OIF VISITS THE NATIONAL MUSEUM ONIKAN

(ARTS&CULTURE)

As you are no doubt aware, one of the aims and objectives of the Obi Ikenchukwu Foundation (OIF) is the promotion of Arts and Culture. The OIF team in following through with the aforementioned aim visited the National Museum Onikan, Lagos, on 04 March, 2017.

A museum is a place that should tell the story of a nation or the world from the eyes of a set of people, and for the National Museum Onikan, one would expect it to be from the Nigerian eye. It should be a national culture house embodied with a fit and proper surrounding promoting same.

Whilst we were excited at the prospect of visiting the museum, our excitement was short lived as we expected a bit more than we experienced. It did not depict some of the qualities expected of a National Musuem. Although we were amazed at some of the incredible artefacts, such as the “Anyanwu” by the Late Professor Benedict Enwonwu, “Olojufoforo”, several original wooden masks for acrobatic display, fertility sculptures used by our forefathers long before colonialism and so on, we could not get over the general state of the Museum.

 

THE STATE OF THE MUSEUM

The junior staff especially those meant to welcome guests/visitors into the Museum were unprofessional in their dealings. They chatted away and barely answered relevant questions. There was no electricity in one half of the museum containing displayed artefacts and the staff were totally unaware of this. The Tour Guide assigned to us did a good job save for paying little attention to foreign visitors who were videoing the artefacts despite prior warning against such conduct. The OIF has expressed these concerns to the NM and held subsequent meetings with the relevant officials on same.

A number of Nigeria’s notable/prominent individuals such as the following First Class Monarchs – The Obi (Dein) of Agbor Kingdom, (the youngest ever crowned king in the world at age 2 and half), The Alaake of Egbaland, The Ooni of Ife, etc; Mrs. Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti (the first woman to drive a car in West Africa, Educator and Women’s rights activist), , Queen Moremi of Ile-Ife, etc, were not on display. Apparently, Some Nigerian artefacts are still in the hands of the British such as the FESTAC 77′ head, the Great Benin Bronze Head that decorated the Benin Palace during the pre-colonial period and other Nigerian bronze sculptures.

The OIF is particularly surprised at the absence of any information about the Monarch of Agbor Kingdom, whose birth has provided this Country with an unrivaled history – globally, to date. The Obi (Dein) of Agbor Kingdom remains the only Monarch in the entire world who was crowned at such a young age, an event globally acknowledged and celebrated by countries such as the UK, Belgium, etc in whose Museums his portrait is exhibited. The OIF thus sees no reason why Nigeria cannot celebrate this outstanding history – her own history. To this end and because of who we are and what we stand for, we have made appropriate representation to have the Portrait of the Obi (Dein) of Agbor Kingdom displayed at the National Museum. We intend to follow up on this request and will update you as we go along. We believe this is what the late Agbor Monarch, HRM, Obi Ikenchukwu I would have wanted and we remain his voice in promoting his History and Culture.

 

The statue of Queen Idia of Benin who fought for the lives of Benin Queen Mothers to be spared was also not properly mantained as the statue was broken and barely standing. Although, allegedly not the original, that is not a valid excuse for the lack of its maintenance.

In order to raise awareness to some of the issues above, promote Arts and Culture and celebrate some of our notable female individuals such as HRH, Queen Grace Ikenchukwu (nee Isedeh) of Agbor Kingdom, Mrs. Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, Queen Idia of Benin, Margaret Ekpo, Queen Moremi and so on, the OIF would be having an exhibition at her 3rd annual seminar/event on the 4th of November, 2017 at the Muson Centre, Onikan,Lagos. This would be taking place with the collaboration of the National Council for Arts and Culture and the support of Nike Arts Gallery.

 

Our 2017 3rd annual seminar – “our voice the change…” will be dedicated to the memory of the late Queen Grace Ikenchukwu of Agbor Kingdom to mark the 40th anniversary of her passing.

Alongside her therefore, we will be celebrating other iconic African women such as those noted above, who through and with Culture, made significant impact in their homes and immediate society. We also intend to unveil the “GRACE ISEDEH SCHOLARSHIP SCHEME FOR GIRLS” (GISSG).

The OIF would be pleased to have you at this event and will appreciate your support towards our other initiatives either by donating, sponsoring an OIF child or any of our other projects, subscribing to/ purchasing our bi-annual magazine “MINDS” or partnering/ collaborating with us. It all depends on how far you can go.