NLNG calls for entries for 2019 Science, Literature & Literary Criticism prizes
By Prisca Sam-Duru
The Advisory Boards for The Nigeria Prize for Science,
The Nigeria Prize for Literature and The Literary Criticism Prize,
sponsored by Nigeria LNG (NLNG) Limited, have announced entries for the
2019 edition of the prizes.
The call flags off this year’s competitions.
The Science and Literature prizes, which are now in their 15th year,
each come with a cash prize of $100, 000 while the Literary Criticism
Prize has a prize money of N1 million.
Focusing on Climate Change: Erosion, Drought and Desertification, the
Science Prize, recognises outstanding scientific achievements by
Nigerians and non-Nigerians.
While the Literature Prize, focuses on Children’s Literature. The
prize which honours the author of the best book by a Nigerian, rotates
among four literary genres, namely Prose Fiction, Poetry, Drama and
Children’s Literature. The Literary Criticism Prize, which also aims to
promote Nigerian Literature, will receive entries on works in literary
criticism of Nigerian Literature, especially critical essays on new
writings in Nigerian languages.
The Call for Entries for the Literature prize and Literary Criticism
opened on February 15, 2019 and closes on April 5, 2019. The entries for
the science prize also opened on February 15, 2019 but will close on
May 3, 2019.
Chairman of the 2019 panel of judges for this year’s Literature and
the Literary Criticism competition is Professor Obododinma who is a,
poet, editor and a translator. Prof Oha is a professor of Semiotics,
Stylistics, and Creative Writing at the Department of English,
University of Ibadan. He writes poems in English and Igbo. NLNG calls for entries for 2019 Science, Literature & Literary Criticism prizes
Other members of the panel include Professor Asabe Usman Kabir and
Dr. Patrick Okolo. Professor Kabir is a professor of Oral and African
Literature at Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto. Dr. Oloko, a Senior
lecturer at the University of Lagos Nigeria, specialization in African
postcolonial literature, gender and cultural studies.
As it is customary, the winners of the Literature and Literary
Criticism prizes will be announced at an award ceremony in October 2019,
to commemorate the anniversary of the first LNG export from the NLNG’s
Plant on October 9, 1999. The Science Prize winner as usual will be
revealed earlier in the year.
Recall that three winners emerged in the prize categories in 2018.
They were Soji Cole who clinched the Literature Prize award with his
play, ‘Embers’, Dr. Peter Ngene was awarded the Science Prize, for his
work in “Innovation in Electric Power”, and Professor Isidore Diala, a
professor of African Literature at Imo State University, Owerri, took
home the Literary Criticism Prize.
The Nigeria Prize for Literature has rewarded eminent writers such as
the late Ikeogu Oke (2017, Poetry) with ‘The Heresiad’; Abubakar Adam
Ibrahim (2016, Prose) with ‘Season of Crimson Blossoms’; Sam Ukala
(2014; Drama) with ‘Iredi War’; Tade Ipadeola (2013; Poetry) with his
collection of poems, ‘Sahara Testaments’; Chika Unigwe (2012 – prose),
with her novel, ‘On Black Sister’s Street’; as well as Adeleke Adeyemi
(2011, children’s literature) with his book, ‘ The Missing Clock’.
Other awardees are Esiaba Irobi (2010, drama) who clinched the prize
posthumously with his book ‘Cemetery Road’; Kaine Agary (2008, prose)
with “Yellow Yellow”; Mabel Segun (co-winner, 2007, children’s
literature) for her collection of short plays, ‘Reader’s Theatre’;
Professor Akachi Adimora-Ezeigbo (co-winner, 2007, children’s
literature) with her book, ‘My Cousin Sammy’; Ahmed Yerima (2006, drama)
for his classic, ‘Hard Ground’; and Gabriel Okara (co-winner, 2005,
poetry) for his book Chants of a Minstrel and Professor Ezenwa Ohaeto
(co-winner, 2005, poetry) for his book The Dreamer: His Vision.
…U.S. PAO says its history full of heroes and heroines
By Prisca Sam-Duru
“Nevertheless, the need to tell our stories, accurately, and with
pride, is just as important today as it ever was. There are still
doubters among us, there are haters, and there is the need to instill a
sense of pride in our children and grandchildren. That need will never
cease.”, were words of U S Consulate Public Affairs Officer, PAO,
Russell Brooks, at the opening ceremony of 2019 Black History Month.
Held today at the University of Lagos, UNILAG, Brooks who was Keynote
Speaker, had his well detailed remarks titled; “From 1619 to 2019: Why
We Must Continue to Highlight Black Excellence.”
He described the event marking the Black History Month as an
important event rich in “Meaning and symbolism. It is especially
gratifying to me that the invitation was extended by your Institute of
African and Diaspora Studies since I am a member of the African
diaspora, who fortunately has made his way back home.” PAO, Russell Brooks
Explaining his choice of title for the occasion, US PAO noted that
“When the leaders of the Institute approached me, they suggested that I
speak on the topic of “Black Excellence.” I said to myself, Wow, that
is a broad area. I am thankful that I was given some discretion about
how to interpret this charge. I decided that I would like to reference
Black Excellence by explaining why there is, and possibly always will
be, the need to celebrate Black History. I am entitling my remarks
“From 1619 to 2019: Why We Must Continue to Highlight Black Excellence.”
According to him, “Black History Month actually began as Negro
History Week in 1926. It was founded by a noted black historian by the
name of Carter G. Woodson and the Association for the Study of Negro
Life. The week was chosen to coincide with the birthdays of both
Abraham Lincoln, February 12, and Frederick Douglass, February 14.
It is not terribly surprising that his idea to recognize the
achievements of black Americans and black people throughout history
would eventually be deemed worthy of an entire month rather than a week
and by 1969, black educators began advocating for a Black History Month.
The first celebration of Black History Month took place at Kent State
University in 1970 and six years later, President Gerald Ford officially
recognized Black History Month during the celebration of the United
States Bicentennial.
In the U.S., we have been celebrating Black History Month for so many
years, for some it has become routine, it appears to be
institutionalized.
We have an annual Presidential Proclamation marking the occasion and
schools, churches, and community organizations generally organize
activities to remind us of great African-American historical figures
from Crispus Attucks, who died in the Boston Massacre that helped stoke
the American Revolution; to Harriett Tubman, the courageous escaped
slave who returned to the South numerous times to help free
approximately seventy others; to more recent heroes such as Martin
Luther King, Jr and former President Barack Obama.
“At U.S. embassies and consulates around the world, we mark Black
History Month by conducting programs to remind both local audiences and
our fellow Americans of the significant contributions of black people in
building the United States into the great country that it has become
today.
Why do I use the year 1619 in the title of today’s remarks? Please
recall that the first African slaves to arrive in the English colonies
of North America arrived in that year, 1619, to Jamestown, Virginia.
Dutch traders who had seized them from a Spanish slave ship brought
them there. For that reason, this year is being marked as the
400th anniversary of that momentous event.
“I actually don’t believe most people are by nature mean, cruel,
brutal, or unjust. Therefore, I have noted that throughout the history
of blacks in the New World, whether it be in the United States, in
Jamaica, Cuba, or Brazil, there has always been a desire, perhaps a
need, to justify race-based inhumanity to one’s fellow man.
Among the consistent justifications have been the claims that blacks
are not equal to other races, especially intellectually, and that blacks
have contributed very little of value to the world anyway, besides
their manual labor.
For the young people among us, this may seem shocking but
I encourage you to read about the intellectual arguments used to
justify slavery and colonialism.”
There has been an erroneous notion that blacks have no history but
doing justice to correcting that wrong notion, Brooks pointed out that,”
A central tenet of white supremacy in America and Europe has always
been that blacks had no real history; that they left behind nothing of
value in Africa; that they had no real culture; that the black race had
contributed nothing of value to the advancement of the world; and slaves
should be thankful for what their slave masters had done for them.
Perhaps needless to say, this made those who benefited from slavery feel
much better about that cruel, inhumane system and the same could be
said for those who advocated race-based discrimination, colonialism, and
imperialism.
“I doubt that those who advanced these theories of racial superiority
were aware of the Kingdom of Mali, the Songhai Empire and the greatness
of ancient Timbuktu, Abyssinia, the Kingdom of Benin or the Oyo Empire.
Nevertheless, for many, many years, not only were white Americans
ignorant of the true history of Africans and African-Americans but many
black Americans were just as oblivious of their history.”
Going further with unraveling the history behind the Black history
Month, Brooks explained that, “Carter G. Woodson created Black History
Week because he saw the cruelty that can be justified when one group of
people lack respect and empathy for another group of people. He also
understood the effect that absorbing misinformation about the history of
Africa and African-Americans had on the sense of pride and self-worth
of back Americans. It should come as no surprise that the creation of
Negro History Week coincided with the period of black American
self-awareness known as the Harlem Renaissance and similarly the quest
for a Black History Month began during the Black Pride or Soul Power
movement of the nineteen sixties and seventies.”
Sadly according to Brooks, the misguided notions that were used to
defend slavery or racial discrimination, also warped the minds of some
black Americans, who actually accepted these notions out of their own
ignorance. READ MORE: Hoodlums unleash mayhem in Oshodi, attack traders
“If black Americans were to be able to throw off the psychological
shackles that imprisoned them, they would have to know much more about
their actual history.
I know that the actual history of African-Americans is a wonderful
story full of heroes and heroines who have contributed immensely to the
world. Permit me to mention just a few: PAO, Russell Brooks
Are you familiar with George Washington Carver, the agricultural
scientist and inventor who developed hundreds of products using peanuts?
Have you heard of Dr. Charles Drew, the surgeon who pioneered methods
of storing blood plasma for transfusion and organized the first large
scale blood bank in the U.S.? How about Dr. Ralph Bunche, the political
scientist and diplomat who won the 1950 Nobel Peace Prize for his
mediation following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War? Did you know that
Benjamin Banneker, a black surveyor and mathematician reproduced the
design for Washington, DC from memory after the Frenchman hired for the
project quit and stormed off with the original plans?
“When we discuss black history, we also do not restrict the
discussion to African-Americans. I would encourage the students in the
room to take note of the fact that the author of The Three
Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas, was a black
man. Alexander Pushkin, known as the quintessential Russian writer,
supposedly took his inspiration from his African great-grandfather,
Abraham Petrovitch Gannibal, who was kidnapped from Africa as a young
man but rose to become a general and a member of the royal court of Tsar
Peter the Great.
On the African continent, I am sure you take great pride in the
accomplishments of Nnamdi Azikiwe, Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, Chinua
Achebe, Wole Soyinka, Fela, Kofi Annan, Angelique Kidjo, Miriam Mkeba,
and many, many others.
Wrapping up his address, Brooks quoted from one of his personal
heroes which he said, came from the famous African-American female
journalist and civil rights activist, Ida B. Wells, who risked her life
numerous times to investigate and report on the lynching of
African-Americans during some of the worst periods for race relations in
American history.
It reads “The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them.”
To correct the historical wrong of neglecting or diminishing the contributions of the black race to humanity,
I believe we will always need to turn the light of truth on
falsehoods and ignorance by passing down the stories of our excellence,
Black Excellence. I do so with pride and I hope you will too.”
Terra Kulture receives TripAdvisor certificate of excellence
By Prisca Sam-Duru Leading arts, culture, lifestyle and educational center in Nigeria, Terra Kulture has been awarded the 2018 TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence. Now in its eighth year, the award celebrates businesses that have earned great traveller reviews on the TripAdvisor platform over the past year. Certificate of excellence recipients over the years include attractions, restaurants and accommodations located all over the world that have continually delivered quality customer experience.The certificate of excellence accounts for the quality and quantity of reviews submitted by travellers on TripAdvisor over a 12-month period. To qualify, a business must maintain an overall TripAdvisor bubble rating of at least four out of five, have a minimum number of reviews and must have been listed on TripAdvisor for at least 12 months. Speaking on the award, Founder of Terra Kulture, Bolanle Austen-Peters said, “It gives us great pleasure to announce that we have just been awarded the 2018 Certificate of Excellence from TripAdvisor. Terra Kulture is a multiple TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence recipient and we’d like to thank our customers, art enthusiasts, sponsors and patrons for your unflinching support over the past 15 years. We couldn’t possibly have done all this without you” Vice President of Industry Marketing, TripAdvisor, Heather Leisman noted that “TripAdvisor is excited to announce the recipients of the 2018 Certificate of Excellence, which celebrates experiences and other travel businesses that have consistently received strong ratings on the world’s largest travel site”.This recognition allows us to publicly honour businesses that are actively engaging with customers and using feedback to help travellers identify and confidently book the perfect trip” she said.
The Lagos monument sculptures could have been better – Barry …says the right artists were not contracted to do the job By Prisca Sam-Duru Nzennaya Barry Ikechukwu is a Fine Art teacher and full time studio artist. He studied Fine and Applied Arts and graduated from the Federal Polytechnic, Oko, in Anambra State as the best painting student with distinction in 2010. As an artist, he loves his expression to have no bounds, but was fascinated by the use of shapes and how they interact in creating forms and being used in the expression of his imaginative prowess. Barry was mentored by one of the most prolific Nigerian horse painters, Abdulsalam Abdulkareem, but was greatly influenced by the works of the great Yusuf Grillo, Sam Ebohon and Donald Onuoha. In this exclusive encounter, Barry shares how it all began and the journey so far. Tell us about your journey into visual art.. Actually when I was growing up, there was no orientation for me but I had the instinct in me that I can draw, that is I had artistic trait in me. I remember when I was in Primary three and I used to design on my textbooks. There was no fine art in our school curriculum, no encouragement. So, I was just drawing subconsciously. On getting home, I received serious flogging from my parents for drawing on my textbooks. To make matters worse, an uncle who was supporting my education advised me to stop drawing and face my studies. So I decided I would become an economist but like we say, man proposes and God disposes. So in 2005, while trading in Aspamda, I saw a painting by a student from Lagos State Polytechnic and that inspired me to know that I could actually study fine arts in school. I got admission into Federal Polytechnic, Oko. Upon completion of NYSC in 2012, I went to Abdulsalam Studio and since then, art has been an adventure for me. What are the sources of your inspiration? I draw inspiration from life. Waking up everyday gives me strength to paint. It makes me think deeper because I do a lot of conceptual paintings, things that entail a lot of magnetic works. I like to do things on shapes, manipulative things, things that deal with creativity. But my kind of art has no bounds, as in expression. I don’t see myself being limited to a particular kind of painting. Music is also part of my inspiration. I love country music a lot. It makes me create better. If you take music out of me, you take a little bit painting out of me. What are the messages in your works? One of my paintings auctioned at the recent Terra Kulture MyDrim Gallery (TKMG) is titled: Contemplation. It’s a depiction of two images, man and woman. People regard it as Adam and Eve but my message in the work is on divorce and family issues. I believe charity begins at home. I believe the problems of our country have roots in the home. It has to do with the way children are trained and how parents react to issues. This takes me back to the Garden of Eden and all that transpired there. So I feel if there’s unity, love, respect, honesty and understanding in the family, the nation will be great. That’s the kind of messages I send across to my audience. What are your specific reasons for being at TKMG? As an artist, it is necessary to showcase my works. If I just lock myself up in the studio, imagine and create things and do not show them to the world, then the message is not complete. It’s just like the gospel; if it is not preached, then how will the world know about it? Was that your first time at TKMG auction? Yes, it was my first time. And I’m happy that the works, Contemplation and Forecasters were sold. I expect that the auction would open up more doors for me and for arts generally so that the government as well as corporate establishments and individuals will see reasons to invest in the sector. Would it be correct to say that people are okay with upcoming artists’ level of creativity considering how they fare at auctions? I think these days the acceptance of upcoming artists is encouraging. But I also think that young artists need to put in all their efforts. They need to do exceptional things, think outside the box and nothing can hold them back. What is your view on the state of the industry as a whole? The industry is growing but I’ll not say I’m okay with the way it is. I expect it to improve more. In what ways do you mean? We need funding and for government to take the sector more seriously. The government is helping in one way. Look at the monuments, sculptural piece that Lagos State is approving. It shows that government is willing to help visual arts. But then it’s unfortunate that the people that would have done the work better we’re not contracted. These are monuments that would stay for long and also boost tourism, so they needed to have been done better. I know it’s a system problem. Did you have any challenge that threatened your dream? As I said, art is a serious adventure for me. It’s not easy for a student from the East to come to Lagos and start practising art. I passed through serious challenges. I suffered hunger at the beginning. Things were more than tough and it took me like five years before I began to find my feet. But all that added improvement to my works. Access to funds is a major challenge to young artists. If getting loans are easy, they will do better. We also need something like an open studio, that’s a craft centre that accommodates every artist. What are your future plans? I should be an international artist, exhibiting all over the world, touring the globe and waving the flag of the country is top priority. I want to be a public artist with a large studio because right now, I have some students I’m training in Abdulsalam Studio just like Universal Studio of Arts.
Kwubiri’s motionEmotion reflects power of music on creative soul
By Prisca Sam-Duru THIS summer, SMO Contemporary Art is delighted to curate a major solo exhibition motionEmotion, by Germany-based artist, Chidi Kwubiri, which is being presented by Gallery 1957 in Accra this week. MotionEmotion is the culmination of a life-long dream of Kwubiri’s, in which he speaks to the power of music on the creative soul. The exhibition of 18 spectacular large canvases and a performance piece reflect the spirit dance of celebration, joy, melancholy, energy, hope, and protest that music evokes in people wherever they gather. Born in 1966 in Umuahia, Kwubiri grew up in Nigeria and relocated to Germany in his twenties. He is a graduate of the Art Academy of Dusseldorf where he gained his Bachelor’s and Master’s of Fine Arts, and has spent the last 25 years exhibiting globally at prestigious galleries and museums in France, Germany, the United States, Russia, Belgium, South Africa and his native Nigeria. He has featured in selected group and solo exhibitions which include:LebensWerkArbeit, Museum Am Dom, Trier (2018);Ich bin, weil du bist,Museum Am Dom, Trier (2017); Italia Docet, 56th Venice Biennale, Venice (2015);Mother Tongue, Temple Muse, Lagos (2013); Theme Africa, Phillips de Pury, New York (2010);and The Internationals, Millenia Gallery, Orlando (2004). In motionEmotion, Kwubiri takes us on a journey across sound, rhythm, performance and dance, by presenting paintings which speak to the outer and inner manifestations of music on identity, the rise of freedom movements, and the impact of lyrics on society across different generations. Presented by Gallery 1957 in Accra, Ghana and curated by Sandra Mbanefo Obiago in collaboration with SMO Contemporary Art, the works introduce a multi-layered, almost opaque world of colour and silhouette that gently seeps into visual consciousness. Utilising his characteristic dripping paint technique on large canvases, Kwubiri reveals expertly rendered hazy outlines of figures in motion and dance, in a sea of minute dots and drips. Kwubiri presents a new monochromatic body of work with minimalist colour highlights alongside his signature colour palette, which reinforce the power of unity and hope against the socio-political tensions surrounding global immigration issues. His bold interpretations also touch on the impact of music on global youth movements by interpreting cross-generational rhythms, culture and political consciousness. The exhibition at Gallery 1957 shows Kwubiri on a journey of sensory memory through paintings of cultural crusaders – such as afrobeat legend, FelaKuti and reggae prophet, Bob Marley – juxtaposed against contemporary dances with their roots in Africa,including twerking, popping & locking, hip hop, and rap. motionEmotion is set against a backdrop of live music, freestyle instrumental and art-based performance. “We are delighted to present Nigerian art to a broader audience across Africa,” said Sandra Mbanefo Obiago, the Founder and Artistic Director of SMO Contemporary Art. “We need more art institutions to collaborate across the continent, so that our amazing artists have a wider pool of collectors and supporters of their work.” The exhibition opened on Thursday, June 28th, and ended July 30th, 2018
NLNG announces longlist of 11 for 2018 Literature Prize …as power, politics dominate By Prisca Sam-Duru The struggle for political control and power play dominated the longlist for the $100,000 Nigeria Prize for Literature, announced recently by the Advisory Board for the Prize. The Nigeria Prize for Literature is Africa’s most prestigious literary prize sponsored by Nigeria LNG Limited. The 2018 longlist of 11 plays chosen from 89 entries was selected by a panel of three judges led by Matthew Umukoro, Professor of Theatre Arts at the University of Ibadan. Other members of the panel include Mohammed Inuwa Umar-Buratai, Professor of Theatre and Performing Arts, and the Dean of the Faculty of Arts at the Ahmadu Bello University, (ABU), Zaria; and Ngozi Udengwu, a senior lecturer in the Department of Theatre and Film Studies at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. The Umukoro-led panel was appointed in February 2018 by the Prof. Ayo Banjo-led Advisory Board for the Nigeria Prize for Literature which has been administering the prize on behalf of Nigeria LNG Limited since 2010. Entries for the 2018 Prize were received by the judges in April 2018. Members of the Advisory Board for the Literature Prize, besides Professor Banjo, two-time Vice-Chancellor of Nigeria’s premier university, University of Ibadan, are Prof. Jerry Agada, former Minister of State for Education, former President of the Association of Nigerian Authors, and Professor Emeritus, Ben Elugbe, former President of the Nigerian Academy of Letters and president of the West-African Linguistic Society (2004-2013).
I’ll turn tourism, arts and culture to major economy booster as Culture Minister — Ebohon By Prisca Sam-Duru Sam Ebohon is the President of the Guild of Professional Fine Artists of Nigeria. As a studio artist, Ebohon graduated in 1990 with HND (Higher National Diploma) from the prestigious Yaba College of Technology. His most identifiable works feature large criss-crossing strokes that abstract the subject matter. His vibrant brushstrokes bear a particular textual flourish often found in artworks by other graduates of the Yaba School. Ebohon is a respected member of the prestigious Society of Nigerian Artists. In 2009, he was awarded the Gold Medal Prize at the Caterina de Medici painting competition in Florence, Italy. His paintings are widely represented in local and international art collections. In this exclusive interview conducted during the TKMG annual auction preview at Terra Kulture, Lagos, he reveals his ambition in the industry and much more. Excerpts. You chose to be at TKMG auction, why? You have to always remain relevant, do your business because art is business. One has to make money. Having a platform like TKMG helps you do all that. First time at the Auction? No. I’ve been following them. How many works did you put up? Just one. It’s titled Response and Stimuli. Why was this your choice? That was the choice of TKMG. The mode of selection is that you submit a couple of works and they make their choice considering the work that goes with their theme. When did you become an artist? I can’t even tell when. It’s like…I don’t even know. How do you tell someone that you know, I’ve never been anything more than an artist. I’ve always wanted to be something else but art always pulls me back. Something else like what? You know while growing up and your father says you’ve got to be a doctor or lawyer. But professionally as an artist, it all began in 1990. That’s the year I graduated and since then, it’s been a long journey with group and solo exhibitions. What inspires you? Everything inspires me but mostly designs. I’m a design person so whatever gives me a design, it doesn’t have to be a human being, it can be an inanimate object. It can be anything but that which makes a beautiful design and inspires me. The genre you’re more comfortable with? Painting but very rarely in water colour. I still do those ones, but oils on canvass or board, that’s me. What kind of subject matter do you work on? I’d like to be considered as somebody that talks from the heart, on general issues. You see what art does to you is that it grips you and says, look you have to paint me and you have no choice. Sometimes you start a painting and you don’t even know why. It just appeals to you, you paint it and give it a title by fire by force(laughter). The other part is when I see something that affects me either positively or negatively. There’s a painting I’m working on now and it’s on fuel scarcity. It actually came to me during the fuel scarcity period. It’s about people suffering to buy fuel. There’s chaos at the station. So that prompted me to do a series I titled: Chaos. But unfortunately for me, every time I paint, I do so with vibrant colours with strokes, and my message most times, end up getting lost out of beauty. I mean buried in the beauty of the piece. So you have viewers misinterpreting the works and giving them titles outside the message. Why do you paint? Just to paint. I’ve always done that since I was little. The reception of upcoming artist? The history of art in Nigeria is right now from my point of view, there’s a break. By this I mean, the masters such as the Grillos, Onobrakpeyas, Oshinowos etc, those Zaria rebels who started this whole ‘struggle’, but in present time, we’re beginning to lose the history that followed them because we have people who are probably naive about which to consider first before the other. There’s a crop of people before the Grillos or Oshinowos, that is the Akandes, El Anatsui, Olaku, they have their histories but they’ve locked them together. By doing that, there’s no history on the progression on the Olakus and now they’re mixing up the masters and upcoming artists together. This could be because the contemporary artists are exposed to auctions and international space because of Internet, they can sell works even as high as their predecessors. But let the history accommodate everyone. Thoughts on Nigerian art? Very vibrant. The world is focusing on Nigeria now. Really? Yes. The world is focusing on Nigeria as an art hub where people and creatives in the sense of art are thriving and we are happy about that. It wasn’t like this before. The industry can still do better. Unfortunately, we have politicians at the helm of affairs who have no inkling of what art/ culture should be about. So having government push is almost not there. But generally, the artists and few other people have been able to push it to a good position. We have young artists selling for millions of naira, it wasn’t like that before. And those days you dare not say you want to be an artist because your father will flog hell into you. What else should government do to promote the industry? They should create an enabling environment by helping with sponsorship, grants and other things they can use to encourage artists. They are talking about Air Nigeria, can you imagine that the logo was brought from outside Nigeria! Meanwhile we have artists who can do that better. They should recognise that we have talents. Nigeria doesn’t support its own. Where do you see yourself 10 years from now? I’m going to be the Minister of Arts and Culture so that I can change things. If they like, let them add Tourism. I can carry it because they all work together. There’ll be serious overhauling. I will work on tourism because it’s very important and its potentials are not being looked at, at the moment. Let me zoom to art. Tourists are seriously discouraged from buying art pieces since they are stressed so much at the airport while trying to travel with the works. Why ask them to go to the National museum for written permission when you can have an office representing the museum right there at the airport? This is not helping the industry and our economy as well. In Ghana, majority of their art works are bought by tourists. This is a boost to their economy and the same can happen in Nigeria if the sector’s potentials are harnessed.
