Artists' Village in Lagos, Nigeria Demolished; Priceless Art Destroyed
- K. Abel
- Feb 11, 2016
- 2 min read
As the dawning 6:00 AM sun rose over Lagos, Nigeria on January 23, 2016, the peaceful silence of that Saturday morning was corrupted by the earth-shaking roars of bulldozers razing the legendary arts complex that housed some of Nigeria's greatest creative talent. A handful of artists were present at the time, but could not salvage the work of all of their colleagues. It is reported that many of the works destroyed had the potential to command prices as high as $10 million Naire (about $50,000 USD).
Enajite Efamuyae of Africanindy.com reports, "The artists’ village is considered the only space that still brews creativity and activity within the National Arts Theatre. The village has studios, workshops, dance studios, rehearsal spaces for stage actors and a few restaurants; a lot of the structures date back to 1977 when the community was built for Festac '77 as a flagship project of the National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC). The resident art practitioners represent some of the best on the Nigerian culture scene."
Several weeks prior to the demolition, Nigerian Minister for Information and Culture Lai Muhammed was appauled at the condition of the Artists' Village and equated the creative compound to that of a "shanty town" or slum. Muhammed cited several incidents involving resident artists and "inciting public disorderly contact". One of the artist in question, Bayelsa State-born author Nengi Joseph Ilagha was sent to jail by a High Court sitting in Yenagoa, the state capital, for contempt of court and defamation of character. His offence was publishing a book,"Epistle to Maduabebe", in which he blamed the king for the backward state of his hometown.
The demotlition of Artists' village was not without it's human casualties as well. A Sculptor names Smart Owie was shot in the leg by officers issuing warning shots for artists to vacate the premises before the bulldozers plummeted through the studio. Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka has called civil itreatment of artists. “It is fundamentally wrong and unacceptable,” he states. “It is not a question of sentimentality. I don’t want to hear that it is because artists are involved; therefore human rights activists are taking an interest. Artists reserve the right not to be brutalised, and for their works not to be destroyed.”
Without notifying the resident artsists of plans to erradicate the art sudios, the property was destroyed and Muhammed promised to reopen a modern facility to attract tourism as part of Nigeria's ongoing efforts to become Africa's answer to Hollywood. Although the reason behind demolishing a legendary, haven for Artists in Nigeria seems to have a nefarious, politcally rooted agenda.
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