IN line with its avowed
determination to encourage artistic creativity and deepen the scope of the
intellectual ability of art students, the Life in My City Art Festival, LIMCAF,
the largest annual gathering of artists and stakeholders of visual arts in
Nigeria included the lecture series and the 2019 edition which coincided with
the posthumous birthday of Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, the great Zik of Africa was
dedicated to him.
The lecture with the topic: Zik’s influence in the development of Arts using Akinola Lasekan as example, was delivered by Prof. Ola Oloidi, a professor of Art History and Art Criticism, University of Nigeria (UNN) Nsukka .
Nnamdi Azikiwe was the first
President of Nigeria and was instrumental in founding a string of newspapers
across Nigeria.
The renowned art teacher who
started with the myth of reality of Zik’s language stated that Zik played an
important role in the development of art in Nigeria, but little is said about
him in that regard. “When we talk about art in Nigeria, Zik has a permanent
place but unfortunately many students do not talk about him in their write
ups”.
He pointed out that Zik has
a well structured language which made it difficult for many who worked with him
to go extra miles in order to understand him, for example his wife Flora had to
be sent to a special school in England in order to do so.