Iberiyenari, Chemical Science student, 2 others win 2018 Nigerian Students Poetry Prize

Poets in Nigeria (PIN) has announced the winner of 2018 edition of the Nigerian students poetry Prize. The winners are Iberiyenari Godstime Tamunofiri, Amagwula Nnenna Comfort and Ikeobi Samuel Chukwubuokem.

Iberiyenari, a 400-level female student of Chemical Science at Niger Delta University, Wilberforce Island, Yenagoa whose poem was titled “Deep Dreams” was announced the first prize winner at the awards ceremony which held on Thursday May, 24 at the Convocation Hall of the Godfrey Okoye University, Enugu, Enugu State.

Comfort, a 200-level female student of Physiology at the University of Lagos came second position in the contest with a poem titled “Yet Another Head” while “Two Sides of Hakeem”, authored by Chukwubuokem, a 500-level student of Electrical Electronics Engineering at the University of Agriculture, Abeokuta grabbed the third position.

The first prize winners received the star prize of N150,000, the second prize winner received N100,000 while the third place winner got N50,000. The cash Prizes were sponsored by Godfrey Okoye University, Enugu.

Organizers of the prize said  464 entries of poems were received from students across over 80 tertiary institutions in Nigeria.

Judged by a 5-man panel of judges, with Ismail Bala Garba chairing, organizers said the top 100 poems would be featured in the 2018 edition of the of Nigerian Students Poetry Prize anthology.

Cross section of guests at the award ceremony

Sharing her experience as a judge of the prize, Professor Hulya Yilmaz who is a member of the Faculty of Liberal Arts, Pennsylvania State University said   “It has not been an easy feat for me to narrow down the requested number of poems from a large pool of submitted poetry of substance and beauty.”

She added that those voices had to be vocalized so the globally relevant and vital conceptualizations of their authors can be heard by humanity at large. Each of the the poems, she disclosed, addressed current ills of the world, trials and tribulations from a relatable stance when humanity is concerned as the only acknowledged race.

She hoped the young poets would remain eager and determined to speak for the voiceless and the forgotten by advancing upon the frequency and intensity in the tangible application of their exceptional command over their poetic craft.

The organizers also named University of Ibadan as the best participating school and top performing school for three consecutive years.

The Nigerian Students Poetry Prize was instituted in 2016 to stimulate literary creativity among Nigerian students.