YOU might have forgotten — or pretend to forget — what happened between 2015 and 2019: The loud outcry of stakeholders for substantive director generals and chief executives in culture sector.
Alarmingly, the substantive DGs as at when new appointments were made in 2020 included Otunba Olusegun Runsewe (National Council for Arts and Culture), Comrade Tar Ukor (National Troupe of Nigeria) and Alhaji Adedayo Thomas, chief executive of National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB). The General Manager of National Theatre, Dr. Stella Oyedepo, had earlier passed on in a ghastly motor accident, may the Lord rest her soul.
The culture sector was all motion without movement as acting chief executives could not do more than the brief enshrined in their portfolios. Thus, within a period, National Gallery of Art (NGA), National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO), Centre for Black and African Arts Civilisation (CBAAC), National Commission for Museums and Monuments (NCMM) and National Theatre were just there.
But in August 2020, government changed the narrative and there was hope again for that sector. Three years after, it seemed that those appointments were Buhari’s greatest disservice to the sector. It was glaring that some of these chief executives lacked the zeal to drive the parastatals
Sodangi must know this
As a private sector person, you must know this: NGA, as an autonomous parastatal, has not quite lived up to its mandate and has virtually failed to meet the expectations of the Nigerian and international art worlds.
Many of the gallery’s staff will look back to NGA’s glorious past, when it was able to execute major programmes. There’s low morale of staff, and currently tested hands have gone on retirement.
Many are worried over the seeming doldrums and fatigue that have taken over the visual art sector in recent times, noting that once upon a time, NGA was very vibrant hosting major events such as African Regional Summit and Exhibition on Visual Arts (ARESUVA), Art Expo and others.
Most followers of the sector would blame the absence of real art programmes in the events roster of NGA. Some who point at the insufficiency of artists in the work force of the agency. Others would finger the absence of a national gallery structure. There are still those who would blame poor funding; unending bickering within the organisation; dearth of research and publications which used to be the biggest foot forward of the Gallery as well as failure of NGA to put up art exhibitions locally and internationally. The issues are multiple.
Last year, NGA could only hold Abuja international art fair in collaboration with private galleries in the capital city; Lagos Art fair in collaboration with Yabatech; Enugu Art Fair in collaboration with IMT and Rainbow Art.
Since the 2020 yearly lecture delivered by the painter, scholar and Professor at the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Jerry Buhari, no one has been organised again.
NGA has to justify its place in the country’s
economic drive, and as the minister of Art, Culture and Creative Economy, Hannatu Musawa, noted: “The creative industries are the heartbeat of the new economy, serving as an engine of economic growth, a catalyst of change and a generator of employment opportunities. We are uniquely positioned in this great nation, endowed with an abundance of human capital and boundless possibilities.”
But getting an edifice for NGA should be the main challenge before you now. Stakeholders are saddened by the fact that so many works in the collection of NGA (about 3000) are cramped in an unconducive environment and lack the space to be properly displayed. Many have flaked and are still flaking owing to poor storage. This is an open demonstration of disregard for the value of fine art, despite the achievements of Nigerian artists at home and overseas since the country’s birth in 1914.
The National Gallery of Art (NGA) was established as a parastatal by Decree No. 86, 1993 and the 2004 (Amendment Act). This was in fulfillment of the provisions of Nigeria’s Cultural Policy launched in 1988 in accordance with the recommendations of the committee of patrons of the World Decade for Cultural Development (WDCD) approved by UNESCO.
This decision was later reaffirmed by the report of the Vision 2010 Committee to which the National Gallery of Art presented a memorandum in 1997 and the Ahmed Joda Panel in 2000.
For the estimated 400,000 people who work in the visual art sector, with figures expected to reach 1.2 million next year, there is no place that could be called a National Gallery in Abuja. The staffers remain holed out in two floors in National Secretariat, Abuja.
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