Olugbile wins $100,000 Nigeria Prize for Literature with fantasy Novel ‘Sanya’

By Nehru Odeh

Oyin Olugbile has been announced as the winner of the 2025 Nigeria Prize for Literature, taking home the prestigious $100,000 award for her captivating fantasy novel, Sanya.

The announcement was made at the Grand Award Nite held on Friday, October 10, 2025, at Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.

Olugbile’s Sanya triumphed over The Road to the Country by Chigozie Obioma and This Motherless Land by Nikki May, both of which were strong contenders for the coveted prize.

Olugbile’s masterful debut explores themes of love-lost, found, and lost again, set in a richly imagined empire so enchanting that even the Òrìṣà are held spellbound.

The judges lauded Sanya as a “fascinating novel” with “an unrelenting pace and an intriguing plot that immediately grabs attention.”

Professor Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo, Chairperson of the Advisory Board, described the shortlisted works as “exceptional,” adding: “Each work distinguishes itself through masterful plotting, characterisation, and a command of language that transports readers into imagined worlds. These are not merely stories—they are carefully woven realities, compelling in beauty, stirring in emotion, and unflinching in their engagement with urgent societal issues.”

Olugbile holds a B.A. (Hons) in Creative Arts from the University of Lagos, postgraduate certificates from the Lagos Business School, Harvard Business School Online, and the School of Politics, Policy and Governance (SPPG), as well as an MSc from King’s College London.

She currently works as a Social Impact Management Consultant and serves as the Chief Curator of the Experience Factory (EXF), an education enterprise curating out-of-classroom learning experiences for young people across disciplines including Arts, STEM, Health, and Financial Literacy.

Sanya is her debut novel.