Over a week after the Lagos State Government unveiled a giant statue of legendary politician, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, in Ikeja, it has continued to generate controversy...
This time, seasoned artists, Tola Wewe,
Olu Ajayi and Dele Jegede, are asking Governor Akinwunmi Ambode to pull
down the statue and rebuild it.
In separate interviews, they variously
commended the government’s intention but said the work produced by Hamza
Atta and five other artists did not artistically represent the
personality.
Wewe noted that he had not visited the
site to see the statue. But he added that the photographs of it that he
had seen did not match Awo’s outlook.
Wewe said, “I wouldn’t want to
discourage the Lagos State Government from what it is doing in terms of
the way it is investing in the arts and culture sector. There is no
other government that is encouraging arts the way Ambode is doing.
“But
there is a kind of disconnect between the statue and what Awo stood
for. Forget about the sitting position; what matters most is the way
whatever position chosen is executed. More important is the question of
the laced shoes the man is made to wear. It is not done. How can Awo, a
Yoruba man, who exemplifies Yoruba culture, wear that kind of shoes
under agbada? No Yoruba man would do that. For public view, for the sake
of Yoruba race, I think that piece should be pulled down and rebuilt
it.”
On his part, Ajayi said the public was
right on their concern for the way the artists executed the statue,
based on the personality involved and the need to protect their
sensibility. He said a similar complaint was made when Diana’s statue
was unveiled.
According to him, a statue of Awolowo
ought to serve the purpose of education and serve as a constant reminder
of what the sage stood for.
“So, when people demand a measure of
accuracy, they know what they are saying. Consider children who never
knew Awo. Can the statue offer them a dependable knowledge of the man?
Again, you have the right to complain about any artwork that offends
your sensibility whenever you see it.”
Some people have suggested that the
government can make Atta upgrade the work, at least, by changing the
footwear. But Ajayi argued that the structure was beyond remodelling.
“There is no short cut in this matter.
If you remove the shoes, what about the face? It is like a house not
well built. You either demolish it or you are prepared to live with the
issues involved.”
Earlier in an online post, Jegede had taken a similar position, saying the work did not justify Ambode’s desire to honour Awo.
He wrote, “Dear Governor Ambode, I am
delighted that your administration has deemed it fit to honour Chief
Obafemi Awolowo, one of Nigeria’s foremost thinkers and political
giants, with the erection of a statue in Lagos. I congratulate you on
this gesture, which is laudable for its ability to immortalise a hero
and, perhaps, more importantly, seal his image in the memory of everyone
who is opportune to see his statue.
“However, there is a disconnect between
your laudable idea and its execution. And, in the public domain, which
is where this statue has taken residence, the Awolowo image that I have
seen in pictures falls severely short of the colossal idea that inspired
its commission. My concern here is purely on the merit of the statue as
a public work of art. It is, to put it directly, a poor representation
of Chief Awolowo.
“The proportions are way off the mark,
and, indeed, reveal an image that is completely antipodal to all the
attributes that one has come to associate with the sage. The physicality
of the sculpture considerably diminishes the eminence of the subject
matter; in its shrunken and undignified sitting posture, this statue
significantly whittles the vitality — the aura, the elan vital – that
this cerebral Nigerian hero embodies.”
While some other people, including a
grandson of the political hero, Mr. Segun Awolowo (Jnr.), however,
okayed the statue, Jegede also wants the government to “tear” it down.
But the government does not seem to be thinking in that direction. If
anything, it currently appears focused on the statue of superstar
musician, Fela Anikukapo Kuti, which it will unveil on October 15.
Its position, as expressed in a
statement by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Tourism, Arts and
Culture, Mrs. Adebimpe Akinsola, is that the statue is a “piece of
artwork expressing the artist’s impression of the late sage and not a
photograph.”
As a result, it believes the artwork can be subjected to several interpretations.
The statement added, “The reality is
that Chief Awolowo was a colossus who cannot be stereotyped.
Stereotyping such a highly intriguing personality only exposes the lack
of depth of the totality of what the late sage represents.”
Atta had also earlier said that the Awo
that he and his colleagues chose to project was Awo the thinker and not a
politician at a rally.
Although he earlier said that he would
not change the laced shoes, there are indications that he may amend the
work in this regards, based on the latest chat he had with our
correspondent.
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