# Nigerian Nobel Laureates and Major International Honours

> Wole Soyinka's 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature remains Nigeria's only Nobel Prize to date, making him the first African Nobel laureate in any category. No other Nigerian has won a Nobel Prize, though Nigerians have won other major international honours, including Ben Okri's 1991 Booker Prize, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's 2007 Orange Prize (Women's Prize for Fiction), and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala's appointment as WTO Director-General in 2021.

**Category:** Science, Education & Innovation · **Updated:** 2026-07-26 19:36:35 · **Canonical:** https://nigeriastuff.org/a/nigerian-nobel-laureates

## Key facts
- **Nigeria's only Nobel Prize:** Wole Soyinka, Nobel Prize in Literature, 1986 — first African Nobel laureate in any category
- **Nobel prize motivation:** "who in a wide cultural perspective and with poetic overtones fashions the drama of existence"
- **Booker Prize:** Ben Okri, 1991, for The Famished Road (published by Jonathan Cape)
- **Orange Prize / Women's Prize for Fiction:** Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, 2007, for Half of a Yellow Sun
- **Major international office (not a Nobel Prize):** Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala — first woman and first African WTO Director-General, took office 1 March 2021, reappointed for a second term from 1 September 2025
- **Nobel laureates never won by Nigerians outside Literature:** None to date, per Nobel Prize records
- **As of:** 24 July 2026

## Sources
- Wole Soyinka – Facts — The Nobel Prize (Nobel Prize Outreach) (https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1986/soyinka/facts/)
- The Booker Prize 1991 — The Booker Prizes (Booker Prize Foundation) (https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/prize-years/1991)
- Testament to youth as war epic wins Orange prize — The Guardian (UK) (https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/jun/07/books.orangeprizeforfiction)
- WTO Director-General: Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala — World Trade Organization (https://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/dg_e/dg_e.htm)

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