NLNG Appoints Femi Odugbemi, Kadaria Ahmed, Joel Benson to Creative Arts Prize Board

Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG) has appointed renowned filmmaker Femi Odugbemi, journalist Kadaria Ahmed and award-winning documentary filmmaker Joel Kachi Benson to the Advisory Board of The Nigeria Prize for Creative Arts.

Odugbemi will serve as chairman of the three-member board, while Ahmed and Benson will serve as members ahead of the 2027 edition of the competition, which is themed “Nigeria Unseen.”

The advisory board is expected to provide strategic direction, supervise the administration of the prize and protect the credibility of its judging process, with particular attention to originality, artistic excellence and storytelling.

NLNG announced the appointments alongside the official call for entries for the 2027 competition, explaining that the board would promote transparency and independence while ensuring the prize reflects developments in Nigeria’s creative industry.

Ahmed is the Executive Director of Daria Media and Managing Director of Radio Now 95.3 FM. She previously worked as a senior producer at the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and served as editor of NEXT newspaper.

Benson, on his part, is an internationally recognised documentary filmmaker. His virtual reality documentary, Daughters of Chibok, won the Venice Lion for Best Immersive Story at the 2019 Venice International Film Festival.

He also co-directed Madu, which received the Outstanding Arts and Culture Documentary award at the 2025 News and Documentary Emmy Awards.

Speaking about the 2027 theme, Odugbemi urged Nigerian filmmakers to explore stories and perspectives that are often overlooked, rather than concentrating only on familiar subjects.

He explained that “Nigeria Unseen” does not necessarily require filmmakers to travel to remote locations or discover subjects that have never been documented. Instead, it challenges them to take a fresh look at everyday experiences and uncover stories that people may have previously ignored.

The 2027 competition comes with a US$20,000 prize and is open to Nigerian filmmakers between the ages of 18 and 35, irrespective of their country of residence.

According to NLNG, submission of entries will commence on February 1, 2027, and close at 11:59 p.m. West Africa Time on April 30, 2027.

Eligible documentary films must have been produced between January 2026 and April 2027, with a maximum running time of 20 minutes.

The competition follows its inaugural edition in 2026, where Peter Oghenetega Oke and Feranmi Abiola emerged joint winners with their documentaries, Beyond Tarkwa Bay and Mara Mania, respectively.

READ ALSO: