$200,000: Winners of NLNG 2017 Prize for Literature, Science

The Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited, on the 8 of February 2018 at a Public Presentation in Lagos, formally presented The Nigeria Prize for Literature and The Nigeria Prize for Science, which comes with a cash prize of $100,000 each, to four winning entries that emerged from the 2017 cycle.

Author of the winning entry for The Nigeria Prize for Literature, The Heresiad, Ikeogu Oke, was awarded a $100, 000 cheque, while joint science prize winners Ikeoluwapo Ajayi, Ayodele Jegede, Bidemi Yusuf, Olugbenga Mokuolu and Chukwuma Agubata were awarded the Nigeria Prize for Science, with a cash prize of $100,000, split evenly.

The science prize sought to find solutions to malaria through its theme for 2017, Innovations in Malaria Control.

The joint winning entries for the science prize were “Improving Home and Community Management of Malaria: Providing the Evidence Base” by Ikeoluwapo Ajayi, Ayodele Jegede & Bidemi Yusuf; “Multifaceted Efforts at Malaria Control in Research: Management of Malaria of Various Grades and Mapping Artemisinin Resistance” by Olugbenga Mokuolu; and “Novel lipid microparticles for effective delivery of Artemether antimalarial drug using a locally-sourced Irvingia fat from nuts of Irvingia gabonensis var excelsa (ogbono)” by Chukwuma Agubata.

The 2017 cycle of the science prize ended a seven-year drought of winners. There had been no winner since 2010.