There was excitement in the air within the Nigerian literary community and for lovers of African literature when the Advisory Board of the Nigeria Prize for Literature, sponsored by the NLNG, unveiled the 11 longlist titles for the 2025 edition of the biggest and most-rewarding literary award in Africa.
As build up to the grand final of the award in October, all eyes are on the CORA-NLNG Book Party on August 3, 2025 in Lagos, while there are high expectations for the titles that will make the shortlist of 5.
However, this year’s 11 longlist titles is unique in that two past winners are in the race, while a publishing house has five titles in the race, prompting observers to ask what is special about Masobe Books, which featured the most books in the 11 titles.
The five books under Masobe Books are: The Middle Daughter by Chika Unigwe; The Road to the Country by Chigozie Obioma, Sanya by Oyin Olugbile, When We Were Fireflies by Abubakar Adam Ibrahim and Water Baby by Chioma Okereke.
Also, two past winners of the Prize, Chika Unigwe, with On Black Sisters Street in 2012 and Abubakar Adam Ibrahim, with Season of Crimson Blossom in 2016, both authors under Masobe Books, are in this year’s race.
Well, Masobe Books is a leading Nigerian publisher offering diverse genres, talented authors, and a seamless online book shopping experience.
It was founded in April 2018 as Masobe Books and Logistics Limited by Othuke Ominiabohs with offices in Lagos as a solution to writing, publishing, logistics and marketing challenges faced by authors.
Ominiabohs is a famous Nigerian author, with many books to his credit including;“Odufa: A Lover’s Tale” and “A Conspiracy of Ravens”. He is also famous for embarking on book tours across the continent to promote his books and encourage reading culture Africa-wide.
Meanwhile Masobe is derived from the Isoko phrase ‘Let us read”, and the leading Nigerian publishing company has encouraged many to read and also ignited love for literature.
Since inception in 2018, the Victoria Crest Estate, Eleganza Lekki, Lagos based publisher has published over 100 books with 96 authors, 36 brick and mortar stores across major cities of the country, amid online store and bulk order options.
The intrigue for many literary observers is that in six years of its debut in the publishing business, Masobe has shown stellar performance, steady growth, and recorded positive returns in book sales of over 100,000 copies.
No doubt, Masobe is reshaping the book publishing business in Africa and giving its local and foreign counterparts a run for their money. Some also attribute the huge success to its gripping and innovative promotion of books, leveraging social media, coupled with exceptional book designs.
The many authors published by the company and the literary feats following their works align with the mission of Masobe Books to bring beautiful and exciting stories from talented African authors to people’s doorstep with ease and on time.
The above has set the company on its way to become Nigeria’s number 1 publishing house and a major player in the African literary space.
In 2023, the company published 28 titles, which is a significant achievement. Excitedly, 2024 was an eventful year for Masobe Books as it wrapped it up with an impressive 41 books published, which was a new milestone.
Again, 18 of the 41 titles were featured in Brittle Paper’s 100 Notable African Books of 2024, including Ama Asantewa Diaka’s Someone Birthed Them Broken, released in January 2025.
However, what endears the publishing company to authors is its easy options to become an author.
Aslo, many have realized their dreams of becoming authors with Masobe Book’s three imprints: Masobe, traditional publishing imprint; Makere, for subsidy or self-publishing and Oremaha, for children’s books.
Beyond the huge impact on authors, readers are also smiling with more incredible titles, amid bold themes, and crossing boundaries.
The above also aligns with Masobe’s quest to attract more readers and more are reading now.
Having curb the heavy reliance on Western Literature and the books of African literary giants of old, Othuke Ominiabohs has truly engineered into action his words “Let us read”, and many are writing and more are reading.
