In this report, Assistant Editor (Arts) OZOLUA UHAKHEME writes that serial burglaries at the Prince Claus fund sponsored multi-million naira workstation at Iwaya, Yaba, Lagos, Mainland are threatening the project.
•Facility looted four times since August
A multi-million naira Workstation of Communal Re-Imagination, Iwaya, Lagos, a project funded by Prince Claus Fund, is under threat. The multipurpose space that provides alternative art school for the youth of Iwaya community has been burgled four times since its inception last August.
The first two burglaries occured last October 24 and 25. Some people allegedly broke into the workstation through the window and ceiling and carted away valuable items, such as bead works by participants, materials for bead workshop and paints bought for the space. Bulks of the books destroyed were donated to the library by an artist Abraham Ogbobase who relocated to Canada last year. Some of the books and artworks destroyed and stolen include InterInvention by Wole Soyinka, Lagos Street Maps Unifying Africa by Uche James Iroha, The Contemporary Art Book by David Hodge And Charlotte Bonham- Carter Lagos: A City At Work by Kunle Tejuosho (Glendora Books), We Face Forward ( Art Form), Techniques Of Photography by Available Light by Colin Glanfield, Limbus- Saara Estrom by Kiasama, Between Man And Nature by Sunmi Smart Cole, Time Frames (The Story Of Photography) by Ian Jeffrey and Element of Philosophy by B. E Nwigwe.
The project is worth about 20,000 Euro and will last for one year.
Executive Director, Workstation of Communal Re-Imagination, Aderemi Adegbite, who raised the alarm, said in a statement that the latest attack on the facility was on January 29, when almost all the books were destroyed and thrown outside the workstation.
He said going by the spate of attacks and vandalisation of the workstation, it was clear that those behind the attacks were on a mission. Their intent, he added, is to stop ‘’us from using the space for the purpose for which it was built, which is education. They know that without the books and materials, we will not be able to do anything and thereby get frustrated’’.
Communal Re-Imagination was conceived and proposed by Mr. Aderemi Adegbite, for the Next Generation Project of Prince Claus Fund, to help engage the minds and hands of youths in the community. The workstation was built as part of the project as a meeting point for participants and other youths in the community, who are creative and talented.
Adegbite, an interdisciplinary artist, who works with media photography, is very depressed about the losses. He said his main reason for creating the project was to show youths that there are other means of making life meaningful.
He recalled that his challenges started when he reported last October’s attacks to the traditional head of Iwaya community, who summoned other chiefs for explanation. He noted that the traditional ruler advised him not to report to the police because a “formal report at the police station will not solve the problem, because the workstation is built in a volatile section of the community, where the police will not even bother themselves to go to.”
“Two Baales who attended the meeting said to the king that before they could reckon with the project, I must pay N500,000 to them as bribe. My response was that the project was conceived and created for the community to complement what the community leaders are doing in the community by re-channelling the untamed youth energy in the community through art. They all said they understood the motive behind the project, but I still must make the payment for them to fully endorse the project. I made them realise that the funding received from Prince Claus Fund has been used to build the space, so it could be useful for the project and as well the community. But they were adamant,” he said.
On the third break-in, Adegbite recalled:”When we arrived at the workstation on November 13, 2018, we realised that some of the books in our library were missing. Project manager of Communal Re-Imagination, Taiwo Ayeidogbon, asked participants if they took some of the books home for research and they all said no. So, we were disturbed by the number of books that were missing on the book shelves. We searched every corner of the workstation and saw some book covers in the dustbin. It was appalling the number of books that had been destroyed overnight. The contents of the books were taken away and the covers were dumped in the dustbin.”
Adegbite stated that he reported the burglaries to two of the three Baales (chiefs, sectional community leaders) who are fully aware of the project from the inception and they promised to look into it. But, that after two days, three Baales were summoned to the palace and were acquainted with the theft case.
“At the beginning of the project, I met with the Oba-in-Council (King-in-Council) to inform them about the grant and what the project was all about. I was asked series of questions by the king and the chiefs present at the meeting. I explained to them in details all about the project phases and payment procedures by the funding organisation – Prince Claus Fund. Their major concern at that time was about raising fund to build a proper space for the school project and the property that could be used. This was because there is no community owned property in Iwaya community.
“In fact, some of them mentioned the fact that there is no community cultural centre and therefore it would stress the fund meant for the project because a lot of unforeseen payments have to be made. I assured them that I already have a space I started developing four years ago but couldn’t develop it beyond foundation level and it will be used for the workstation, which will be built as a multipurpose space where the alternative art school project will take place and other community events. And the workstation was built for that purpose. In September 2018, there was Iwaya Community Celebration, I was made the Chair-of-Art/Cultural events. The workstation was used for rehearsals and meetings for the Regatta that was part of Iwaya Community Day celebration. And all the chiefs visited The Workstation during this event in September 2018,” he added.
On the latest attack, he said: “On 29th January, I received a call from the workstation Manager, Olufela Omokeko, that our library has been once again attacked and almost all the books destroyed this time and thrown outside the workstation.”
It will be recalled that the image of the community changed from its infamous hoodlum ridden status in the recent time because of the community art projects. In 2015, Adegbite started his community art projects in Iwaya as an alternative engagement for the young people to see and choose alternative means of life through art. In 2016, he created a community-based international art festival to help the youth shun violence and embrace art.
The international artists invited for Iwaya Community Art Festival, for one month, lived and carried out research in collaboration with the youth in the community. Between 2016 and last year, the festival hosted 13 international artists from Africa, Europe, South America and Middle East.
