ANA secures sponsorship for Chinua Achebe Prize for Fiction
By Editor
THE Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA) has secured a 10-year sponsorship commitment worth N20 million from United Nigeria Airlines (UNA) to sustain the prestigious Chinua Achebe Prize for Fiction. Under the agreement, the airline will contribute N2 million annually to the association, providing a long-term financial foundation for the continuation of the literary award.
The commitment followed discussions between ANA President, Dr. Usman Akanbi, and the Executive Chairman of United Nigeria Airlines, Professor Obiora Okonkwo. The airline’s decision represents a significant intervention by the private sector at a time the prize is facing uncertainty over its funding.
The Chinua Achebe Prize for Fiction was established in 2021 through a partnership between the Anambra State Government and ANA. The initiative initially received N1 million in annual support under the administration of former Governor Willie Obiano. His successor, Governor Chukwuma Soludo, maintained the sponsorship and subsequently approved an increase to N2 million in response to rising costs and the expenses associated with administering the award.
However, the literary prize has encountered financial difficulties in recent years after the state government stopped providing the expected support. According to ANA, repeated communications reminding the government of its earlier commitment did not result in a renewed sponsorship arrangement, leaving the association searching for a sustainable alternative to protect the future of the prize.
United Nigerian Airline’s intervention has therefore provided ANA with the stability required to keep the prize running for the next decade. Announcing the development, Akanbi said Okonkwo recognised the importance of preserving the award, particularly because of the profound influence Achebe has had on Nigerian and African literature.
Okonkwo explained that Achebe’s contribution extended far beyond his achievements as a novelist. Through his books, public lectures, essays, intellectual engagement and moral interventions, Achebe became one of Africa’s most influential literary figures and an important voice on the continent’s social and political development. He described the author’s legacy as one deserving of sustained institutional support.
ANA expressedappreciation to Okonkwo and United Nigeria Airlines for what it described as a patriotic and timely intervention. Akanbi also noted that Achebe was instrumental in the formation of ANA, having established the association in 1981 at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and serving as its pioneer president. According to ANA, Achebe’s foundational role helped establish the association as a respected literary organisation both within Nigeria and internationally.
The sponsorship forms part of Okonkwo’s broader efforts to honour and preserve Achebe’s memory. He personally supported the construction of a statue of the literary icon, which was unveiled in July by Mr. Soludo at Ugwunwasike Roundabout in Ogidi, Achebe’s hometown. In June, United Nigeria Airlines also named one of its newly acquired Boeing 737-800NG aircraft after Chinua Achebe, while the second was named after the Obi of Onitsha, His Majesty Igwe Nnaemeka Achebe.
Pasts winners of the prize include Obinna Ndenwe with Colour of Hatred in its inaugural edition in 2021. Sylva Nze Ifedigbo was the winner in 2022 with his novel, Believers and Hustlers. And in 2025, Ndidi Chiazor-Enenmor won with her japa-themed novel, See Morocco, See Spain.
For ANA, the new sponsorship further strengthens the enduring commitment to keeping Achebe’s remarkable legacy alive.
