LAGOS/Nigeria: Poet Tares Oburumu says the recognition of his collection, Flora’s Love Colony, has created an opportunity to take his literary exploration of Nigeria’s past to a wider readership, even though winning an award was not his original motivation for writing the book.
The collection is one of three finalists for the 2026 Nigeria Prize for Literature, following a selection process that began with 223 entries and narrowed to a longlist of 11 books in the poetry category.
Speaking to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos, Oburumu explained that his decision to write about the country’s history was driven by a desire to help readers engage more deeply with the experiences that shaped Nigeria and continue to influence its development.
He said the collection follows the country’s historical journey from the pre-colonial period through slavery and colonial rule to the years after independence, examining how those experiences have affected the Nigerian psyche.
For Oburumu, the challenge was not simply to recount historical events but to present them in a form that would allow readers to consider their significance without being overwhelmed by lengthy narration.
He chose poetry because it enabled him to distribute historical information across individual poems, allowing different aspects of the subject to emerge gradually.
“With poetry, I was able to put the information bit by bit in one poem and another without trying to be verbose, without trying to over-narrate the whole story,” he said.
The collection also reflects his interest in decolonisation and the need to question inherited attitudes that continue to shape how Nigerians perceive themselves and their country.
Oburumu’s investigation into Nigeria’s past was partly prompted by his interest in the origin of the country’s name, attributed to British journalist Flora Shaw before the 1914 amalgamation of the Northern and Southern Protectorates.
That historical curiosity developed into a broader examination of the forces that shaped the country and their continuing implications for its people.
The poet said he did not begin the project with the literary prize as his target. Rather, he wanted to tell a story he considered important and encourage readers to develop a better understanding of the nation’s historical experience.
He believes the shortlist has given the collection an opportunity to travel beyond its existing readership.
“Being on the list means that you are reaching to a wider audience, a global audience and that means that you are going to touch more lives than you have already done,” he said.
Flora’s Love Colony is competing for the $100,000 Nigeria Prize for Literature alongside Unbind Me Now by James Ngwu Eze and Why Does God Need a Gun? by Ogaga Ifowodo.
Established in 2004 and sponsored by Nigeria LNG Limited, the Nigeria Prize for Literature recognises outstanding literary works by Nigerian writers. Its categories rotate among prose fiction, poetry, drama and children’s literature, with poetry taking the focus in the 2026 edition.
