A Voice That Echoes for Change and Culture–Anthony Azekwoh
The most powerful thing an artist can do is use their work to spark change. Change must not begin from institutions or leaders, it starts from those who believe in a better tomorrow and decide that their voices are enough to make it happen. Anthony Azekwoh decided he was enough while he was a student at Covenant University. A lot happened—maybe too much. He was suspended twice, physically assaulted, and found himself battling depression and suicidal thoughts. It was a chaotic and overwhelming time in his life.
One exam season, the school suddenly enforced a rule: if you missed chapel services, you couldn’t sit for your exams. Like everyone else, Azekwoh only found out on the day of his paper. Something about the way it was handled felt cruel. It was that moment, that injustice, that pushed him to take a stand. So, he wrote a few essays about the injustices that occurred about the experiences of students at the University.
“I felt like I realistically had no alternative. Maybe I'm just sensitive and I feel things a lot, or maybe I just saw too much. Either way, I realised I was paying the price of other people's silence and I didn't want to be silent anymore. I felt like I had to let it be known far and wide what I thought”.
Despite the commotion and trouble it caused him, there were whispers of approval and appreciation from lecturers and fellow students. He had sparked change.
After this, he started to write more frequently. However, during the Covid-19 pandemic his journey with art started due to his laptop’s malfunction– his primary tool for writing–and the discovery of a few A4 papers.
With the world at a confusing, sorrowful standstill, many found refuge in creativity. It offered a sense of purpose, allowing those with budding interests and abandoned ideas to reconnect with their creative sides. The surge of creative self-expression during the Covid-19 pandemic made it almost feel as if the world wasn’t in crisis. It’s safe to say that broken things often bring forth blessed things—that even in the worst situations, something meaningful can emerge. Anthony was no exception, what started as a hobby led to consistent practice with drawing, deriving inspiration from Nigerian mythology and folklore.
His inspiration stemmed from love, hope and the desire to make these elements relevant in today’s society.
“ The reason why I decided to tell these stories through my art is because if we don’t do it ourselves,someone else will do it and they wouldn’t capture its essence well enough” Anthony’s work seeks to keep myths and legends alive while simultaneously telling stories that Nigerians resonate with.
“In other countries, you would see so many monuments and statues of their ancestors and myths, but I noticed that there aren’t many in Nigeria” In a world where the stories of our ancestors risk being forgotten with constant advances in values and our acceptance of modernism, Anthony’s art is a call to action.
It is advocacy. He reminds us that art and culture are not just archaic and outdated, but hold values that Nigerians should take pride in and hold as a big part of our identity. His work stirs a deep frustration—the kind that comes from seeing how easily we, as Nigerians, adopt Western values while neglecting our own. It’s not entirely our fault; language is a conveyor of culture, and colonialism has left its mark. But beyond that, there is a lack of confidence in who we are and what we represent. Unlike many other countries where a deep sense of cultural identity and patriotism is evident, Nigeria struggles with this. Our identity crisis has left us disconnected from our roots, making it harder to define what being Nigerian truly means. Anthony’s art challenges this, urging Nigerians to embrace their heritage with pride. His work raises important questions like “What does this mythology represent in modern-day Nigeria? “How can we, as a people, come together to ensure it is embedded into our identity and values?”
Another inspiring aspect of this advocacy is on social issues that directly affect Nigerians today.
In October 2020, Anthony was a witness to some of the protests that happened at the Lekki Toll Gate. “It’s ironic that that was the most united I had ever witnessed Nigeria being. People of all tribes,religions and class came together and contributed to fight against one cause” A few days later, On October 20,2020, Anthony was at home, not so far away from the toll gate where he heard the massacre of Nigerian civilians happen. Young people were protesting against police brutality when The Nigerian Army fired gunshots at them and killed.
With just a glance,the painting shows the Nigerian flag with bloodstains, telling the story of Nigerians who were killed at the Lekki Toll Gate while they were peacefully protesting and singing the Nigerian anthem.
It shows a stain on Nigeria’s pride and legacy.
“This is a painting of pride and sorrow. Of green, white, and red,” Azekwoh wrote in a note that accompanied the painting. The next year, in 2021, Anthony Azekwoh held his second solo exhibition at Yenwa Gallery,Lagos titled “There Is A Country” It was a collection of artwork highlighting the history of corruption in Nigeria through different mediums and revisiting the events of the Lekki Toll Gate Crisis.
On the anniversary of this crisis, many Nigerians visited Yenwa Gallery to commemorate it and ponder on its significance.
When asked about he felt about this, he replied “It shows that I’m doing something right, it’s always about that connection. My goal is and always has been to connect” Creating art that tells heavy stories is one thing, witnessing the depth of its impact is another. The real impact is the message being sent and how true that message is to the artist’s vision. We can achieve that by sharing, talking about the work and giving it an audience. More Nigerians need to engage in conversations about art and the stories it tells to help keep artists’ works relevant and meaningful.
Conversations like this provoke thought and inspire action, sparked by an artwork. This could lead to a lasting impact on one’s thinking, which perhaps, could be teachable and by extension create a legacy.
Just as messages and lessons from Nigerian myths and legends are passed down through generations, artworks like Anthony’s with social and cultural significance become impactful when we interact and internalize them.
“I want people to appreciate and understand our vast history and culture. I wanted to be known for bringing some of that to the forefront”.
Furthermore, Azekwoh uses his platform in a way every creative should, for a greater purpose. He created a painting in December titled “Maria” which he described as “a reminder that even in darkness, life and light can be born.”
He offered the artwork at an affordable price and donated all the proceeds to charity.
“Maria is the 6th painting in my series, The Resurgence, Pt 1. I wanted it to be something that represented motherhood-which to me has always been about giving--life, sustenance, love. I wanted to reflect that with my work this hard season in Nigeria.”
It’s true that Anthony Azekwoh alone cannot make Nigeria the place of our dreams, but he has accepted the reality that is our country and he is making efforts to create sustainable change in his own way, within his capacity–He does it by experiencing the world in a deeper, more sensitive way and telling stories that reflect that beautiful depth.
References
https://www.getunruly.com/articles/anthony-azekwohs-there-is-a-country-revisits-nigerias- history-of-trauma
https://www.anthonyazekwoh.com/about
https://youtu.be/tKgjVCnkBFc?si=scBqz90MY4iahQj8
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-africa-58975493