Ato Arinze mirrors the society with "Debacle; Aso Rock Mask; The IBB Years."

Ato Arinze, "Debacle; Aso Rock Mask; The IBB Years" 1994.

Mathew B. Oyedele

The cliche that art is the mirror of the society remains true in the work of Ato Arinze entitled, “Debacle; Aso Rock Mask; The IBB Years. Just like Picasso's commentary on the bombing of Guernica, a Basque Country town in northern Spain by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy at the request of the Spanish Nationalists, Ato's "Debacle" is a social commentary on the struggle for democracy in his home country Nigeria.

The work is a fibre glass piece whose composition is arranged to emphasize an entrapped man in a web at the upper part of the piece. A huge carrot with a snake at its tail - a metaphor for temptation and treachery - occupies the axis of the work and divide it into halves. The lower part of the piece has the image of a lion in between a buttock, a connotation of astrological sign and the preference for women while batons which connotes military brutality and oppression encloses the work in a vertical composition. The engraved leaves on the piece also represents demonstration.

Close-up shot of "Debacle; Aso Rock Mask; The IBB Years.

Its iconography is drawn from the seven series of writings of Olatunji Dare, the then Chairman of Guardian Newspaper’s editorial board in his weekly column titled "Debacle" on General Ibrahim Babangida’s regime as the military Head of State, precisely the annulled 1993 general election where the late Chief MKO Abiola emerged as the winner. The election united Nigerians in a mission to reclaim power from the military after years of uninterrupted ruling by decree.

General Ibrahim Babangida who in his usual ‘maradonic’ dribblings would always manoeuvre his way through any situation was caught in the web of his own tricks as he could not foresee the chaos that would follow the annulment of the election.

There were demonstrations, protests, struggles and agitations for the validation of the June 12, 1993 election in different parts of Nigeria. Lives were lost, infrastructures were demolished and hopes were dashed. Kudirat Abiola was killed and MKO Abiola was incarcerated for years. Chief Alfred Rewane who financed the struggle for the validation of the election, lost his life. Chief Anthony Enahoro was detained at the Port Harcourt prison and Alex Ibru was attacked.

Unable to handle the pressure of Nigerians, the head of state surrendered to the enthronement of an interim president which was later overtaken by Sani Abacha in a coup, a year later.

Some Nigerians still believe that the problem of Nigerian democracy began with the annulment of the 1993 election. They believe that the foundation of putting personal gains before national interest was laid in that year. And Ato Arinze, first as an artist, and a social commentator offers a mirror to reflect where we have been, what we have done and more importantly, to have an epiphany. 

Ato confided that the composition of the piece was inspired by the ancient masks of the Benin as well as masks from his Igbo tradition.