With the exit of Etisalat Group after transferring their 45 percent stake to United Capital Trustees, there is a growing concern in the creative and entertainment industry that the annual Etisalat Prize for Literature, Flash Fiction Prize, among other sponsorships by the telecoms company in Nigeria will be jeopardised.
The fear is further compounded by the fact that the restructuring of the company by the new owners may result in downsizing and cut down the company’s sponsorships and Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives.
The 2016 edition of the award, which held months behind schedule for the first time, was a pointer to the fact that the awards were almost canceled due to the logistics and funding issues from the sponsor.
The African literary community, and budding Nigerian writers are concerned, as non-sponsorship of the prize will impact negatively on literary creativity, especially authors who cannot publish their books.
Besides the literary community, the Nigerian entertainment circle is also worried that if the new management of the telecom company were not as keen on entertainment as the former, many entertainment sponsorship deals would be lost.
Etisalat is a major sponsor and co-sponsor of many entertainment projects such as: Hear Word, Love and Recession, stage plays, Saro The Musicals, Love Like A Movie; music concert, Ake Festival, Kids Say The Darndest Things, The Jonhsons, TV soap opera among others.
Expressing his disappointment over the exit of the UAE telecom group, Adudu Ehime, a writer, noted that the literary prize was a project the UAE company initiated as part of a CSR initiative to further cement their business relationship with Nigeria and puts the sustainability of the prize in jeopardy because it may not be of interest to new owners, who may not give priority to educational and human capacity projects.
“I am scared the literary prizes may not continue. Besides the fact that the Prize in Literature held two months behind schedule, Etisalat Flash Fiction Prize, the smaller prize; did not hold. The excuse of the judges was that there were no winner and runners up this year, as none of the entries met the criteria of quality and creativity required to win the award. I think the company started scaling down its sponsorship from that point. The big award may not hold next year”, Alex Osime, an unpublished writer said.
Speaking from a business perspective, Adigun Omole, a copyright lawyer, said the fact that Etisalat’s core business is suffering due to some financial issues means that every other thing that is not core business to the telecom company will naturally suffer. “If the new management of Etisalat wants to scale down their sponsorships, it is not just the Literary Prize that will be affected, every other thing that falls under CSR, events and promotions as well”.
The Etisalat prize for literature comes with £15,000 award, an engraved Montblanc Meisterstück pen, fellowship at the University of East Anglia, an Etisalat sponsored book tour to three African countries, as well as, a cash prize of £1,000 and a high-end device for the winner of the Fiction Prize.
However, an insider from Etisalat, who did want to be named, said the giveaways are not too much for the telecom company and assured that the company would continue to sponsor the prize, despite its challenges because of what it means to the company’s image.
Furthermore, Ibrahim Dikko, Etisalat Nigeria’s Vice President, Regulatory and Corporate Affairs, confirmed in a statement released recently, that the company’s operations and services to the subscribers remained normal and would in no way be affected by the current challenges it is having with its bankers and shareholders.
But some stakeholders in the Nigerian literary and entertainment communities are not optimistic over the sustainability of the sponsorship deals, as the delay in hosting the Prize in Literature and the presentation of no winner and runners up in the Fiction Prize, may be a pointer of what the future holds for Etisalat sponsorships across different events and projects across the country.
OBINNA EMELIKE
