Seeing Through The Indignant Eye

Mathew Oyedele 

With the ongoing happenings in the country, Samuel Ajobiewe is right to entitle his recent exhibition The Indignant Eye. These happenings did not just start but the faulty lines have always been there to be maneuvered by those who are entrusted with the sanctity of Nigerian institutions. The exhibition took its title from the 1969 book by Ralph E. Shikes which positions the artist as a social critic.

Ajobiewe is not an unknown name in the Nigerian art scene. He is a renowned artist who works across diverse media including pastel, watercolour and acrylic. He had his first solo exhibition in 2009 at Mydrim Gallery in Lagos and has since gone on hiatus until his recent exhibition at the National Museum, Lagos. Perhaps the thirteen year hiatus has enabled him to observe, contemplate and solidify his socio-political commentaries.

One of his bold socio-politically themed pieces at the exhibition, albeit satirical, is The Ineffectual Scarecrow, an acrylic on canvas piece created in 2019. The piece has the image and pose of a scarecrow with a human face and the uniform of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, an institution that is charged with the responsibility of enforcing economic and financial crimes law in Nigeria. Its skeletal hand, with an oversized hand glove, reaches to the sides of the painting while its face cap covers the left side of the face. Its identity card dangles on the uniform, a movement that contrasts with the static nature of the scarecrow, as it stands on one leg. The background is smooth, colourful and empty, alluding to the scarecrow standing alone, occupying the space, protecting nothing. 

The Ineffectual Scarecrow, 2019, Acrylic on canvas, 136 x 179.5 cm 

The satirical piece is a commentary on the inefficiency of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission of Nigeria to curb corruption and mismanagement of public funds. Instead of the institution encouraging transparency by investigating mismanagement of public funds by politicians, government officials and contractors, it watches as the politicians put up different acts of escaping punishment. 

Irony of The Incorruptible Judge, an acrylic on canvas piece, created in 2018 seems like a succeeding piece to The Ineffectual Scarecrow. In the piece, the lady justice stands in her usual pose with her stretched hands holding the sword and the scale of justice. She usually stands outside, at the entrance of the court to remind everyone of her impartiality but Ajobiewe depicts the lady inside the courtroom, in the presence of the judge and other individuals, while a lady removes her blindfold. Her impartiality and blindness to injustice is being taken away, she can now see the high-level individuals before her and her judgement can therefore be influenced by wealth, status and power. One can almost feel that the lady justice is used to her blindfold being removed. Her gaze is stern. The strong light, coming from the right side of the room does not affect her eyes, as it would anyone who has been blindfolded for a long time.

Irony of the Incorruptible Judge, 2018, Acrylic on canvas, 138 x 185 cm

A melancholic mood and visage is cast over the piece, Another Song of Freedom, an acrylic on canvas piece created in 2018. With the image of a heartbroken woman in mourning clothes carrying her seemingly dead child, the piece brings to mind Michelangelo's Madonna della Pietà. Another woman, on the left side of the frame, with her child on her back is seen pointing an accusing finger to a man who holds a rifle behind the sad woman. Away from the woman is a man, obviously a herdsman, standing with a cow whose horn towers above the figures, looking on with a facial expression that is devoid of compassion or empathy. In the foreground is a boy with dreadlocks, oblivious of the happenings around him, playing a guitar. Who is he playing for? What song is he playing? The artist calls it Another Song of Freedom. 

Freedom, especially from herdsmen, bandits and boko haram is the song that people have been singing in Nigeria. These men have been kidnapping, killing and chasing citizens away from their farms and houses. In March 2023, the Benue State Government claimed that the state had recorded over 5,000 deaths from herdsmen attacks between 2015 and 2023. These attacks, which are largely fuelled by the government's inaction, have also been recorded in other states across Nigeria. 

As events happen, Ajobiewe is actively present and observant. He responds to these happenings in visual images that corroborates his artist statement: "an artist is moved by his/her sentiments and temperament to create, out of what is seen, felt, imagined and experienced; works that convey messages to a contemporary society."

The Indignant Eye ran from March 18 to 24, 2023