At a time when Nigeria suffers great image problems and humiliation of its citizens both within and outside the continent of Africa, Nigerians living in the Diaspora have continued to show the world that we are indeed, a rare breed through acts of creativity and breakthroughs in arts and sciences.

The latest honour and toast to the Nigerian creative mind comes from an artist, Yinka Shonibare, whose Nelson’s Ship in a Bottle was unveiled at the Trafalgar Square, London, thus making him the first artist of African origin to display his works in any public space in Great Britain.

A report posted on the Art Knowledge News website describes Shonibare’s work thus: “The ship’s 37 large sails are made of exuberant and richly patterned textiles commonly associated with African dress and symbolic of African identity and independence.

The history of the fabrics reveals that they were inspired by Indonesian batik design, mass produced by the Dutch and sold to the colonies in West Africa.

Tying together historical and global threads and traversing Oceans and Continents, the work considers the complexity of British expansion in trade and Empire, made possible through the freedom of the seas that Nelson’s victory provided.”

The wonder of this work was that ship, reflecting Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson’s HMS Victory, measuring 2.8 metres by 4.7 metres was artfully inserted in a transparent bottle, making it the largest recorded ship in a bottle. Its display at the famous Trafalgar Square was also historic as well as symbolic.

Lord Nelson commanded HMS Victory at the head of 27 British warships ranged against 33 French and Spanish warships off Cape Trafalgar on 21st October 1805 .

Though the most famous British sea warrior lost his life in the battle, he scored a decisive victory and thus freed the sea routes, making it possible for the subsequent voyages that led to European adventures in Africa and Asia. Madiba Nelson Mandela believes his father gave him his name because of Lord Nelson (full title: Vice Admiral of the White

The Right Honourable Horatio, Viscount Nelson, Knight of the Most Honourable Order of Bath).
Shonibare, who is described as “an Anglo-British artist” used his fertile imagination to create this work of art reflecting how Lord Nelson opened the way for the emergence of  a new world of shared values in which the former British Empire played a dominant role of a colonist.

Worthy of particular note was the role played by Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB), which bankrolled the project as a follow-up to another great work of art known as Tate Britain created earlier this year by Chris Ofili, which the bank sponsored.

It is easy to imagine that if the financial wherewithal had not been forthcoming, these young Nigerian talents would not have been able to show what they were capable of achieving.

We call on big business and large profit-making corporations in Nigeria to emulate the GTB and other big sponsors, such as Globacom and MTN to bring out the best in our youth and divert their prodigious talents to elevating endeavours such as this uncommon achievement by Yinka Shonibare.

This young man has raised the Nigerian flag high in Trafalgar Square. The Mayor of London, Mr. Boris Johnson could not hold back when he enthused: “Yinka’s piece is truly a stunning piece of art that London is fortunate to host. This piece is particularly timely given that 2010 marks Nigeria ’s 50th year of independence.”

It is people like Yinka Shonibare, who have brought pride to this nation through their extraordinary exploits abroad that should be getting our national awards, rather than public servants and politicians who, in most cases, have contributed to the corruption and underdevelopment of the country.

We hope that the London Mayor has prompted the nominating authorities to what they should do when we roll out the names of our national award winners in this great year of our Golden Jubilee.

Before that, we suggest that the President should invite him and shake his hands for the honour he has done to this country.