By Japhet Alakam

When she came into this world 64 years ago from the village of Ogidi in Ijumu local government , Kogi State, with the environment she found herself, nobody taught that by now, the whole world will be celebrating her , but that is life, by sheer hard work and determination, the adire fabric design exponent, Chief Mrs Nike Okundaye who did not attend a formal education has grown to become an art icon who has affected the lives of many in a positive way, not only in Nigeria but also outside the shores of the country.

She is the owner of Nike Art Gallery, located in Lekki, Lagos, a place one can describe as Nigeria’s gallery of art as it houses over 57 art works by seasoned artists. She runs other art studio/workshops in Abuja, Osogbo and Ogidi, where she gives meaning to many young girls and women who lost hope of survival.

Though she did not attend any school, as she only received vocational training from her grand mother, Mama Nike has taught many people including professors. In fact, she was reputed to be the only woman who did not attend university that lectures in Harvard University.

Recently, she organised a cultural day in her Lagos gallery, where she displayed many cultural motifs to the world and even lectured some tourist on spoken word and dance steps.

Mama Nike is an icon, she has touched many lives, her achievements in the field is enormous, in fact, the story of art in Nigeria/Africa will not be complete with mentioning her name. It was a result of all these accomplishments in the art, that the renowned Nigerian batik designer and art instructor, considered to be the foremost designer on the West African coast who slugged it out in the men dominated art industry and came out triumphantly rolled out drums to celebrate her 64 years and 58 years of artistic excellence in the the world.

The venue was the Nike Art Gallery, Lekki, as as would be expected, despite the fuel scarcity and heavy rain that showered that day, art enthusiasts, friends, family, art collectors/promoters, lovers of success and Art writers joined her in the the celebration of her sterling qualities in art. It featured cultural performances by different groups, dancing, music and of course, all kinds of food and drinks. The guest were well taken care of by the host and many gift items were presented to the birthday Mama.

In a chat with the ever cheerful Nike, she reveals that “I am so much happier at 64. When I look back, I am thrilled to have made it through in the art business. I thank God every minute of my life for been a mother, an artist, philanthropist etc. Art has made me whatever I am today, Art has been good to me, it has made me an Ambassador of the country, I represent my country with art in different countries.

It has exposed me from no where, because when you talk about people who went to university to read arts, I did not, rather it was inborn in me. Art has turned my life for good.” On the gallery, she said, “this is a place where you come and see the voice on the work of all the artists, we have 7,000 of Nigeria artists here with over 37,000 works. It is a place where you see the creativity of the artists speaking, where they turn thrash to treasure.”

Finally, she added, “Art is life, Life is art, art is like food, when people are hungry when they see art work , they are okay.” Speaking about her, culture activist and former Editor of Sunday Guardian, Jahman Anikulapo said, “When you talk of Icon, you know we abuse languages, words, we call all kinds of people Icons. But, when you talk of a truly genuine Icon, I think it is Nike Davis Okundaye. Not because of the main talents she has dispensed in her works, but in terms of the volume of impact she has made.

Look at how many people she has trained, in fact you can’t even put a figure in it with her own money. May be because of the way her life history has come up, she has been training people repeatedly on her own record. Look at the way she has even planted, these are the type of people you call planters, she has planted institutions all over the places, apart from the physical structures, she has planted studios in more than five places and has impacted much in the international circuit.

The face of Nigeria as a country is the art and Nike is one of those people. So you have to put her in the level of Prof. Wole Soyinka on the kind of impact she has made. That’s where she belongs. She has impacted on the cultural life, artistic , political life and others.”