Oyin Olugbile joins the longlist of the Prize laureates as the sixth female writer to win the Nigeria Prize for Literature in its two-decade history.
By Evidence Egwuono Adjarho
The 2025 edition of the Nigeria Prize for Literature has named Sanya, a debut novel by Oyin Olugbile, as winner of the prestigious $100,000 award for prose fiction. The announcement was made on Friday, October 10, 2025, at a grand ceremony held in Lagos, by Professor Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo, Chairperson of the Advisory Board of the Nigeria Prize for Literature.
The Nigeria Prize for Literature, sponsored by Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG), remains one of the continent’s most distinguished literary honors. Each year, it alternates among four genres—poetry, prose fiction, drama, and children’s literature. In this year’s prose category, Olugbile’s Sanya emerged as the standout among hundreds of submissions.
The novel reimagines the legendary Yoruba deity Sango, offering a daring inversion of myth by presenting a female embodiment of divine power. Yet, beyond its mythic reworking, Sanya delves into the intricacies of human emotion namely love, longing, pain, and power, rendered through a cast of vividly drawn characters. The novel blends myth, history, and introspection, situating itself at the intersection of ancient cosmology and contemporary storytelling.
The panel of judges, chaired by Associate Professor Saeedat Bolajoko Aliyu of the Department of English, Kwara State University, had earlier commended Sanya for its innovation, coherence, and narrative strength. “It is a fascinating novel”, the judges wrote in their review. “From the cover to the gripping plot, the author keeps the pace unrelenting and the story intriguing”.
During the ceremony, Professor Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo offered individual remarks on each of the shortlisted works, noting that Sanya stood out for its emotional and intellectual depth.
“The strength of this narrative lies in the depth of research that must have gone into recreating such a larger-than-life mythical character in a different gender, in a period where such was not possible. Olugbile achieves this with clear, precise language that invites readers to step fully into her realm and experience it in vivid ways”.
This victory marks a historic moment for Nigerian literature, as Oyin Olugbile joins the long list of the Prize laureate as the sixth female writer to win the Nigeria Prize for Literature in its two-decade history. In her acceptance speech, Olugbile reflected on her journey toward storytelling:
“Storytelling was always there, beneath it all, waiting, whispering. One day, I listened. One day, I said yes. And in that yes, Sanya was born.”
She then dedicated the award “to the African child who is still trying to find herself on the page”, adding that “She is not lost. She is simply waiting. And may this be her sign to begin”.
The evening also honored Okwudiri Anasiudu, who received the 2025 Nigeria Prize for Literary Criticism and a $10,000 cash prize. Anasiudu was recognised for his insightful contributions to Nigerian literary scholarship.
In a forward-looking statement, NLNG announced its intention to introduce a new category dedicated to the creative arts in future editions of the prize.