With his poetry book, Chants of the Minstrel, Ezenwa Ohaeto, a Professor of English and lecturer at English department, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, became the first co-winner of the coveted $20,000 The Nigeria Prize for Literature in 2005. The author of several collections of poetry books including ‘I wan be President’, ‘Songs of a traveller’ etc, studied at the University of Nigeria and University of Benin. He is reputed to be the first academic to write poetry in pidgin, thereby elevating the use of the Nigerian common language to the print.

Prof Ohaeto passed on few months after winning the laurel in 2006.