Today, my people, dem no fit hide am! Na today we dey celebrate one of our own, Baba Demas Nwoko, wey don clock 90 years! This man no be ordinary person oh! He be the real mvp for art, architecture, theater and all these creative kpokpo…

Demas Nwoko wey hail from Idumuje-Ugboko for Delta State, get legacy wey dey shine pass gold. From the time wey e don hold this brush for over 60 years, him don dey change the game for African modern design. E pick inspiration from im culture and environment to create designs wey dey tell our own stories. No be play!

This man join Zaria Art Society when e dey school, and together with hin paddy dem, dem create wetin dem call Natural Synthesis. Wetin be that? Na when dem blend African traditional art with Western techniques…if you see the works, you go know say na magic! Nwoko no just sabi paint or dey arrange building, e dey make sure say everything wey e create get cultural authenticity and sustainability. I mean, how many designers do you know wey dey use earth materials for hin buildings before e even become trend? Na baba Nwoko be that!

For hin own designs, he no just dey focus on how e go sweet for eye; e dey consider how dem go fit benefit people and our planet. If you go see the kind spaces wey e don build, like the New Culture Studio and the Oba Akenzua Cultural Centre, you go see say na creativity wey dey full with purpose. Every corner dey tell story, every design dey build community!

One good example of hin insight na when e talk say, “Design can save us.” E don dey shout this thing since 2000, and the way Nigerian design dey take follow foreign styles; who go fit talk say this no be gist wey make sense? All dem copy and paste designs wey dey show for Abuja no fit reflect our identity as Naija people, and Baba don dey hammer this point since forever!

Last year, na im receive Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the Venice Biennale! If this one no be achievement, wetin you fit call am? Demas Nwoko don represent us globally, but we still get many home work to do. We dey miss plenty opportunities to show wetin we sabi for our own design language.

As we dey celebrate this living legend, we for remember say na him teach many upcoming designers wetin be authentic design. Him daughter, Anyibofu, dey carry hin legacy forward, with many other talented paddy dem wey dey draw inspiration from hin work. E fit don enter 90, but him brain still dey sharp, him still dey write and mentor young artists. Baba dey try wey we no go forget am quickly.

So my people, as we raise our glasses today for Baba Demas Nwoko, make we also sabi say to change the narrative, we must hold on to our own culture. E no dey automatic, but like Baba talk, na small-small change wey fit create big impact! Happy birthday once more to our own legend! Cheers!