Nigerian poet, lawyer and human rights activist, Ogaga Ifowodo, has won the 2026 Nigeria Prize for Literature, earning the prestigious $100,000 award for his poetry collection, Why Does God Need a Gun?
Ifowodo emerged winner of the competition sponsored by Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG) after a rigorous judging process that narrowed 223 entries to three finalists.
His collection defeated Unbind Me Now by James Ngwu Eze and Flora’s Love Colony by Tares Oburumu to claim the award, which recognises outstanding literary achievement by Nigerian writers.
The 2026 edition of the prize focused on poetry, continuing the award’s rotation among poetry, prose fiction, drama and children’s literature.
When the shortlist was announced in August, the Advisory Board of the Nigeria Prize for Literature praised Ifowodo’s work for its exploration of religious and political violence in Nigeria through allegory.
The judges highlighted the collection’s tripartite structure of body, mind and spirit, which it uses to examine the moral and social challenges confronting contemporary society.
The shortlisted works were assessed on the strength of their language, form, originality, craftsmanship and lasting literary value.
Professor Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo, chairperson of the Advisory Board, had described the selection process as demanding, noting that the three finalists stood out for their literary excellence, originality and ability to engage readers with contemporary realities.
At the heart of Ifowodo’s collection is a provocative question about the justification of violence in the name of religion: why would an all-powerful God need human beings to defend Him through guns, bombs and bloodshed?
The work examines religious extremism, terrorism, abduction and the devastating consequences of violence perpetrated under the guise of faith.
It also draws attention to children abducted by terrorist groups, including the schoolgirls taken from Chibok and Dapchi in northeastern Nigeria.
Ifowodo has explained that the title emerged from the voice of a poetic persona representing children abducted by Boko Haram, the Islamic State West Africa Province and other terrorist organisations.
Through allegory, the collection challenges religious fanaticism and examines the beliefs, power structures and moral contradictions that sustain violence.
Beyond condemning terrorism, the work invites readers to reflect on the relationship between religion, power, human suffering and the responsibility to protect life.
Ifowodo has built a distinguished literary career spanning poetry, scholarship, activism and public commentary. He is the author of six poetry collections, including Homeland and Other Poems, which won the Association of Nigerian Authors Poetry Prize in 1993; Madiba, which won the ANA/Cadbury Poetry Prize in 2003; and The Oil Lamp, recipient of the ANA/Gabriel Okara Poetry Prize in 2005.
His other works include A Good Mourning, which was shortlisted for the Nigeria Prize for Literature, and Augusta’s Poodle, which was longlisted for the award.
In addition to his creative writing, Ifowodo has contributed to scholarship on history, trauma and postcolonial narratives. His book, History, Trauma, and Healing in Postcolonial Narratives, was published by Palgrave Macmillan in 2013.
He has also received international recognition, including the Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award from the American PEN Centre and the Free Word Award from the Netherlands-based Poets of All Nations.
The Nigeria Prize for Literature, sponsored by NLNG, aims to promote literary excellence, encourage creativity and contribute to the development of Nigerian literature. With its $100,000 purse, it ranks among Africa’s most valuable literary awards.
Ifowodo’s victory places Why Does God Need a Gun? at the centre of contemporary conversations about faith, violence and the human cost of extremism, while underscoring poetry’s capacity to challenge entrenched beliefs and give voice to the suffering of vulnerable people.