dele jegede @80: Icon calls for reforms in art education, National Gallery of Arts
By Godwin Okondo
- ON April 24, 2025, the MAD House at the University of Lagos buzzed with intellectual fervour and artistic celebration as an array of scholars, artists, curators, and enthusiasts gathered to honor Professor dele jegede on the occasion of his 80th birthday. With the theme ‘dele jegede @80: Examining the Nexus of Art, Activism, and Academia’, it was a fitting tribute to a man whose contributions to Nigerian and global art discourse have spanned over five decades. Organized to celebrate Prof. jegede’s multifaceted career as a painter, art historian, cartoonist, educator and former president of the Society of Nigerian Artists (SNA), the programme featured a keynote by a professor of Art and Art History, African American University, Kunle Filani, a panel discussion moderated by the Secretary General of the Committee for Relevant Arts (CORA), Mr. Toyin Akinosho, and heartfelt reflections from jegede himself, who addressed critical issues in Nigerian art education and the broader role of the Society of Nigerian Artists (SNA) in shaping the country’s cultural landscape.
Professor Filani, a longtime collaborator of jegede’s, traced the honoree’s journey from his early years in the culturally rich town of Ikere-Ekiti to his rise as a global icon in art and academia. Born in 1945, jegede grew up in an environment where he immersed himself in traditional festivals that, as Filani noted, were designed to “lampoon, parody, and challenge social derelicts to have a rethink and therefore make positive changes in their lives and in society at large.” These experiences left an indelible mark on the young jegede, and would later shape his later work as a cartoonist whose humorous yet incisive drawings graced Nigerian newspapers in the late 1970s and 1980s.
Filani also highlighted jegede’s academic trajectory, which began at Yaba College of Technology, Lagos in the late 1960s, followed by a First Class degree in Fine Arts from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria in 1973. jegede then pursued advanced studies at Indiana University, Bloomington, US, earning a Master’s in 1981 and a PhD in Art History in 1983 under the supervision of Professor Roy Sieber, a veteran art historian who also mentored other Nigerian scholars like Professor Babatunde Lawal and the late Professor Cornelius Adepegba.
jegede’s doctoral research, which Filani described as groundbreaking, provided the first in-depth historical analysis of contemporary Nigerian art, validating both formally trained academic artists and informally trained workshop artists in Nigeria. Filani went on to detail jegede’s illustrious career, which has seen him wearing many hats with equal passion and conviction: painter, cartoonist, art historian, curator, art critic, art administrator, and educator.
Prof. dele jegede and his wife, Mrs. Joke Jegede
From 1974 to 1977, jegede served as Art Editor at the Daily Times of Nigeria, where his cartoons became a powerful medium for social commentary. He joined the University of Lagos in 1977 as a faculty member of the Center for Cultural Studies, eventually retiring as its Director in 1992 before relocating to the United States. In the US, jegede held prestigious positions, including a Fulbright Scholarship at Spelman University in 1987, a Senior Post-Doctoral Fellowship at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., and professorial roles at Indiana State University (2002-2005) and Miami University, Ohio (2005-2010), where he retired as Professor Emeritus in 2015.
As president of SNA in 1989, jegede made landmark achievements, including the official registration of the association, the organization of the national exhibition, ‘Images of the Nigerian Nation’, and influencing the creation of the National Gallery of Art, as a parastatal under the now Federal Ministry of Arts Culture and Creative Economy. Filani praised jegede’s ability to straddle creativity and scholarship, describing him as “a bifurcating tower of knowledge and creativity standing on two legs.”
He also highlighted jegede’s recent artistic works, such as ‘Wonderment’, ‘Protestation 1’, ‘Exodus’ and ‘The January Coup’, noting their “harmoniously riotous” use of colour—a quality the late Yusuf Grillo once remarked upon, saying, “dele, your colours have become so harmoniously riotous, but yet so obedient to the command of forms.”
An elated jegede expressed profound gratitude to those who have supported him throughout his journey, particularly his wife, who he described as “the one who has sustained me here for the last 50 plus years, the mother of my children, and without whom what I am today would not have been possible.” He also extended appreciation to the organizers, singling out Professor Filani with the words, “I must single you out for the things that you and your cohorts have continued to do, not only in terms of the support, but also in the area of education.”
Turning to pressing issues in Nigerian art education, jegede reflected on a concern he first encountered at the 2008 Alex Hoover conference in Abuja alongside the late Ola Oloidi and other scholars. He recalled being “aghast” at the lack of clarity surrounding PhD programmes for artists, stating, “I had no idea what the curriculum for a PhD was going to be. That was my primary concern.”
He questioned the necessity of imposing PhDs on artists who already hold MFAs, arguing, “The MFA is the terminal degree for people in studio art, and we should be talking of degrees of terminality. MFA is different from MA, and MA is different from BA.” Drawing from his experience in the US, he added, “In American institutions here, all of my colleagues who are professors, nobody is asking for more than MFA in the Fine Arts.”
jegede also criticized the National Universities Commission for overriding the autonomy of art institutions, and lamented, “The art institutions caved in, which is very regrettable. The National Universities Commission, I don’t think should have imposed a structure on Fine Arts. It should have been the other way round,” and called for the establishment of an independent accrediting body to oversee art and design curricula in Nigerian universities, asking pointedly, “How many departments of art and design in Nigerian universities, for example, concentrate on what should be a review of their curriculum? How regularly do they do that?”
jegede also urge SNA to take a more proactive role in shaping Nigeria’s artistic and cultural landscape. While reflecting on his tenure as SNA president in 1989, he shared a vision that never came to fruition: “We were even thinking of having a national office somewhere at the National Theatre, under one of the Eko Bridge extensions, but it never materialized.”
He urged SNA to take a more proactive role and emphasized the urgent need for a physical National Gallery of Art in Abuja.
“There is no national gallery, a building that stands as an edifice,” he said. “When you travel from anywhere to Nigeria, to Abuja, we should have a gallery, a building, not a name, where people can go and see the best of Nigerian artists.”
He further called on SNA to oversee public art initiatives, asserting, “An SNA that is buoyant, that is alive, should have been the gateways for approving, for determining, structurally, what should have been, what should be the ideal thing, what goes on public display,” and the underscored the broader cultural implications, noting, “When you look at the website of National Gallery of Art, for example, the usual interesting phrase would be, ‘we want to make Nigeria a destination for tourism!’ That kind of stuff. SNA has a role to play in making sure that, structurally, there are structures in place.”
jegede also advocated for a national endowment for the arts and greater involvement of the SNA in ensuring that public statues and artworks reflect the best of Nigerian creativity, drawing inspiration from other countries where public art serves as a cultural hallmark.
During the panel session, Dr. Otonye Ayodele, Dr. Sola Ogunfuwa, Dr. Akin Onipede and Professor Babasheinde Ademuleya explored jegede’s legacy and its implications for art education, activism, and the integration of technology in Nigerian art. The gathering echoed the success of jegede’s 70th birthday celebration in 2015, which Filani recalled as an “unforgettable intellectual bash” that held the Lagos creative audience spellbound for three days.
This time, the event not only honoured jegede’s contributions but also sparked critical conversations about the future of Nigerian art, with Filani noting, “The creative pendulum of the genius is still swinging at 80.” As jegede continues to inspire through his art and scholarship, his 80th birthday celebration reaffirmed his status as a towering cultural figure whose legacy will continue to shape the Nigerian and global art for generations to come.
