I’m here to expose Nigerian artists – Joseph Gergel

Joseph Gergel is a curator at African Artists’ Foundation and LagosPhoto Festival at their headquarters in Lagos. Gergel  received a Certificate in Professional Photography from the Speos Photography Institute in Paris, France. Obtained his  Bachelors Degree in Photography and Cultural Theory from New York University and a Master’s Degree in Modern Art:
Critical and Curatorial Studies from Columbia University.  He has assisted in the curatorial departments at the Museum of Modern Art (New York), the New Museum of Contemporary Art (New York), and the Zendai Museum of Modern Art (Shanghai).

*Joseph Gergel ( Curator at African Artists’ Foundation)

FIRST of all, why did you want to come here?
I came here because I discovered that  the art scene is developing and it’s a really exciting time to be here,   but I think I came here  with an approach of looking at contemporary art and specifically, Nigerian art.
Did you see a lot of Nigerian art when you were in New York?
I did see some which is why I think it’s a very exciting time to be here because you are right at the cusp of the beginning of international exposure for Nigerian artists which is one of the reasons why I’m here, to expose Nigerian artists.
When you say we face the same issues all over the world, what kind of issues did you have in mind?
Contemporary artists today are looking at changes that are happening with technology and the internet, urban development, population growth, then you come to Nigeria and you see the specific context of the artist which has particular experience within Nigeria, but it’s also something that is relatable and also about a global connection. I came here and met artists that are doing new projects, it’s not a stereotypical depiction of what African art is, it’s something that is more universal.
It’s not?
I don’t think so. There are  different types of art everywhere and the artists that we work with at the Foundation are really beginning to look at a broader spectrum of reflecting social change and the culture.
Does art really have to relate to the changing social scene and not just someone  expressing what they are thinking like the old masters did?
I think art can have many definitions and it can be applied to different contexts but in the history of art we have fine art. That was really just looking at art for art and how it reflects on the canvas, colour and all that stuff but today we are seeing artists dealing with how artists can be articulate, how artists can start dialogues and raise issues and raise awareness and I think that’s an important part of contemporary art.  That is the kind of art we are interested in here especially with the kind of projects that we do, we have a theme.
Last year we had Consequences and artists can interpret that anyway they want to. This year our theme is Identity and we are looking at how they relate to their society. It opens up new eyes to appreciating art because it’s not just this domain within itself which doesn’t relate to anything else  but relates to everything around it.
But outside of your com
petition do you see much of that happening?
Yes. The art scene here is not so regimental. You see artists working with different mediums and mixing it together and really looking at how their messages can be passed using different mediums to convey their message.
What happens to the winner of your competition? Do you have a project for him?
The first prize winner gets  two million naira(N2m). This year he’s going to have  a solo exhibition and get national and international exposure. The opportunities that come for them can really establish their career. The money can become key money for him to develop future projects. The second place winner is getting a million naira.  In the past we’ve showed the work of the National Art Competition winner in Amsterdam.
Is photography really art?
I’m a photographer myself as well as a curator and I believe photography is unique because it’s very accessible to a wide public.
Outdoor exhibition
A lot of time you can look at a painting and say, I don’t get that, but with photography you can understand what you are looking at. For example one of the big projects with Lagos Photo is our outdoor exhibition that we do every year. We have our official exhibitions in art spaces around the city but then we do outdoor exhibitions in public spaces in congested areas around the city. We are trying to engage that public that might not come to an exhibition.
The University of Lagos is not congested…
There’s a lot of traffic and people that are interested in dance and music and poetry and art…
Exactly, so it’s the same old crowd who would probably go.
One of the most important things perhaps is trying to engage the youth. The University of Lagos is probably the perfect place to do that.

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Condemned criminals: Waiting for govs and hangmen

The call by President Goodluck Jonathan last Sunday on state governors to sign death warrants of condemned inmates in prisons across the country  has again brought to the fore the lingering controversy on the issue.
At a special ceremony to mark the 2013 Fathers’ Day organized by the Aso Villa Chapel, President Jonathan urged governors not to run away from their statutory responsibility by not signing death warrants on condemned criminals  by courts of competent jurisdiction.
He added that the state chief executives must be willing to carry out their responsibilities, no matter how painful in accordance with the law.
The Criminal Procedure Act of each state of the federation provides that governors should affirm death sentences of condemned criminals before execution. It is only in Lagos State that same provision is incorporated in its newly enacted Administration of Criminal Justice Law, ACJL.
Apart from the governors’ reluctance to sign death warrants, the civil society groups have also resisted moves to execute convicts.

Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Aloma Mariam Muktar,

So far, only two governors- the former Governors of Kano State, Governor Ibrahim Shekarau and Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State have signed into law the sentences passed by the court on some convicts, since the return to democracy in 1999.
Before the Edo State Governor, Comrade  Oshiomhole signed the death warrant following Supreme Court judgment, which condemned Osaremwinda Aiguohian and Daniel Nsofor, to death by hanging, the governor’s action was trailed by criticisms from civil society groups, Amnesty International and the National Human Rights Commission.
According to statistics, about 970 prisoners on death row are currently languishing in the nation’s prisons awaiting executions. The lists comprises 951 males and 19 females.
As at  July last year, prisons in River State had 157 inmates consisting of 149 males and eight females on death row, which is the highest in the country.
The state is followed by Delta, which has 149 convicted inmates, comprising 146 males and three females.
Ogun State has 132 condemned felons, while Plateau State is left with 125 males and one female awaiting the governor’s execution order.
Other states with high death row inmates are Lagos 83; Kaduna 79; Enugu 75; Kano 51; Katsina 43; Edo 35; Cross River 17, Jigawa 18, Kebbi 13; Kwara 12, Federal Capital Territory 10, Niger 10, Ondo seven, Benue six, Sokoto six, Osun five and Taraba four.
Speaking further on the issue, President Jonathan said,  “These days, because of modern life, discipline is almost gone. Discipline can be in various forms. In the states, it could be admonition. Magistrate can just admonish and allow him (offenders) to go. From admonition to various forms of punishments, it could be imprisonment. The extreme is capital punishment.
“In the case of capital punishment, the state governors will sign (the death sentence). Even governors sometimes find it difficult to sign. I have been telling them that they must sign, because that is the law. The works we are doing have a very sweet and a very ugly part and we must perform both. No matter how painful it is, it is part of their responsibilities.”
According to human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana SAN,  “There is a sociological angle to the issue of executing death row inmates. Most prisons find it difficult to find hangmen. It is difficult to find a Nigerian, who would be proud of an occupation of killing people. And more importantly, it is difficult for civilian governors to ratify the killing of other citizens, even though they have been convicted.
“Since 1999, there have been only two ratifications for the execution of death row inmates in the country. The first one was by one of the governors of Kano State and recently, by Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State. It is not easy for the governors because it is official murder. The reason for penalties in law is for correction, not execution. It is a fact that the death penalty has not served as a deterrent anywhere in the world.”
Falana added that slow pace of the appeals at the Appeal and Supreme Court, further stretched the time between the sentence and execution and the situation had resulted in the congestion of prisons by death row inmates..
He said due to the pressure at the prisons and global campaign against death penalty, the sentence of the death row inmates would eventually be turned into life sentence.
On his part, the executive director, Access to Justice, AJ, Mr.Joseph Otteh, said,  “President Jonathan’s call for the execution of death warrants by Governors is arguably misplaced and inherently unprincipled. Let’s address the lack of principle first. Not long ago, President Jonathan took the unpopular and widely denounced step of pardoning the former Governor of Bayelsa State, Diepreye Alamieyeseigha who is both a fugitive from justice and a convicted felon.
Why does one felon deserve a State pardon and another the enforcement of the death penalty? Some of those whose lives hang on a balance on death row have probably only robbed out of a necessity to survive. Those who get the pardon rob out of what? Because they did not know where their next meals will come from?
Is it not the State’s failure to provide Nigerians with decent livelihoods or employment arising from the horrendous stealing of public resources that fuels economic crimes? Coming from President Jonathan, the advice to Governors has quite a bit of the scent of hypocrisy.
The death penalty is so objectionable because it carries social costs no moral society will want to contend with. The risks that a person may be wrongly convicted of a crime he or she has not committed will always remain with society, so long as justice systems are managed by humans who are liable to error. It is tragic to err with human life, and the death penalty is basically about saying that it is okay to take the chance. No, it is not okay to take the chance.
Arguing in similar vein, the National Coordinator, Legal Defence & Assistance Project ? LEDAP, Mr. Chino Obiagwu said, LEDAP’s position on death penalty is also borne out of the conviction that the Nigerian government cannot continue to ignore the dare need for reform of our criminal justice system. This was aptly captured in the report of the National Study Group on Death Penalty set up by the Nigerian government in 2004 that, a system that must take life must first give justice.
“LEDAP uses this medium to call on Mr. President and the state governors to respect the existing unofficial moratorium on death penalty in the country; implement the findings of its own commission; and adhere to its international and regional obligations on peoples’ right by waiting for the outcome of the communication against it pending before the African commission.”

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ASUU to Minister: Varsity funding still short

Barely two weeks ago, United Nations Educational  Scientific and Cultural Organisation, UNESCO, declared that about 10.5m Nigerian children are out of school and are  given to street begging, hawking for their parents and serving as house helps at various homes in Nigeria and other parts of Africa.
While stakeholders in the sector were still licking the wound of this awful revelation, Minister of Education, last Thursday, during a ministerial platform in Abuja spoke in defence of the present Federal Government budgetary allocation to education. She noted that   education has been well funded but the fund not well utilised.
She said; “Federal Ministry of Education has adequate funding and when adequately utilised, can deliver the sector and reposition it to the pride of the nation.”
Reacting to the above statement, the  president of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Dr  Nasir Isa said;  “Judging by the NEEDS assessment reports of the level of decay in the university, I really do not know the basis of the assertion that education is adequately funded.  We have been complaining that the university system is grossly underfunded. We have been talking about the consistency of the underfunding of the university over the years. Nigeria does not compare well with other  countries that have been massively injecting funds into education.

Street traders on the Expressway in Abuja

“Even in the African frontier, you will see that an African country like Ghana is investing not less than 30 per cent of their annual budget on education. South Africa has been investing over 30 per cent on education. Nevertheless, in the last 10 to 15 years, Nigeria has never invested up to 10 per cent of its annual budget in education. May be the Minister of Education, Professor Ruqayyatu Rufai in her address was referring to the quantum of money invested in education.
“Even if we take that into consideration, looking at the 2013 budget, the N400 billion allocated to education appears to be the highest ever. However, in ASUU, we agreed to factor in the  joint venture cash cord. The joint venture cash cord is part of the money the country is spending. If we factor this in, you will discover that the N400 billion that is allocated to education falls into insignificance.
“In reality, when you look at the quantum of money, some can say the amount is really high but when compared to what the money is meant for, it is inadequate. Not more than N80 billion will go into capital development in the system. Bulk of the money goes to offset recurrent grants, payments of salaries and other emoluments of workers in the education sector.
“I wonder how we are going to get out of the road in the system. I think what we need to do is to carry out a comprehensive analysis of the amount of money that is invested in education to know what the money is really meant for. Even on the recurrent grant issue, we know that the NEEDS assessment particularly indicated that the university is grossly understaffed particularly academic staff. Bulk of the money goes into paying supportive staff in the system.
“The money may look huge, but it is inadequate in the true sense. This makes some lecturers to work in about two to three universities because of shortage of staff thus posing undue threat to these academics. ASUU is still convinced that the funding is still inadequate. We are battling with the implementation of 2009 FG/ASUU agreement. There are key areas of that agreement that have not been funded,” he said urging the Minister to look at the factors closely and come up with better assertion.
“However, like any other sector, education might not be free from corruption. What I think we should do is to improve on the checks and balances to see how much money goes into the system and how many percentage of it is being judiciously utilised. The council is the highest policy-making body in the university system.
“It is the council that approves expenditure in the system. So if people who are not conversant with the university system are heading council, it becomes difficult for you to get maximum premium to investment in the system. If you look at the calibre of people that were appointed by government councils, majority of them find it difficult to contribute to the development of the system. We discovered many of them are coming from a political background and we are of the opinion that the governance of the university should not be politicized. Once we have such in the university system, then investments will not yield the desired fruits.
On his part, former Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission, Professor Peter Okebukola who seems to agree with Professor Ruqayyatu’s statement said; “I agree with the Honourable Minister of Education that the funds available to the Federal Ministry of Education and its agencies are not adequately utilised. Three examples are worth citing.
The UBE is literally awash with unaccessed funds by state governments ostensibly on account of inability of many states to retire funds earlier accessed. Such states fail to retire having not met the conditions for spending even when such conditions were relaxed in recent times.
The second example is TETFund. Here, many beneficiary institutions notably universities, polytechnics and colleges of education, fail to meet the spending criteria on earlier grants, a situation which has resulted in billions of Naira still resident in TETFund crying to be spent.
If the unspent UBE and TETFund monies are released into the educational system and well spent, the system will be jolted to attain higher levels of quality. The third example is the inadequate utilisation of even the funds that manage to get to the institutions.
There are a lot of leakages which inhibit efficient use of such funds. It needs to be stressed that even if all the UBE and TETFund monies were aggregated, they do not translate to adequate funding for education. To adequately fund education in Nigeria, we will require about double the quantum of funds now deployed to the sector at the federal, state and local government levels.