Masterpieces of Nigerian Art... commissioned project Information Ministry ignored
By Anote Ajeluorou
SOME four years ago, Nigeria and Africa's eminent archeologist, foremost art theorist and curator, Prof. Ekpo Eyo was commissioned by the Information Ministry then under Chief Chukwuemeka Chikelu to write a seminal work on Nigerian antiquities. Contractual papers were signed to that effect to the tune of N25 million to enable the renowned art scholar prosecute the work. But Chief Chikelu soon exited the ministry to give way to Frank Nweke Jnr., who also endorsed the project.
But the project soon ran into serious hiccup, as funds for its execution were not forthcoming from the ministry. In order to live up to his word, the septuagenarian had to resort to borrowing money to deliver the book after exhausting what he could muster on his own. Now, he is faced with a huge debt burden in the United States, where he has been residing. It was the Ford Foundation that eventually came to the rescue when it learnt of the difficulty Prof. Eyo was facing and the importance of the work he was doing. Ford Foundation paid the Italian publisher of the book whatever expenses were left so the book could be brought to Nigeria.
Now, Prof. Eyo finds it hard to go back to the US without the money to pay his creditors and the interest that has accrued to the loan he took. For instance, he said, he was still owing his secretary, $5,000 for typing and editing services. Also faced with an ill-health plaguing his spinal cord and threatening to paralyse his feet, he finds himself in a quandary on account of producing a work of such definitive character that is designed to set out Nigerian art as having equal relevance and status with ancient arts coming from other parts of the world.
Prof. Eyo has been in Nigeria since March so as to see the current minister, Prof. Dora Akunyili and deliver his work From Shrines to Showcases: Masterpieces of Nigerian Art and collect whatever was left of the contract money. According to him, some amount of money was paid twice to him while the book was in the works. But he had to provide insurance guarantees before he could collect the money, a clear negation of the terms of the contract, he said.
In March, Mr. Mayo Adediran, director of Museums and Monuments, reportedly showed the book to Prof. Akunyili when she had town hall meeting with Nollywood stakeholders at the Sheraton Hotel in Lagos. But the retired professor, who was the first indigenous curator of the Lagos National Museum, lamented that no invitation had been extended to him yet to formally present the book to the minister or her ministry.
Having endlessly waited for the book to be received by the ministry, its original owners, which was also to have presented it to the public, the Ford Foundation took the initiative to present it at the instance of the visiting director of the Smithsonian Institution National Museum of African Art, Dr. Johnetta Cole in August. The presentation took Prof. Eyo by surprise as he had wanted the Ministry of Information and Communications officials to do the honour of formally presenting the book, which they initiated.
Now, Prof. Eyo is heartbroken on account of the work he has done for his fatherland and the neglect to which he has been subjected. It was with frustration that he sent two thousand copies of the book to the ministry early this month. But at the time of filing this report, he said he had not received acknowledgement from the ministry whether the book had been received or not.
"It'll be anti-climax for all I have done for Nigeria if all my efforts and troubles are allowed to just go away like that," he wailed during an encounter recently at his Victoria Island residence, adding, "they don't know what my country stands to gain by this book. It's the first of such book on art in Africa by an African."
Another Nigerian art scholar teaching Art History and Art theory at the University of Los Angeles at Santa Barbara, US, Prof. Sylvester Ogbechie, underscored the significance of Prof. Eyo's Masterpieces of Nigerian Art in redressing the imbalance in favour of African art in scholarly discourses in world art criticism and appreciation. He said, "...the importance of a book like this (Masterpieces of Nigerian Art) is to make a global claim for the value of African and Nigeria cultural production.
"And, targeting a book like this to an external audience is a positioning that is very significant. Prof. Eyo has now become the only African publishing significant books like this that compare with publications of the sort you find regularly being produced abroad. It helps to locate us strongly within the ongoing debate about the value of cultural objects".
Prof. Eyo is concerned that his monumental effort will only end up being locked in a store in the ministry and will not see the light of day or for scholars to be enriched with its content about the ancient Nigerian art meticulously narrated and documented.
For a scholar of his standing nothing could be more traumatising than knowledge locked away from human civilization, especially knowledge that has such immense relevance in situating Nigeria's cultural past in its true light not as inferior but of equal standing with the best that can be found anywhere else in the world.
"I may just die with the fruits of my labour just lying there without even a single acknowledgement," he lamented. "I just want the ministry to release the book to the public, and whatever the ministry decides is left of my money they should pay me so I can settle my debts. Whatever money is left in the contract, just pay me. But if at the end of the day they say they won't pay me, I'll die leaving it to God. If that's my lot in life, well, I won't worry.
"I have back pain that is affecting my legs. I have incurred a lot of bills here. I need medical attention, which I can get in the US where I have health insurance scheme as a citizen. I can't even go to Abuja because of my health. I'm afraid that the book will be locked up in a store and nobody will see it and my labour will be lost."
Even in his bitter moment, Prof. Eyo's passion for the country is strong. He did not allow his bitterness to becloud his fervour for what Nigeria could become if her people were committed to doing the right things expected of them. He believes Prof. Akunyili's rebranding campaign is a good project meant to redirect the nation to the path of greatness.
But just like other good programmes in the past, the art scholar and administrator fears for the sustainability of such projects beyond its originators. He stressed that the project should be directed at the inner minds of individuals where positive change could be internalised before it could manifest on the outside.
"It's a good project but it's something that has to come from the mind," he stated. "Every individual has to make efforts. Development starts with individuals making a conscious effort to make things work. In my opinion, it has to start with the self. The individual has to start rebranding himself; but if they are not convinced about the need to change individually, nothing will happen.
"People need to be conscious about themselves in whatever they do whether good or bad. Without that self-criticism, self-assessment to act to do good nothing happens. You have to have a sense of right and wrong. To make any improvement, we have to begin with ourselves. Rebranding is a good thing but do people want it, to correct themselves?
"Man is at the centre of every development. What is 'my' or 'your' role in society? Take the 'no litter' rule, for instance. Whoever does it consciously realises immediately and corrects himself. I saw a living example of it in Singapore years ago."
