Ogaga Ifowodo Wins $100,000 for Poetry on Violence

Ogaga Ifowodo, a poet, lawyer, and human rights activist, won the Nigeria LNG Limited Grand Award Night in Lagos for his sixth poetry collection titled "Why God Needs A Gun." This collection, which addresses Nigeria's painful stories of terrorism, religious extremism, and violence, triumphed over 222 other entries to claim the $100,000 prize. Ifowodo, born in 1966 in Oleh, Delta State, studied law at the University of Benin and worked with the Civil Liberties Organisation during Nigeria's military regime.

He was arrested in November 1997 under General Sani Abacha's regime after advocating for international action against the dictatorship and was released in 1998. His poetry has received multiple accolades, including the Association of Nigerian Authors Poetry Prize in 1993 and the ANA/Cadbury Poetry Prize in 2003.

The emotional core of his latest work revolves around Leah, a schoolgirl abducted in 2018, symbolizing the broader struggles faced by victims of terrorism in Nigeria.