WE ARE THE ARTISTS NIGERIA NEEDS

Subtle reminder for everyone (Nigerians): you are an artist.

As long as you breathe, you are a creator. We were created in the image and likeness of a Creator, and perhaps one of the greatest responsibilities of humanity is to imagine, create, to build, to transform, and to leave the world better than we met it. A new Nigeria is within our creative ability if only we answer our first calling: TO CREATE.

For a long time, many people have limited the idea of "art" to paintings, music, galleries, or university degrees. But art is far bigger than that. Art is imagination. Art is courage expressed through creation.

The trader in Balogun Market finding new ways to survive is an artist. The mechanic in Aba creating solutions from scraps is an artist. The fashion designer in Yaba, the storyteller in Kano, the dancer in Warri, the youth leader in Jos, the teacher in Makurdi, the local woman carefully wrapping rice in uma leaf , all artists, all creators.

As long as there is breath in your lungs, there is something inside you waiting to create.

During an art fair held in December 2025 and organized by the OSA Okunbor Foundation and others, Prof. Jari shared a powerful perspective: anyone with creative ability who consciously works to develop and perfect that ability is an artist. Creativity is not reserved for a selected few; it is part of being human.

This idea echoes the famous words of Pablo Picasso:

"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up."

Children create fearlessly. They imagine freely without shame, judgment, or the fear of failure. But as people grow older, society often conditions them into silence, conformity, and self-doubt. Creativity becomes buried beneath fear.

Even Nigerian rapper M.I Abaga captured this truth in his epic track:

"We're movie stars but we're not aware,
We're the change, we're the hope and the miracle,
Even great art is made fake art, until they realize just who they are."

That message is deeper than music. It is a call to awakening.

The future of Nigeria will not suddenly appear from nowhere. It will first be imagined, then created by people bold enough to believe change is possible. If this country must rise, it will not happen by complaints alone. It will happen when Nigerians begin to imagine again. When filmmakers tell better stories. When photographers document truth. When young people create businesses, movements, ideas, and systems that challenge the old ways.

Artists do not only paint portraits; they shape culture, challenge systems, inspire hope, and redefine the direction of society. Every innovator, teacher, filmmaker, writer, photographer, designer, thinker, architect, and visionary contributing toward a better society is participating in the art of nation-building.

Nigeria does not only need politicians or policies. Nigeria needs creators. People willing to imagine beyond corruption, division, and hopelessness. People willing to create a new story for the nation.

We are the artists Nigeria needs. And the masterpiece is still unfinished.
Together, we can.