visual arts in an artistically uninformed nigerian society

50
treatment. We became uncomfortable with the situation
where students of some cherished departments almost
suffered from professional obesity while our own career
was suffering from perennial malnutrition.
This type of administration’s rather genuflective
acceptance of the courses considered prestigious, to the
disadvantage of art, that was considered infamous or
professionally decorative to nation building, made us agree
to take the following actions: write to the Minister of
Education, Mr. Cookey; take part in socio-political events;
form an underground writers club; write in the “Public
Opinion” of some daily newspapers, particularly the Daily
Times, Morning Post, Daily Express and Tribune; start a
college magazine that would cover not only art but other
departmental activities; display any form of academic or
creative potential very vigorously to the delight of the
college students, but without being professionally
apologetic; approach some of our lecturers, particularly the
Head of Art School, Yusuf Grillo, for pertinent advice or
the way forward, among other actions. In fact, since we
were sure that our college problems were not untraversible,
our ideas suddenly became encyclopaedic for total
enfranchisement.
The nature of this lecture can definitely not permit
the discussion of all the aforementioned. However, luckily
for us, by the time we were considering the publication of a
magazine, one Samo, a student of Horology Department
from Sierra Leone, came to Bili Koleosho, a year ahead of
me, with even a more ambitious publishing intention. With
Koleosho’s effort we eventually teamed up to launch the
Techo Star Magazine in 1968. Samo was the Editor, while
Bili Koleosho, an art student, but now a professional