3 Students Emerge Winners at the Babatunde Oladele Annual Prize for Fiction

Three undergraduate students have emerged as winners of the 2025 edition of the Babatunde Oladele Annual Prize for Fiction, with the award ceremony held at the University of Lagos on June 24, 2025.

The writing competition was a recent addition to the programme interventions of the Literary Renaissance Foundation (LRF) and was organised in conjunction with the National Association of Students of English and Literary Studies (NASELS) Southwest Region. Sponsored by The Ready Writers Consult, the competition was open to all undergraduates studying English Language and Literary Studies in the southwest region of Nigeria. Submissions were short stories of 1500-3000 words sent in via email.

Elizabeth Abosede from the University of Lagos (UNILAG) finished in first place with her story Beneath The Mango, while Alexandra Nwabueze, also from the University of Lagos (UNILAG), with Almost Is Never Enough, made second place, and Rhianot Adejoke from the Lagos State University (LASU) with Beneath The Velvet Mask was third.

Babatunde Oladele is a serial entrepreneur, author, and passionate book lover who spearheads various initiatives to encourage capacity building and promote literacy and a reading culture in Nigeria. These include the Literary Renaissance Foundation, civic engagements and public participatory dialogues, school outreaches, internships and training programmes. The Annual Prize for Fiction is inspired by his roots as a graduate of English Literature from the University of Ibadan.

The three winners emerged from a pool of 52 applicants who demonstrated impressive writing skills. The winner went home with a cash prize of ₦100,000, second place with ₦50,000, and third place with ₦30,000.

Apart from the cash prize, all winners received a 3-to 6-month paid internship with The Ready Writers Consult and an opportunity to read their stories at the monthly book reading organized by the Literary Renaissance Foundation.

The finalists will also have their stories published on Amazon, Google Books, and Iwe Bookstore.

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