Visual
Arts, Artists are greatest losers
An appeal to Mr President: Time to restore a
professional artist to headship of National Gallery of Art (NGA)
By
Kunle Adeyemi
THE
optimism and excitement that the appointment of Mr. Joe Musa as
Director-General of National Gallery of Art in 2006 generated were expected.
Reason: That was perhaps the first time that a candidate with the right
pedigree would be so appointed to man the visual art subsector. In fact, his
appointment has gone down in history as first of its kind in 15 years history of
the NGA — a parastatal established to manage affairs of the contemporary visual
arts sub-sector.
No wonder, Joe Musa’s assumption of office on August 1, 2006 was considered a
sunrise, a new dawn for the sub-sector; more so when he had, before then, cut the
figure of a seasoned artist with clear vision and mission; and with his
leadership traits and acumen, turning around the government agency wouldn’t be
a tall order.
This appointment, the artists anticipated would crystallise the long-awaited
progressive paradigm shift in the country’s visual arts administration such
that creativity would thrive, and the over a decade regime of mediocrity and
stagnation that had dogged the life of the Gallery — and by extension fortune
of the subsector — hostage, would be overthrown.
Unfortunately, this golden era was
short-lived due to activities of ‘feudals’ and ‘cabals’ who had always held the
visual arts sub-sector prostrate. These forces are, sadly, currently ‘in
charge’ and holding the subsector to ransom; even as they camouflaged as progressive
promoters and friends of the visual arts sub-sector.
The political sage Awolowo once said, the worst civilian government is
preferable to the best military regime. This maxim can best depict the turn of
event in the visual art sub-sector today.
A CONSTANT
‘agitator’ for the visual art sub-sector to be administered rightly, and by
competent, qualified hands, Prof. Egonwa in 2007, expressed happiness when
eventually a visual artist in the person of Joe Musa was appointed to
administer the National Gallery. He said this had been his life-long dream while
he served as president of the Society of Nigerian Artists, SNA.
Egonwa insisted that it was an ‘aberration’ for non-artists to “administer
art.” This, to him, will not bring meaningful development. His tenure as SNA
president, he said, was focussed on the battle for the realisation of this
goal, which, however, many could not understand.
In his book, ‘Leadership as an
art’, Max de Pree said, “leaders should leave behind them assets and
legacies.” This statement manifested in Joe Musa’s short stay in office as
Director-General of the NGA. His professional background coupled with
dedication, vision, innovation, enthusiasm, commitment to duty and excellence,
creativity, integrity were virtues that defined his leadership of the sub
sector.
The Nigerian creative visual art space was expanded locally and internationally
to the benefits of the players, the industry and the public. The subsector and
artists witnessed monumental growth and developments through various creative
programmes and initiatives spearheaded by the Musa administration.
The National Gallery of Art became a melting pot for local artists and their
colleagues in the Diaspora and those from around the continent. African artists
indeed had opportunity to gather and exchange creative ideas and devise
continent-wide projects, which brought a larger patronage to works of Nigerian
artists.
It is often said that “without the industry aspect of any profession, the
profession is bound to die.” Joe Musa’s tenure brought back the mix of theory,
practice, and industry and also highlighted the enterprise aspect of the vocation.
The essence of growth and development in a discipline is when it engenders
commensurate rewards for its practitioners. Before Musa’s time, the visual arts
industry was in a limbo; his arrival brought all the stakeholders together to
work and reason for progress of the sector. Issues such as the entrepreneurial
aspects of visual arts, marketing, fund sourcing, sponsorship, outlets,
packaging, education/training, distribution, administration and management of
art were put on the front burner.
Joe
Musa made artists realise that the whole visual art world is now borderless;
and that our doors could be opened to international expositions; and many of us
benefitted. Lagos, Las Vegas, New York, Dakar Biennale, Egypt are a few
examples of those borderless doors which Musa’s NGA flung open to the benefit
of the artists. The Gallery promoted, encouraged and supervised the
participation of Nigerian artists in big shows at many international forums.
His short but meaningful era shot the Nigerian visual arts into the global
landscape and the scope became expanded through creative initiatives based on
interrogation and research into global scenes of art; deep knowledge of
administration and practice; dedication, vision, professional boldness and
courage.
Pre
2006 National Gallery of Art
The
NGA had underlying operational deficiencies from the onset. It was
over-populated mostly with unskilled staff and was very polarised along several
divides including ethnic and political. Employment imbalance was a major cog,
according to Nwosu in 2006.
In a personnel auditing and profiling
carried out in 2006, the capacity utilisation was skewed as the NGA was
reported to be staffed with holders of Third class and Pass category graduates
than those with Second Classes, upper or lower degrees (Personnel
Audit report: 2006).
The consequence of this
imbalance was that when qualified personnel attempted to join the system,
survival intrigues would come into play; and the less qualified engage in
outrageous schemes to sabotage such move. This is referred to as “territorial
protection” in the civil service parlance. A hypothetical example can be when a
director with an Ordinary Diploma (OND) certificate rises through the rank; he
will certainly distaste a First Class applicant to come in for fear of being
overtaken in the hierarchy.
Uwa Usen, President of Society of Nigerian Artists (SNA) |
The ratio of statutory to professional staff was also reported to be 5:1 in
favour of non-artists. The system was steeped in nepotism; tribalism; and the
situation had become evidently deplorable as the staff were only interested in
their monthly pay. Motivation was low or absolutely lacking. The will for
creative excellence was absent. Any attempt to usher in any form of development
was misinterpreted as a witch-hunting instrument to implement downsizing of
workforce. Any act of change was an anathema and stirred latent fear, which
would be strongly resisted, including employing spiritual or diabolic measures
to frustrate the implementation of any positive managerial decisions.
Equally glaring then was the observed lack of a proper space to exhibit the
Gallery’s contents. This was even as it was clear that the collections required
a major restoration programme to salvage what remained of them.
Documentation and cataloguing of the
collection was non-existent. Offers by external resources and expertise to
assist in the documentation of the collections were, inexplicably, strongly
resisted. Other inhibiting factors included lack of proper funding, no
political relevance, envy and deliberate stifling of the Gallery’s operations
by the parent ministry and ministers. The system was obviously in need of
complete surgical attention and overhaul.
Post
2006 appointment of Joe Musa
THE
massive publicity and promotional drive embarked upon by the NGA during Joe
Musa administration was unprecedented in the history of the agency. This
yielded high level visibility for the parastatal such that it began to attract
institutional and state support for its programmes. Among the financially
rewarding partnerships generated at the time was the N50miillion sourced from
the government of Bayelsa State for ARESUVA 2008. In addition to this, Oceanic
Bank released N20 million to the programme to back its status as official
banker. Several other notable sponsors from the petroleum sector also identified
with the visual art sub-sector through smaller advertisement grants in the
brochures.
Stakeholders’
Meeting: The NGA convened a stakeholders’ meeting in early 2007
to draw up a work plan and a blueprint on developmental procedures for the
subsector. This was a right step in the right direction, which gave vent to the
various programmes the Gallery launched subsequently. The purpose was to carry
along the community of professional artists in its developmental process, and it
was systemised to become a bi-annual meeting point between the stakeholders and
the new leadership of the National Gallery of Art.
Rapport
among various units of the community: The sector enjoyed an
unprecedented rejuvenation in programmes and attracted large followership. For the
first time, collectors and connoisseurs met, beyond the exhibition halls, at
seminars and workshops. The subsector became platform for social and political
networking as it was recognised as an unpretentious avenue for striking
business deals.
Beyond the drudgery of flat exhibition packaging, Abuja as a hosting city
received a boost; which is indirectly a response to the Norwegian Ambassador
who in 2005 had complained of inactivity in the sector. Attendance multiplied
exponentially. This also lent credence to the seeming interests that were
generated and sustained with the right drivers. It pointed to the possibility
of an awakened interest being possibly converted to economic gain. Among some
of the fruits of this new engagement were several invitations extended to the
NGA to bring art to alternative spaces. One of such places was the IBB golf
club.
Continental
networking, building bridges : Over the last 10 years,
the African region has taken a tenacious and distinctive approach to
development of the arts, culture and tourism sectors. Cultural investment and
achievement play a key role in building the self-confidence and ambition of a
region facing massive challenges in both economic and social terms. The region
now boasts of major new and emerging cultural institutions, an international
reputation for public art, and internationally recognised artistic and cultural
facilities. Not only has a whole new generation of arts spaces and
opportunities emerged, an important change in perception has manifested. The
sub-sector is now viewed as a catalyst for change and an important component in
national economic regeneration schemes.
African
Regional Summit and Exhibition on Visual Arts (ARESUVA)
ARESUVA
2008
The African Regional Summit and
Exhibition on Visual Arts (ARESUVA) conceptualised in year 2006 by Joe
Musa and his team was designed exclusively to spotlight visual arts as a
strategy for achieving rapid economic development in the African region. It was
envisioned in the context of the New Partnership for African Development
(NEPAD). It was meant as a home-grown catalyst for artistic and cultural
empowerment.
The first edition of ARESUVA held from September 7 through 13, 2008 brought
together artists, art scholars and other stakeholders from around Nigeria,
Africa and the Diasporas.
The success of this programme elicited an invitation of NGA to formally present
ARESUVA to a roundtable of the African Union in Algiers in October 2008. After
the presentation, the AU adopted the project as a continental cultural event.
ARESUVA 2008 indeed, drew
participants from many countries aside from Nigeria — Rwanda, Ghana, Uganda,
Senegal, Zambia, Namibia, Botswana, South Africa, Cameroon, Zimbabwe, Kenya,
Benin republic, Cote D’Ivoire, Togo, Ethiopia and Nigerian artists in the
Diaspora. The event also drew large participants from the media and the general
public. On display at the mega exhibition were 201 pieces of artworks in a
variety of media. A total of seven well-researched and thought-provoking papers
were presented.
The organisation of the first
ARESUVA in 2008 marked yet another monumental achievement which is unequalled
in visual art administration in Nigeria, even till date. The then culture and
tourism minister, Prince Kayode Adetokunbo appraised the programme thus:
“(ARESUVA)
in the nearest future, will live up to its billing as a gathering of some of
the most creative and promising artists in the continent, drawing to the city
of Abuja, Nigeria, art and cultural enthusiasts, art connoisseurs, collectors
and art practitioners, act scholars and art aficionados from all over the
world.”
It is a shame, and a sign of death of vision that the successors of Musa at the
NGA have not been able to organize another edition of the pan-continental
project, which has the potential to make Nigeria the hub of visual arts
practice on the continent.
Art
Expo Nigeria
THIS
is one of the new programmes envisioned by the Joe Musa-led administration as a
collaborative venture between the National Gallery of Art and the Art Gallery
Owners Association of Nigeria (AGAN). It was designed as the biggest art fair
in Nigeria with the sole purpose of bringing together over 1,000 Nigerian
artists to showcase and market their art in an expo format/trade fair.
Gallerist and art manager, Oliver Enwonwu of Omenka Gallery, was quoted in the
media as saying, “The fair creates a big market for modern and contemporary
Nigeria artworks, exposes gallery owners and entrepreneurs to an
international audience as well as provides platform for cultural exchange
between Nigeria and the rest of the world.”
This annual event explored the structure of international survey exhibitions,
their potentials to reflect on new tendencies in contemporary art and to
produce dynamic contexts for the consideration of artists living or working
within a defined geographical area.
Wife of Lagos State Governor, Mrs Abimbola Fashola captured it succinctly in a
report in The Guardian sometime in 2008, “Art is no longer a past time,
it is now a source of entrepreneurial endeavour and I would like to use this
opportunity to call on Nigerian banks, gallery owners, art promoters and other
stakeholders to assist the visual arts sub sector, which is the bedrock of
industrial development to make soft loans and other facilities available to
enhance the new entrepreneurial thinking in the visual arts-sector.”
No doubt the Lagos Art Expo provided potential alternatives to
conventional exhibitions and the promotion of new talents. The first edition
took place in Lagos in August 2008.
Nigerian
Visual Arts World Tour (NIVATOUR)
This programme was designed to take Nigeria art on a tour of major
cities in the six continents of the world. It was intended to avail the nation
an opportunity to showcase its rich artistic heritage to the world. The purpose
was to show the cultural and technical skills of the nation’s visual artists to
critical scholars presently calling the shots at international artistic
programming and development. Within the period it first held, countries such as
Egypt, Australia, China, India, America and Mexico already indicated interest
in partnering with the NGA in the implementation of the proposed tour. This
project was intended to further enhance the already rising value of Nigerian
modern visual art.
Art
Residency Programme: This is one of the few programmes existing
before the arrival of Joe Musa’s administration in 2006. The purpose was for
artists to live and work in workshop spaces located in the various stations
across the country for a period of one year during which they train and pass on
their skills and techniques to upcoming artists in the area of their residency.
These young artists with the skills acquired would then be better equipped to
ply their trade. It was designed as visual arts vocation’s contribution to the
Poverty Alleviation programme of the government. It is a great idea but had
been suffering under a wobbling implementation scheme. However, the Joe Musa
administration helped to strengthen the programme; it gave it the needed clout
and muscle that had been lacking in its operation; and it consequently began to
flourish.
Saturday
Art Club: This programme also existed as one of the flagship of
the pre 2006 NGA. It is a fortnightly “catch them young” programme, which takes
place simultaneously in all National Gallery of Art branches/out-stations
across the country and at the Abuja headquarters. Pupils and students from
nursery, primary and secondary levels meet to express their creativity under
the supervision of the Saturday Art Club teachers, who are visual artists
working in the National Gallery of Art. The works produced at these meetings
are exhibited at the end of the year and prizes are awarded to the best three
in each category. The profile of this programme was enhanced with a more
professional handling of its organisation.
Children’s
Day Programme: The world celebrates Children’s Day on May 27 annually. This is a talent hunt
programme and prizes are usually awarded to the top three in each categories in
the different genres of art — painting, sculpture, textiles and graphics.
The NGA has consistently hosted this programme in all its out-stations
concurrently. It has successfully marketed the programme to the private sector
under the private, public partnership. It is also a United Nations/UNICEF
programme, which Joe Musa and his team turned around.
National
Visual Arts Competition: This was one of the programmes
institutionalised during the Joe Musa time. As its name implies, it is national
in scope. Participants from the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory
would compete for places at zonal levels. Finalists would meet in Abuja where
the top three winners would be decided in the last stage of the competition.
This programme was aimed at discovering the artistic ingenuity and potentials
of pupils, students and professional artists.
Art
Endowments in Tertiary Institutions
(i) Under
Musa, NGA operatives travelled to different art schools to interact with the
engine room of art production, and endow prizes for the best students in the
visual arts departments. This had never been the case with any of the
parastatals in the culture sector. Three universities and three polytechnics
benefitted from this initial scheme.
(ii) The Gallery liaised with academics from Ahmadu
Bello University, Zaria to produce an anthology of visual art practice in
northern Nigeria. It was also the firs time in the life of the Gallery, and
modern art practice in Nigeria.
(iii)
Under same leadership, the NGA successfully brokered Scholarships schemes from
the Chinese and Mexican governments for arts practitioners to embark on
post-graduate studies.
(iv) The Musa leadership secured collaboration
with local and foreign agencies like the Ford Foundation (USA), Prince Klaus
Fund (The Netherlands) to digitalise the national collection, while also
realising the publication of a major National Gallery of Art compendium.
(v) In similar move, the gallery developed
partnership with Spanish Embassy, which saw Nigerian artists working on Spanish
themes and displaying the work in an exhibition. This proposal marketed by the
NGA has now become a common feature in the yearly Spanish Embassy week, while
Egyptian Embassy independence celebration and other several diplomatic missions
have adopted similar programme.
NGA
Educational Sponsorships
(i)
Attendance at international Conference: The leadership facilitated and
sponsored four Nigerian artists (largest African delegation) to the 2007 InSEA
European Regional Congress held at the Universities of Education at Karlsruhe
and Heidelberg, Germany. This had never been possible before Musa’s time.
(ii)
Sponsorship to Groups and Individual Artists: The group of artists under
the nomenclature, ‘Araism’ led by Mufu Onifade received consecutive sponsorship
for two years within this period to the tune of N750,000 each. Other individual
artists like K.K. Karunwi received N250,000 while others such as Mr. Nduwhite
Ahanonu were granted funding to assist their various shows. This sponsorship
drive yielded a very busy period for the sub-sector as artists in various
states of the federation felt confident to practice professionally.
(iii)
Grant to the Society of Nigeria Artist: Under the then leadership of Mr.
Kolade Oshinowo as the National President, the umbrella body of visual artists,
Society of Nigerian Artists (SNA) received annual allocation to help its
administration. These allocations were from the meagre budget of the NGA. The
annual sponsorship grant extended to the SNA totalled N5 million consecutively
for two years — 2007 and 2008, according to the arts writer, Onifade in a
report last year. There was also a third allocation for the year 2009 which was
reportedly released to the body. In same vein, the Gallery was proposing among
others to pursue the inclusion of the SNA as a sub-head for direct annual
budgetary allocation.
Former D-G of National Gallery of Art (NGA) and painter, Joe Musa |
Sponsorship of
individual artists to international events:
(i)
National award winning artists from Benue State, Levi Yakubu, a ceramist from
the Dajo Pottery group based in Makurdi was fully sponsored by the NGA to
represent Nigeria in China, where he bagged the first prize for two years
consecutively.
(ii) The writer of this article, Kunle Adeyemi, equally benefitted from
the sponsorship of the Gallery to participate in an art workshop cum residency
in Uttersberg, Sweden. This sponsorship was worth $3,000.
(iii) 16 members of the Society of Nigerian
artists, (SNA), participated in the famous Dak’Art
Biennale in Senegal, including President of the body, Mr. Kolade Oshinowo,
President of Art Galleries Association of Nigeria (AGAN), Chief Frank Okonta,
President of Art History Association of Nigeria (AHAN), Prof. Ola Oloidi, and
10 members of the Arts Writers Organization of Nigeria, AWON. The cost of the trip to the NGA was put
at approximately N50 million.
International
galleries and museums visits
(i) Foreign missions: The NGA under Musa opened up avenues for
leadership training for members of its staff; including participating in the
United States’ International Visitors Programme facilitated by the US Embassy;
another was through the collaboration of the French Embassy. These programmes
were meant to expose the participants/beneficiaries to best practices in art
administration in other countries.
(ii)
Sotheby’s Institute of Art: The invitation extended to Sotheby’s Institute
of Art — internationally acclaimed
Art auctioneers — to come to Nigeria to organise short duration workshops was
designed to expose government and local private gallery operators to modern
auctioning techniques, methods and technology. Through this, stakeholders would
learn current trends in art documentation and valuation techniques.
SNA Board
appointment
The National Gallery of Art under Musa was able
to place a member of the Society of Nigeria Artists, SNA on its governing
board. The aim was to achieve political integration for the umbrella body of
artists, to enable the voice of the artist registered in boardroom policy formulating
circuit. This meant that the
current SNA President would represent the national body of artists and report
back to the sub-sectors stakeholders.
Other Art
Promotions within the Scope of this study
In 2007 these Exhibitions were successfully
curated:
·
Gani Odutokun Retrospective; Best Ochigbo recent
works; Zaria Art School’s 50th anniversary exhibition, etc.
·
Nigeria’s participation at the Berlin
International Tourism Art Fair in March 2007.
·
Selection of Nigerian Arts at the Art Forum
Berlin, in September, 2007
·
Exhibition of selected Nigerian works at
International Art Fair, Atlanta, USA, in August 2007
·
The NGA successfully brokered partnerships with
institutions in the public and private sectors as a way of endearing visibility
for the visual art sub-sector.
·
In 2006, it developed collaboration with Bruce
Onobrakpeya Foundation, BOF, Spanish Embassy and NGA in an International Open
Seminar on the works of Aina Onabolu and Pablo Picasso.
·
It submitted sponsorship request proposals to
the Federal Government to consider giving National Honours Awards to deserving
Nigerian visual artists.
·
It initiated the Visual Artists Sponsorship Fund
(VASF).
·
It conceived and developed the world traveling
exhibition of selected Nigerian works under the theme: “Nigeria
Visual Arts World Tour: NIVATOUR” in 2009.
The State of NGA between 2006 – 2009
IT
is clear that the visual art subsector recorded its most progressive era in the
period 2006-2009 when Joe Musa was on the driving seat as the Director General
at the NGA.
Consequent
upon the various measures initiated and programmes implemented at the time, the
following tangible and intangible accomplishments were recorded:
(i)
Visual Artists are now successfully being accepted and employed in government
(governance) establishments.
(ii) The Tertiary market of the profession which is Art auction
is now a common feature as two known auction houses have taken permanent root
in the country i.e. Arthouse Contemporary Limited and Terra Kulture, both
headquartered in Lagos.
(iii)
The regularity of workshops and seminars reflects an acceptance that is now a
dynamic feature of the sub-sector.
(iv)
The emergence of dedicated publications and academic materials for the
sub-sector is more pronounced than ever and more are still expected.
(v)
Art appreciation increased greatly therefore raising the bar for both the value
for art collectors and economic independence for artists.
(vi)
Art valuation continues to enjoy a considerable steady climb.
Conspiracies
and Strangulation
DURING this era of
monumental development (2006-2009), some staff, ex-staff of the Gallery, who were
affected by changes in postings, rationalisation and other administrative strategies
were not particularly pleased with the successes being achieved and were
desirous of gaining control of the parastatal for their selfish reasons; thus
they ganged up to fabricate unfounded lies, rumours through frivolous petitions
to EFCC and the parent ministry. This eventually led to the crisis that led to
Chief Joe Musa’s suspension from office alongside Mr. Olusegun Ogunba, Dr.
Kweku Tandoh and Mrs Oparagu Elizabeth — all accused of criminal conspiracy,
criminal misappropriation, falsification of accounts and disobedience to lawful
direction as public offers — based on the petition submitted to the EFCC by the
disgruntled staff.
Joe Musa and three others were eventually arraigned before the High
Court in Abuja on August 30, 2009 in a case of financial embezzlement to the
tune of N1.2billion.
The charges were however a smokescreen for the staff to achieve a their
hideous intention. Joe Musa’s ‘secret sin’ to these detractors are: that he was
trying to professionalize the parastatal based on the memo he had earlier
written to the parent ministry titled “A
case for a supplementary provision of the National Gallery of Art (amendment)
Act 2004 to include that a Director General of the National Gallery shall be a
contemporary visual artist.”
This memo was interpreted as an attempt to block the non-professionals
from being appointed into the top leadership of the Gallery. The successes
recorded in Joe Musa’s three short but memorable years as the Director General
of NGA show the importance of putting a square peg in a square hole different
what had obtained. The visual arts had suffered years of stagnation because of
the activities of non-professional artists serving at its higher level of
authorities. However, Je Musa’s administration showed that the sub-sector had
all along been held to ransom by civil servants at the federal, state and local
government levels, who have no dream or plan for its progress. This practice needs
to stop now.
Trials in the
Court of Law
Joe Musa’s trial went through the rigours of
several investigations by the EFCC and the court. The trial started in 2009 and
was brought to a conclusive end on December 6, 2011 when the trial judge, Hon.
Justice O.A. Adeniyi threw it out for lack of merit and substance. The judge
admonished the EFCC and its frivolous petitioners for having wasted the court’s
time. He ruled that the
prosecution had failed to establish a prima
facie case against the accused persons with respect to the alleged offence
of conspiracy both to commit criminal misappropriation and falsification of the
accounts of the National Gallery of Art. Based on this, they were discharged of
those counts.
Secondly, the charge of dishonest conversion of the sums of N670,000,000
and N150,000,000 was cleared by the presiding judge who after a thorough
examination of the witnesses against the accused persons discovered that the
prosecution failed to prove misappropriation of public funds while in office.
Based on this, the accused were discharged of the charges against them. Other
charges of dishonest or misappropriation of funds against the accused persons
were dismissed by the judge who viewed everything as a “facade, a waste of time
and injustice to the accused persons”.
Finally, the judge after several sessions of trials of the accused
persons came to a conclusion, thus; ‘I can best describe the totality of the
story put together by the nine prosecution witnesses as mere gossips and idle
talk, which are only peddled at beer parlours and street corners. I do not
expect any reasonable tribunal to dissipate precious time and energy in proceeding
further with this case, if the quality of the evidence on record is anything to
go by to allow these proceedings to continue, having regard to the totality of
the evidence laid bare on the record by the prosecution is to inflict undue
hardship and injustice on the accused persons. They ought not to have stood
this trial in the first: considering the shoddy prosecution undertaken by the
complainant, this court would not have hesitated in awarding heavy costs and
damages in their favour, nevertheless, I believe they will be assuaged by a
discharge which amounts to an acquittal.
“In the final analysis and for the avoidance of doubts, my firm decision
on the basis of the provisions of section 159(1) and section 191(3) of the
C.P.C, is that the evidence adduced by the prosecution record is not sufficient
to justify the continuation of this trial. In other words, the prosecution has
failed to make out a prima facie case against any of the accused persons, in
that they have failed to tender required minimum evidence to establish the
essential elements of all the counts of offense that they have been charged
with respectively. For this reason, I hereby preclude all of them from entering
upon their defence and accordingly, I hereby discharge each and every one of
the accursed persons of the entirety of the charge preferred against them.’
Our prayers:
SINCE the criminal
charge against Joe Musa and the three others has now been brought to an end by
the Ruling of Hon. Justice O.A. Adeniyi discharging them in a “No Case Submission”,
we the stakeholders in the visual arts subsector believe that:
• justice demands that Joe Musa, the suspended Director General
and others be reinstated to finish up the good work they started at the
National Gallery of Art.
• the President through the Minister of Tourism,
Arts and Culture should ensure that justice is done and the injustice of the
last two years be redressed;
• the President use his good office to redress
the ignoble trend where competent government agency heads are maligned and the
reputation they had built over the years are tainted and destroyed in a bid to
install protégées of scheming politicians and corrupt senior government
officials.
•
the pioneering African Regional Summit and Exhibition in the Visual Arts
(ARESUVA project) adopted by the African Union be rescued immediately from the
lack of vision and capacity of the current management; the initiator of the
idea Joe Musa should be invited to carry the project to the next level.
•
Joe Musa be granted the opportunity to serve in the position of Director General
of NGA for a statutory five-year tenure renewal to consolidate Nigeria’s gains
through his innovation and contribution to the place of Arts in Africa’s
development.
•
all headship positions of parastatals in the Tourism, Art and Culture ministry
be given to true and tested professionals, who will be able to impact their
competence while in the service of our dear country. With this, there will be
vibrancy, innovativeness, creativity and professionalism on the operation of
the agencies under the ministry. The highly rewarding three-year stay of Mr
Musa at the headship of the National Gallery by Joe Musa is a justification for
this — the records are there for everyone to see unlike the present stagnant
situation that we have found ourselves.
In conclusion, the development of any society is predicated on the commitment
of its leadership. The success and failure of any organisation is rooted in its
headship, let us give democracy free reign in the governance of the National
Gallery of Art, and indeed the entire culture sector.
• Adeyemi, artist, art scholar lectures art at
the Yaba College of Technology, School of Art, Design and Printing, Yaba Lagos.
Summary of
comparison between pre 2006, and post 2006
PRIOR to the
emergence of Joe Musa in the administration of the Gallery, the programmes of
the parastatals in its 12 years existence could be streamlined under five
headlines (i) Art Residence; (ii) Saturday Art Club; (iii) Children’s Day; (iv) Train the Trainers programme for
Art Teachers (K 12); (v) Distinguished
Annual lecture. This created a sort of stagnancy and unequivocally led to
estrangement of a large section of the artists’ community from the NGA.
However, the tide changed completely soon as Joe Musa stepped in to the mantle
of leadership of the subsector in August 2006. Over 12 meaningful programmes
that helped to move the hitherto downward slide in visual arts were initiated
in only three years:
Among the programmes initiated post-2006 are: (i) ARESUVA; (ii) Art Expo; (iii) Nigerian Visual Arts World Tour (NIVATOUR); (v) National Visual Art Competition; (v) Art Endowments’ in Tertiary
Institutions; (vi) Exhibition
partnerships with foreign missions; (vii)
NGA Educational sponsorship; (viii)
Release of Grants to Art bodies; (ix)
Sponsorship of individual artists to international events; (x) International Museums and Galleries
visits; (xi) SNA upgraded as a
member of the NGA board; (xii) Annual
Stakeholders Conference
No comments:
Post a Comment