WE SEE YOU DR OLU AJAYI

 

WE SEE YOU DR OLU AJAYI

BY JULIET EZENWA PEARCE

23-05-2026

I first met Dr Olu Ajayi at Auchi -Edo state in 1991. I was then an apprentice to Mr Sam Ovraiti. He seemed to me even then a purpose driven young man. We acknowledged each other as fellow passengers often do when sharing a vehicle heading to a common destination. I would meet him again in Lagos when I was building up the foundations of my artistic career and he was fully involved with resurrecting the Lagos chapter of the SNA. By this time we both knew we  were in this industry for the long run. I observed how he passionately brought back all the broken and forgotten pieces of SNA together , carefully stitching them together, mostly deploying his own resources. I believe he knew it was his divine calling therefore he approached it as a labour of love. When the GFA was established and recruiting new members ,he invited me to apply. He was just as active in the GFA as he was in the SNA. We can rightly call him the god father of the SNA. I believe I heard Uwa Usen say that Olu Ajayi as the chairman of the Lagos chapter of the SNA outshone the national president of the SNA.

He was one of the visual artists who instigated the  idea of an artist led and run art organization which produces its own events. So that when Art Alliance 51 Creative Forum and Art Arising Art Festival became operational, he was at the forefront of the organizing. He was both an exhibitor, a panel discussant and a mentor during the Art Arising Art festivals of 2021 and 2023. At the 2023 festival he single handedly sponsored 3 artists from the budding chapter of SNA Edo state. He did this to encourage some young enterprising artists.

So we enjoyed his full support and guidance for establishing Art alliance 51 creative forum. From the start he said lets do it differently. Drawing from his wealth of experience with artists group, we have been able to navigate the deceptively shallow waters of the creative industry.

 On a personal level, Dr Olu Ajayi was instrumental in making me a feminist. In 1997, Goethe institute under the directorship of Mrs Albertsen Renate organized a workshop for Willibrod Hass in Auchi . One of the activities during the workshop was a trip to Ososo, Olu Ajayi’s village of origin. Olu Ajayi was one of the lead facilitators of that workshop.. it was during this visit to Ososo that I got my first glimpse of the girls who will become my forever muses. This event so impacted me  that I took up both the issues raised as well as the visual messages . They became for me the content that drove my creativity. This singular experience permitted me to put into words and paint, pent-up questions about women and girls oppression under systemic patriarchy.

Meanwhile, we the participants of this workshop comprising of young and emerging artists like myself and some students of Auchi poly, whispered among ourselves about this festival ‘s main  highlight being the parade of the naked young virgins. This notion excited the male workshop participants and they barely bottled up their anxiety. When we arrived Ososo the next day ,I loved the landscape. Rocky terrain in undulating lush-green hills. It was beautiful. We made hurried sketches while we waited for the festival to commence. It did not take long for the virgins to emerge, they came out in their blissful innocence, exuding purity of heart and mind. For me it was a eureka moment. My over excited male colleagues were rather disappointed because  only true virgins could make that parade unashamed. The girls were  7 to 10 years old .They danced, they played and did not know they were naked. I want to thank the good people of Ososo-Edo state, for giving us such a fine specimen of a man. May God bless you all.     

Art alliance 51 lost Mr Tam Fiofori in June 2024 . We were still reeling from that blow when Dr Olu Ajayi passed. It was at this point that we at Art alliance 51 refused to bulge. It was too much to take . At least not at a time we are weakened by one lost pillar. Therefore struck between extreme sorrow and denial ,we choose denial. For us he lives on still, and we expect him to just turn up like he usually does. Thank you.