the FireFlies competition in his honour.
In his remarks, Dr. Niyi Adebanjo urged the organizers to think of making the grand prize around N250k and to consider moving to the OOU campus for the 3rd edition to rekindle the interest of many more people and enthusiasts at the University.
Dr. Julius Ajayi a sibling of the Late poet, speaking from the US via Zoom, in his message to the organizers of the FireFlies competition, thanked them for putting the memory of his late brother on the spotlight and promised to continue to support the engagement in whatever way possible.
Other published authors who graced the occasion were a poet, Halima Abdullazeez, the Vice Chairperson of Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) Lagos Chapter, Solape Adeyemi and Dr. Dele Sonubi who acted Kurunmi in the celebrated drama year’s ago.
The contestants were later presented with plaques and their prizes.
Corporate sponsors of the event included Araoko Foods, ACE (UK), 923 Media and Justrite.
Members of the Planning Committee for the 2024 edition of Writers Workshop 2.0 Fireflies competition were Olaniyi Akingbogun (Chairman), Sola Adesanwo (Secretary), Lola Olakunrin-Ogan (Finance) and Mr. Agboola Kadiri.
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