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  • Letter to Nigerian Youths

    “We cannot always build the future for our youths but we can build our youths for the future”. Franklin D. Roosevelt

    Preamble

    The writing of this letter to Nigerian youths of today is warranted by the seeming thorny path to the future which is  lying ahead of them and threatening their passage. This letter is in response to a Yoruba axiomatic adage that charges the elderly to prevent the fall of the young ones from falling without hope of rising on his way to the future. The youths are the heirs to the elderly who must be prepared for worthy heritage. Here is the letter:

     

    Dear Nigerian youths, this letter being addressed to you through this medium (The Message) is not by accident but by design. Nigerians of my own age and beyond (about 70) never had an opportunity to be so addressed.

    Let it be known to you that besides life and sound health, no Allah’s bounties to man is as treasure-able as youthfulness. The definition of youth varies from place to place and from culture to culture. But generally, youthfulness spans from the age of puberty (at about 16 years) to the age of reasoning (at 40).

    That is the second stage of human life after that of adolescence. It can be said therefore that the juiciest part of human life is what people call youth. And whoever is blessed with it is blessed with all hopes of life.

     

    Spur of Ambition

     

    Youthfulness is the spur of ambition and propeller of risk taking. It is the period of determination and resolution. It encourages attraction between genders and engenders association across boundaries. All efforts in human life that yield results in old age are made at youthful age. To an average youth anywhere in the world, the sky is never the limit. There are still many other firmaments beyond the sky. Youthfulness is the stage at which hard work becomes manifest. It is the stage of planning. It is the stage of vision and mission. That is why the youths of any nation are seen as the bone marrow of such a nation and the beacons of the future. And fortunately, youths invariably constitute majority of the existing people at any given time in any given nation.

     

    Experience

     

    In the years past, when life had meaning and culture had value, youths were seen as the pride of the nation. They were the natural arrows fixed to the parental bows which were often shot through the iron gate of life. This was the case in Nigeria before and during the colonial era. And after the country’s independence, the youths constituted the glory and hope of their parents as well as that of the nation. Their role in the family encouraged the bearing of many children as the males among them partnered their fathers in tilling the farmland and in harvesting the crops while the females among them joined their mothers in making the families comfortable for the society to thrive gloriously. In short, the youths of those days unconsciously formed the live wire of their families and by extension, that of the nation.

     

    Family Wealth

     

    When a father was said to be rich in those days, it was not because of the money or property he possessed but because of the many children (male and female) he had, who constituted the needed workforce and economic security for his family. Ironically, father’s pride, then, was not just the number of children he had but the volume and quality of contribution made by those children to his wealth. Thus, children were considered to be nonesuch wealth for their parents.

    In those days, youths were not just helpers of their parents on the farms or in their trades they also assisted them in training the younger ones among their siblings. Yet, they had the highest esteem for those parents in their utterances and conduct. The tradition in those days was such that boys were handled by their fathers in terms of discipline and responsibility while girls were mostly handled by their mothers in terms of marital training and societal decency. And, in the process of bringing up their children, no mother ever dared to utter a word while any child was being subjected to discipline by the father. In a nutshell, the upbringing of a child was the main key to societal serenity.

     

    Change of trend

     

    Today, Nigeria is a different story all together. The youths of yesteryears have become the elders of today. They have left the chord of discipline that escorted them into the world of decency and joined the new train of indecency. And that chord is no longer seen as suitable for either today or tomorrow as the trend has changed dramatically. The current trend began in January 1966 when some uncultured youths in military uniform, spurred by blind ambition, threw the value of age and experience to the winds and killed the then leaders of the nation in what was called a military coup d’état that was evidently tribal and religious. By that unfortunate act they plunged Nigeria into a precipitate civil war that turned the youth wild and eroded the value of youthfulness.

    For 13 years thereafter, the military vagabonds remained in power using whim in place of discipline and experience. And when a brief civilian interlude came on board in 1979 for only four years and three months, those vagabonds perched on the governance again like hungry vultures fed on the carcass of democracy to their fill. Through that unbridled usurpation of power, the so-called Nigerian military weaned themselves from the ladle of integrity and destroyed whatever was left of their nomenclature.

     

    Outcome

     

    Here we are today, looking desperately like starved hawks hanging restlessly in the balance like gagged hyenas. Virtually every Nigerian has forgotten the real cause of our calamity. The cry everywhere is now about the effect of that calamity on the nation. No one endeavours to look back and see where the downfall started from.

    And without looking back, there can never be any correction as to how to rise again. A Yoruba adage states axiomatically that when a toddler falls down he looks forward (to see if there is any adult around to lift him up). But when an adult falls he looks backwards (to see the cause of his fall). That is the difference between experience and potential.

    Banking on potential to govern a nation that requires experience as did the eaglet Nigerian military can never bring any meaningful result. Both potential and experience have their role and chance in any society. But neither can take the place of the other.

     

    The difference

     

    You the youths of today are different from those of yesteryears in many ways and the differences are clear. The youths of the past were very hardworking, dedicated, patriotic and forward-looking. They served their parents diligently and stood by them in all circumstances. They sought their parents’ advice and learned from the latter’s experiences. Unlike you, they built their hope on hard work, contentment and destiny.

    On the contrary, you the youths of today are very lazy, slothful, time wasting and lackadaisical in your attitude to life even as you are served by your parents from infancy almost to old age. Yet you despise those parents and treat them with disdain like nonentities. You believe that those parents had worked on your behalves and that you are only in the world to enjoy the fruits of their labour.

    The youths of the past were patient, contended and full of respect for the elders. They were humble, obedient, always eager to acquire knowledge and gain experience as they queued up to learn from the elders.  You the youths of today are very inpatient, pompous, greedily ambitious and you see yourselves as masters of knowledge when in actual fact you are slaves of ignorance. Unlike the youths of the past, you the youths of today are mostly empty-headed, very arrogant, highly materialistic and hastily avaricious.

    You always want to start your lives from the peak of your parents’ achievements without asking about what those parents had gone through before reaching the peak. That is why some of you joined politics by contesting for the Presidency in the stupid idea of ‘Nut Too Young To Rule’ which some of your fathers who had stolen public funds tried to see through legislative acts in favour of their own children who they expect to inherit them in politics.

    You, the youths of today, spend money lavishly without working for it and you never think of bearing any responsibility either in the homes or in the society. You are generally characterized by all the conducts that were classified as shame in the past. To you shame has its price and going by your myopic perception, it only takes money to pay that price. That is why you worship money, day in and day out as your ultimate god. And as long as you can pay that price by all means in whatever currency, you are important in your own estimation. Thus, shame, as far as you are concerned, is a vital aspect of culture which has no negative effect on your lifestyle. As a matter of fact you have taken shame for both pride and prestige.

    If a few youths of the past were ever described as a bunch of societal problems for their society, due to their misdemeanor, majority of you, the youths of today, are the real cogs in the societal wheel of progress in today’s Nigeria. To you, life has no meaning except it is heavily coded in money.

     

    Life Span

     

    Your slogan that “long life is irrelevant in the absence of money” is a testimony to the above assertion. That life span in Nigeria has dropped so drastically is due to your disappointing lifestyle which often creates hypertension for your parents and leads to their early death. Few parents talk of heirs nowadays because those of you who are supposed to be their heirs have long thrown away the toga of worthy heirs. In the past, mothers were not known for staying with their daughters in the latter’s matrimonial homes while leaving their husbands behind without care. This strange but new trend that has almost become a part of Nigerian culture arose because the incompetence of today’s urban women, even after many years of training, is questionable. Thus, despite the ubiquity of young men and women, there is scarcity of husbands and wives just as there is a dirge of fathers and mothers.

    Virtually everything that matters to you, today’s youths, is devoid of our known core value. By your measure, the value of life can be found only in the volume of naira accessible to you.

     

    Causes of generational change

     

    Whenever there is cause to review the generational trend with the intention of righting the wrong, you, the youths of today are often quick in pointing accusing fingers mischievously at the generations before you by saying they caused the prevailing debacle. But while pinching the back of the elders you often forget that sooner or later you too may become elders whose back will be pinched by the youths who will succeed your own generation. You have forgotten that most of the scientific discoveries and technological advancement of your age which lured you into roguery were not available for the past youths. There were no such things as hard drugs, cybercrimes, armed robbery, sophisticated pen fraud through manipulation of figures and forgery of signatures. There were no cases of rape, child trafficking, audacious prostitution and day light murder with impunity as are rampant among you today.

     

    Professional Crimes

     

    To you, the youths of today, all the above mentioned crimes are either professions or callings in which you actively engage with strong desire for perfection. Thus, you do not believe in the existence of any demarcation between decency and indecency, an indication that ‘family name’ which was highly valued in the past has no meaning to you today. Unlike most youths of the past, you were sent to school but your goal was mere certificate that will legitimize your anticipated fraudulent meal ticket rather than useful education and beneficial knowledge. And, now, what you acquire in the schools you attend, which you call certificate, in the name of education is hardly worth the paper on which those certificates are printed. For most of the years you now spend in higher institutions, your preoccupation is either cultism or other frivolous activities that have no bearing with education. That is why most of you turn out to be unemployable University or Polytechnic graduates after leaving those institutions.

    A few of you who might have secured public employments by whatever means, have been discovered to be sheer misfits on those jobs as your competence remains questionable.

     

    Implications

     

    The implications of all these are many. While most of you are not quite useful to the present time you are also not hopeful about the future.

    There is hardly any major crime in Nigeria today that is not principally committed by you, all in the quest for money. It seems that the only language you understand either orally or in writing is money and only those who can speak or write the language of money can command your respect.

    Many centuries before our time, an Arab poet intuitively came up with a sonnet which fits perfectly into today’s Nigerian situation. He said: “Here is the era against which we had been warned through the admonitions of Ubayy Bn Ka’ab and that of Abdullah Bn Mas’ud; an era in which truth would be totally rejected while falsehood and insurgence would be kept aloft; Should this era linger on without any change, there will neither be any sorrowful mood at a funeral nor any joyful feeling on the birth of a new baby”.

    Now, which of the situations narrated in the above poem is not applicable to Nigeria today. What impact does religion have on the society again?

    We used to know of motor spare parts. Today, spare parts are no more those of motor but of human beings. And the most active merchants of this queer business are you the youths of today (male and female, clerics and laity). When we talk of illegal oil bunkering, it is the business of the youths. When we talk of kidnapping, it is the business of today’s youths. When we talk of suicide bombing and terrorism, it is the business of today’s youths.

    And all these are for money and nothing else. Where is Nigeria going from here?

     

    Conclusion

     

    The aim of this expository article is not to malign or denigrate the youths of today. All the children of this columnist are today’s youths who do not constitute a separate island. But preaching is like a mud surrounded by men and women in immaculate regalia. No one of them will be spared if the mud is splashed. As a onetime youth and now a father qualified to be called an elder, it is not expected of my type to start throwing stones while residing in a glass house. But truth knows no boundary. It cruises on like a surging train without minding whose ox is gored. To rekindle Nigeria’s old hope or create a new one for the future, the youths of today must return to the established values of the past. It was through those values that the tranquility of the world was solidly upheld. And it was through deviation from it that the world became as restive as it is today. If tranquility must return as wished by many, you the youths of today, must change your loins.

     

    And that is the only atonement that the world requires to return to tranquility.

     

    GOD BLESS NIGERIA!

  • World Farmers’ Centre targets 1,000 farmer millionaires in five years

    In line with its core value of encouraging Nigerian youths to embrace agriculture, the World Farmers’ Centre is embarking on a project aimed at raising 1000 millionaire farmers within the space of five years.

    Speaking on the project in Lagos yesterday, the founder of Farmers’ Centre, Dr. Joseph Deji-Folutile, said  the project would expose young Nigerian  farmers  to the different areas of investment in the agricultural sector, in order to broaden their perspectives.

    According to him,  there is a huge tendency for people to concentrate on a few aspects of the farming industry  that are considered to be lucrative at the expense of   other value chains that are equally important and which could yield better profits.

    ‘’ For over 10 years, we have had direct contacts with farmers in the country, trying to provide solutions to most of their technical problems. Through our monthly publication, the Farming Advice Digest, which is a specialized publication on farming, we have had robust interactions with farmers at all levels, thus giving us the unique opportunities of understanding   the gaps in the sector.  The Farmers’ Centre is embarking on the training series as part of its contributions to the development of the agricultural sector in Nigeria as a whole,’’ Dr. Deji-Folutile explained.

    He added that farming remains a rich venture because it is a means through which food is made available to the people. “Everyone must eat.  This makes farming a viable venture. But farmers need to be rightly guided and trained to use the huge opportunities before them very well.

    “The 1,000 young Nigerian millionaire project will involve regular seminars, butt camps, farm visits, mentoring and it is appropriate for private and public organizations, ‘’ he added.

    The World Farmers’ Centre was founded in 2017 to help provide solutions to the problem of hunger in the country  through knowledge transfer to the people involved in different aspects of farming.

  • Unilorin VC decries rate of drug abuse among youths

    Prof. Sulyman Abdulkareem, the Vice-Chancellor, University of Ilorin, on Monday in Ilorin lamented the rising cases of drug abuse among youths in the country.

    Abdulkareem made this known at the opening ceremony of the 2018 Dawa Holiday Programme jointly organised by some Muslim organisations known as The Companion, The Criterion and The Dawn for selected Muslim youths from five states of the federation.

    He said that as parents and guardians, it was incumbent on them to inculcate in their wards character in upbringing

    “Character is the first thing we have to work upon, but unfortunately we have totally neglected it. Now, we are having another menace in the society.

    “Our children are on drugs. I can’t even smoke a cigarette talk less of drinking wine or getting intoxicated. But Muslim youths are getting into that now.

    “And I believe it is because our mothers and our parents are not working on them hard enough,” he said.

    “Character is what eventually makes a human being and attitude is your character.’’

    The vice-chancellor appealed to mothers to work harder in the training and upbringing of their children.

    Read Also: ASUU strike: Varsity teachers beg Buhari to show mercy

    Abdulkareem urged Muslim youths to use the Quran as their guide and allow it to reflect in their character.

    Earlier, the Commissioner for Education and Human Capital Development, Hajia Bilkisu Oniyangi, described the programme as part of the extra-curricular activities required to stimulate the social wellbeing of the youth.

    Oniyangi advised against drug abuse while appealing to the youths who attended the programme to be good ambassadors by relaying the theme and messages of the campaign to other youths on good character.

    National Amir of The Dawn, Nurein Balogun, said that the camping programme was designed as a platform to mentor and unite Muslim youths.

  • President to Nigerian youths: groom yourselves for leadership

    President Muhammadu Buhari wants Nigerian youths to prepare themselves for political leadership as his generation will one day quit the stage for the younger ones to take over.

    Receiving the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Wing led by the Acting National Leader, Kingsley Dozie Lawrence, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja yesterday,Buhari described Nigerian youths as very active and critically important in the Nigerian project.

    ‘‘Youths are very virile and active. A greater part of the Nigerian population is made up of youths. They must always be a factor at all times,” he said.

    ‘‘Youths must begin to groom themselves for the leadership of Nigeria.

    ‘‘I said this to the leaders of the National Association of Nigerian Students yesterday (Thursday).  Sooner than later we will leave the stage and you will takeover. You have to equip yourselves properly.’’

    President Buhari welcomed the group for appreciating his administration’s effort in providing the much-needed infrastructure across the country and for ensuring that Nigerians celebrated the Yuletide with the availability and price stability of petroleum products.

    ‘‘I am glad you appreciate government’s efforts. That is why we are here to make a difference in the lives of Nigerians and on infrastructure, We will ensure that the resources of Nigeria work for Nigerians,’’ he said.

    On the industrial action embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), the President expressed the hope that ‘‘good reason will prevail’’ in the on-going talks between the Federal Government and representatives of the union.

    Speaking earlier, the leader of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Wing hailed the Buhari administration for stabilising the economy, improved security during the Christmas season and sustaining the development of infrastructure, particularly the Second Niger Bridge.

    ‘‘We, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Wing, are partners-in-progress in the Nigerian Project and will extend hands of partnership to any administration that guarantees the interest and welfare of Ndigbo.

    ‘‘There’s no gainsaying the fact that President Buhari’s administration has impacted the Igbo in some positive ways, but there are still areas the Igbo need more impact,’’ he said.

    The youth leader, therefore, appealed to the President to make a categorical statement on the issue of Igbo Presidency in 2023 in addition to initiating a process for the creation of an additional state in the South-East, among others.

  • U.S. to provide Nigerian youths access to technology

    The United States (U.S.) has pledged support to programmes that provide Nigeria youths with access to quality technological learning opportunities.

    Its Consulate-General in Nigeria made the pledge in Lagos during the grand finale of a week-long robotics workshop organised for 303 teachers and 187 students in the country.

    The forum was organised with Consulate General in collaboration with RoboRave International, a U.S.-based tech academy.

    Speaking at the workshop held at the Zone Tech Park in Gbagada, Lagos, U.S. Consulate Public Affairs Officer, Mr. Russell Brooks, said the workshop was designed to stimulate the interest of the participating students in math and science, as well as careers in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields.

    Mr. Brooks discussed the importance of STEM education to Nigeria’s future prosperity and economic competitiveness.

    According to him, developing robotics skills can place students on a track to future careers in computer science and artificial intelligence.

    “The U.S. Mission in Nigeria is committed to supporting programmes that provide youth with access to quality technological learning opportunities.

  • Nigerian youths warned against hate speech

    Nigerian youths have been warned to guard against the use of hate speech, to avoid causing disaffection in the society.

    Malam Lamir Aminu, Chairman Electoral Committee, National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN), stated this in his goodwill message at the opening ceremony of the delegates’ conference in Gombe on Friday.

    Aminu said Nigerian youths need to understand and come to terms with ethnic and religious differences, for the continued development of  the country.

    Read Also: Pastor in police net for ‘propagating hate speech’

    “Religion and ethnic sentiments are the major stumbling block hindering the unity of Nigeria.

    “Let us do away with hate speech, eschew sentiments of religion and ethnicity, to make Nigeria a better place.

    He then called on the youth to ensure they are in possession of Permanent Voter Cards (PVC).

    “I am calling on those that have not registered, to endeavour to register,” he said.

    He also advised the youth to elect leaders based on merit not tribe or religion.

    The conference, tagged Unity Congress 2018, will also usher in a new executive council of NYCN.

    The national election will hold on July 21, in Gombe.

     

    NAN

  • Influence of social media on Nigerian youths

    The present age has brought a mixture of advantages and disadvantages with new technologies that has caused a great change globally. This can be seen as there is a transformation from what technology was in the past.

    Technology is evolving everyday due to increase in knowledge impacted through the boom in digital revolution and new media, especially social media.

    According to Wikipedia, social media can be described as computer mediated technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, career interests and other forms of expression via virtual, communities and networks.

    Some of the applications include: Facebook, Whatsapp, Instagram, twitter, LikedIn, Snapchat, Google, Skype, Messanger, Telegram, and so on.

    Adebayo Shittu, the Minister of Communications said “about 75 percent of Nigeria’s population that use the internet are on social media; and the number keeps growing on both social networking sites and blogging sites.”

    The emergence of internet has brought about a change in economic, political, intellectual, and socio-cultural interaction in the world today. The Internet and social media offers lots of benefits for youths.

    The social media aids social interaction especially among youths. It enables them to create and exchange information in one way or the other via technological devices and ensures connection between friends when they are not able to see each other.

    Youths are said to be the most active users of social media. The platforms have given the youths the voice to express themselves.

    Read Also: Social media on English language use

    Social media keeps you up to date with things going on around your environment and things you are not familiar with. For example, with the emergence of blogs, people get the latest news on social media, ranging from politics, business, entertainment, etc.

    Youths can also use the platforms to express themselves and develop social skills like writing, reading, acting, calculations, business and lots more.

    However, social media has its negative sides. One of it is that youths are sometimes exposed to social vices. Another disadvantage is that youths can get addicted to it and abandon other important aspect of their lives.

    Youths are also prone to giving false impression about themselves on social media in addition to engaging in violence due to what they are exposed to.

    Social media is a good introduction to today’s world, but it can result in ills if not managed properly.

  • Get involved in politics, Macron tells Nigerian youths

    President of France, Emmanuel Macron has told Nigerian youths to be actively involved in the nation’s politics in order to change the narrative of the nation.

    Describing politics as important, the French president said only Nigerians could change their image and that of the nation before the comity of nations.

    Macron who was accompanied by governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos state, threw the challenge during a visit to the Afrika Shrine in Ikeja, on Tuesday night at an event tagged “Celebrate African Culture”.

    He noted that the future of Africa and the task of making it great rested with Africans, stressing that the youths has a crucial role to play in the quest.

    “Africa needs a new generation of Africans to share the new narrative about Africa all over the world,” he said.

    Read Also:Why I chose to visit Afrika Shrine in Lagos – President Macron

    According to him, politics is important because it is a tool to change the society. He described the Afrika Shrine as an iconic place of strength, music, culture and the late Fela, as a politician who wanted change for the society.

    “I am very happy to be here. Let me remind you that this place — Shrine is a music place as well as politics, which is needed to change the society. So, I will say to the youths, politics is important, be involved,” he said.

    “The Shrine is a cultural hub, an iconic hub and it is very important for me first on a personal level, and that is why I want to say with a lot of humility that I recognize the importance of this place, I recognize the place of culture in this current environment.”

    Macron also announced the launch of the 2020 African Cultures Season in France. He said the event would help create a unique face for African culture in Europe.

    “I discovered Nigeria and a lot of my friends are here. I discovered Lagos and I discovered the shrine. This place is an iconic place and it is a place where the best of music is given. I have to say my main memories about this place are friends, proud people, proud of their culture, proud of their art and music. I have a very different view of Africa than a lot of other people in Europe,” he said.

    Macron stressed the need for Africa and Europe, especially France to build a new commonality, adding that “this new commonality is not based on what is important for Europeans but what is important for Africa, about their culture, how they build their culture and promote the culture and which places are important for them about their culture. Being here, I do recognize their culture and respect their views. This place is important for Africa and their culture and that is why I am here.”

    The African Cultural Season 2020 in France which will be hosted by his country he said, would be about promoting African culture in Europe, adding that the event was going to be for Africa and by African artistes.

    “It will include people with fashion, African movies, new generation of artistes will be coming from Africa and it will be organized by them to show Europe and France” the real culture of Africa.

    “The event will be financed by African leaders. It will not be sponsored by France or European businesses, but by African businesses, it is brand new. This season is a unique one and it will be the new face of Africa in Europe organize by Africans, providing what you like and what you have here,” he said.

    Earlier, Governor Ambode said the President’s visit was expected to signal the dawn of a new collaboration between France and Lagos state in the quest to make the state the culture and entertainment capital of Africa.

    Ambode said the event was also about celebrating African culture, which was a positive step for France as it sought to rebuild its relationship with Africa.

    There were also Art Exhibition, Fashion Show, display of Nollywood scenes, presentation of a painting of Fela to Macron by Governor Ambode as well as pencil frame artwork of Macron done by 11-old old Kareem Olamilekan drawn within two hours.

    Highpoints of the night include sterling performances by dance group, Footprints of David, music artistes, Yemi Alade, Charlotte Dipanda from Kenya and a scintillating performance by Femi Kuti to bring the event to a close.

    The event presented an opportunity for Macron and Ambode to interact with musicians, artists, fashion designers and film makers.

    The event had in attendance personalities which include Dr Peter Obi, former governor of Anambra; Chief Olusegun Osoba, former governor of Ogun; Prof. Wole Soyinka, Sen. Ben Bruce, among others.

     

  • Triad, the voice of Nigerian youths

    A travelling exhibition of paintings titled Triad opened last week in Lagos at Alexis Galleries, the artists’ observations and narratives are the collective and personal statements this exhibition presents as well as individual artist’s perceptions, concerns and interests.

    The artists have got and maintained their common interests in studio practice for almost ten years. For this exhibition, the works of Suraj Adekola and Monsur Awotunde are slight visual similarities as the artists are landscape oriented, while Olorunfemi Kinrin’s figurative work is a creative culmination of a recent decision about further colour exploration and studies. The works are all conceptually varied, but visually cohesive with regards to media.

    Kinrin paintings do not address current artistic trend like the works of Awotunde and Adekola; they are not topical, do not “address issues of social commentary,” His works are simple, plain and direct. Born out of the realization and consciousness that as a painter he has serious deficiency in tonal composition and understanding of colour.

    “My paintings for this exhibition are mostly colour studies that I embarked upon in my quest to better understand colours,” he explained.

    It’s also impossible to miss the gaze of Kinrin subjects. They make eye contact and hold the viewer in place, towering over and transfixing them until they ponder the decisions the artist made and the meaning he hoped to convey.

    Awotunde’s works are pure abstract. Perhaps, the paintings of his landscape are the future of art – a weightless, and meaningless subjects, yet timely. It also confronts the social and political issues that dominate our society. From all angles, the effect is dazzling. In memory, though, it quickly fades because it doesn’t have an emotional impact. It is like a brilliantly seamless digital effect, amazing and inviting. “My work remains the product of environmental manifestation,” the artist said.

    While Adekola, paints roof tops into a human figure, sometimes landscape, the works are ethereal and tantalizing. You cannot say if the artist wants to be abstract artist, yet his imagination is clod-hopingly figurative. His paintings fuse the past and present in ways that force us to confront our notions of wealth, and the importance of our environment.

    “Many of my pieces showcase my fascination with capturing moments and experiences with an emphasis on the balance and harmony between colours, shapes, texture, mass and space.”

    In this show Adekola introduced the new body work he is exploring which he called the purity series. “subsequently, I have the aim of pushing the limits of experimentation, and expedite the transformation of representation in to abstraction, which reflect in my current work.”

    The exhibition they revealed will hold in three different countries spanning a duration of three years with its debut in Nigeria, later in the United Kingdom and the USA. (Underground work is already on in securing the remaining international galleries), revealed the curator of the exhibition and the gallery owner, Patty Chidiac-Mastrogiannis. However, the artists hope that the success of this inaugural show would influence the subsequent ones in one way or the other.

    “The works are engaging and wonderfully artistic creativities. Triad is our third exhibition this year and because we are supporters of local artists.”

    Chidiac-Mastrogiannis said “Alexis Galleries have engaged in the presentation and dissemination of contemporary art in the media of painting, drawing, mixed media and sculpture.

    The exhibition of 30 paintings is still on for another one week and is supported by Pepsi, Delta Airline, Amarula, Nederburg, Cool FM, Wazobia FM/TV, Chocolate Royal, The Avenue Suites, Art Café and The Homestores Limited.

     

  • Nigerian youths most important segment, says Edun

    Nigerian youths make up the most important segment of the society, Chairman, International Award for Young People in Nigeria, Mr Wale Edun, said yesterday.

    Edun, a one-time Lagos State Commissioner for finance, urged the Nigerian youths not to allow anyone tell them that they are not important. He said the youths needed to be recognised for their achievements because they are the future of the country.

    He spoke at the third International Award for Young People in Nigeria held in Abuja yesterday.

    Some of the awardees were secondary schools pupils in the Federal Capital Territory.

    They were picked from Government Secondary School Gwagwa, Government Model Secondary School Nyanya, Government Secondary School Karshi and Government Secondary School Tudun Wada.

    Edun advised the young people to choose and decide for themselves, instead of allowing people to push them around.

    He said: “The most important thing we have done here today is recognising the achievements of these young people and encourage them by giving them the symbol of what they have achieved.

    “To our young people, you are by far the most important, don’t let anybody ever say to you that you are not the most important people in this country because you are the future of the country and we are proud to be here today to recognise your efforts and give you the awards which you have achieved which is the International Award for Young People, the Duke of Edinburgh International awards.

    “We call it the Nigerian International Awards, it has the same symbol worldwide, they recognise that countries that have achieved their own independence are free to name the award for the youths in their own country but you are part of the global fraternity, it identifies you as part of a worldwide grouping of young people that have voluntarily set standards for themselves and are rewarded accordingly.

    “The age of the award is, you start by fourteen and you have to have done it by twenty-four, six months for each stage, you commit yourself to the show of endurance

    “I encourage you to choose and decide for yourselves, not because anybody is pushing you, but because you are doing it for yourselves, enjoy your achievements, the whole process, enjoy learning and discovering what you can do for yourselves.

    “I will ask the facilitators, the world is a world of ICT, the world of technology and one of the important thing for the award is that you record what you are doing for a global audience, it goes on the internet and people all over the world will see the achievements of young Nigerians so I will encourage the facilitators to always carry the IT department along.

    “Thank you for helping this young people to learn what they can do by making them participate in IT so they can upload their achievements to the online record group by uploading what they have done. Once again, awardees walk out of here with your heads held high for what you have done and being recognised for today.”

    National Director, the International Award for Young People, Toyin Odu, said he is committed to the emotional, intellectual, physical, spiritual and social development of young people. Our mission is to inspire, guide and support young people in their self-development and recognize their achievements.

    She added: “An individual that has earned the Award from International Award for Young People Nigeria is well-rounded, adaptable, and committed.

    “The experiences gained and skills learned become increasingly evident, and the medal is a true testament of the commitment to serving others. ”

    Principal Government Secondary School Tudun Wada, Hajiya Rukaiyat Hussani, said her students were involved in different skills that enabled them to earn the award.

    She said: “They where involved in different skills like tailoring, painting and decorations, cooking and other things. We have seen tremendous difference in the students so far especially those are talented but dont do well in other acedemic areas but through the program, they where able to showcase their talents, especially one of the boys that is involved in shoemaking, he is doing very well now.

    “It has a great advantage especially with what is happening now in the country, it has come at the right time because not all the students end up going to pursue their careers, some stop at the secondary school level and with this, now they will have something to do to take care of themselves after school.”