United Nigeria Airlines has pledged N20 million to support the annual Chinua Achebe Prize for Fiction over the next 10 years, providing a major boost to one of Nigeria’s most prestigious literary awards.
The sponsorship commitment was announced by the Executive Chairman of the airline, Professor Obiora Okonkwo, following discussions with the President of the Association of Nigerian Authors (ANA), Dr. Usman Akanbi.
Under the agreement, the airline will contribute N2 million annually to the association, guaranteeing funding for the prize until 2036.
The intervention comes at a critical time for the award, which has struggled with funding challenges in recent years.
Established in 2021 through a partnership between the Anambra State Government and ANA, the Chinua Achebe Prize for Fiction was conceived to honour the literary legacy of the late novelist and celebrate excellence in African literature.
The administration of former Governor Willie Obiano initially provided N1 million annually for the award. The succeeding administration of Governor Chukwuma Soludo not only continued the sponsorship in 2022 but also approved ANA’s request to increase the funding to N2 million to accommodate inflation and rising administrative costs.
However, the organisers said government support gradually waned after two years despite repeated appeals to sustain the initiative.
The uncertainty surrounding the future of the award prompted United Nigeria Airlines to step in.
Announcing the development, Akanbi quoted Okonkwo as saying that Achebe’s contribution to literature and the African identity made it imperative to preserve the prize.
“Prof Achebe is too precious in our consciousness for the award to continue to suffer the current epileptic funding”, he said.
Explaining the airline’s decision to assume responsibility for the award, Okonkwo described Achebe as one of Africa’s most influential literary figures.
“Very few men and women of letters and culture in recent history have brought as much attention and honour to the Black race and the African world as the great Achebe through his writings, lectures, speeches, intellectual activism, ethical conduct and intermittent interventions in political affairs, which have made him an authentic conscience of the Nigerian people”, he said.
Reacting to the development, Akanbi expressed appreciation to the airline and its chairman for what he described as a patriotic intervention.
He noted that Achebe was not only an internationally celebrated writer but also the founder and first president of ANA, established in 1981 at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
“We are immensely grateful to Prof. Okonkwo and United Nigeria Airlines for this timely intervention. Prof. Achebe was not just a world-class raconteur and essayist, but also the founder of ANA, whose leadership gave the association the credibility and platform that continue to earn it respect beyond Nigeria’s shores”, Akanbi said.
He also highlighted Okonkwo’s longstanding commitment to preserving Achebe’s legacy.
According to him, the airline chairman financed the construction of a statue of the renowned author, which was unveiled in July by Governor Soludo at the Ugwunwasike Roundabout in Ogidi, Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State.
The sponsorship of the literary prize is the latest in a series of initiatives aimed at immortalising Achebe.
In June, United Nigeria Airlines named one of its newly acquired Boeing 737-800NG aircraft after the celebrated novelist, while another aircraft was named after His Royal Majesty, Igwe Nnaemeka Achebe, the Obi of Onitsha.
The airline said the gesture reflects its commitment to preserving the values and legacies of two distinguished sons of Anambra State.