Posted Tue, Sep 3, 2019 7:37 AM

NESG Announces Judges For the “2050: Nigeria of our dreams” Art Contest

The Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) is pleased to announce the judges of the “2050: The Nigeria of our Dreams” Art contest. The art contest which closes September 6th, 2019 is organized by the NESG to stimulate creativity and collaboration towards nation building. The ultimate aim of the contest is to create positive visualisation about the future of Nigeria and the responsibility of every Nigerian to work collectively towards an economically viable and sustainable Nigerian economy; particularly through artistic expression.

As such, the NESG is pleased to announce Ms. Ojoma Ochai, Professor. Ahmed Yerima and Ms. Adenrele Sonariwo as judges for the “2050: Nigeria of our dreams” Art Contest.

Ojoma Ochai is the Director of Programmes at the British Council (West Africa) and leads the Council’s Arts and Creative Economy programme in West Africa working with partners in the region and internationally to strengthen creative industries policy and practice through interventions including research, skills development, and advocacy. She also oversees the education and society portfolio to support the education sector and improve outcomes in social justice, governance, inclusion and related themes. In the last fifteen years, Ojoma has worked in various creative economy development roles with organizations like the British Council (2006 to date), the World Bank (2014 to 2016), and has chaired the Entertainment and Creative Industries Thematic Group of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group, Nigeria’s foremost economic policy think-tank. She was nominated Young Person of the Year (2010) in Nigeria by the Future Awards, and named by YNaija in the 10 Most Powerful People in Nigeria’s Arts and Culture (under 40) 2014, and 100 Most Influential Women in Nigeria 2015. Ojoma is a fellow of the DeVos Institute of Arts Management, University of Maryland, USA, and Associate Fellow of the Nigerian Leadership Initiative (NLI). She was Chair of the Lagos Theatre Festival (2015-2018), of Open House Lagos (2015-2017) and served on the board of the Music Museum Foundation of Nigeria.

Professor Ahmed Yerima is a Cultural Administrator, Lecturer and Playwright. He attended The University of Ife (1981), University College, Cardiff (1982) and Royal Holloway College, University of London (1986) where he obtained a Doctorate degree in Theatre Arts. He has taught at the University of Ife, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. University of Lagos, Kwara State University, Malete and presently, Redeemer's University, Ede. Professor Yerima also worked at the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and National Orientation (1991-2009) where he rose to become the Director-General of the National Theatre and National Troupe and also the Director- General of the Abuja Carnival. Professor Yerima is also an award-winning playwright. He has written over sixty published plays including plays like The Trials of Ovonramwen, Attahiru, Yemoja, The Wives, The Sisters, Tuti, Odenigbo, Iyase, Abobaku, Pari, Hendu, Lanpapa, Lottery Ticket, Jakadiya, and Idemili. One of them, Hard Ground won the NLNG prize for Nigerian Literature. (2006). He was co-ordinating Secretary for the Vision 20-20-20 Sub-Committee on Culture and Tourism. (2007). Prof. Yerima is a fellow of the Society of Nigerian Theatre Artistes. (SONTA), a Fellow of NANTAP, and a Member of the Nigerian Academy of Letters.

Adenrele Sonariwo is an award-winning curator, founder of Rele Art Gallery and Rele Art Foundation. She holds a Masters of Fine Art - Academy of Art University San Francisco, CA, a Curating Contemporary Art Certificate – University of the Arts, London and a B.A. Business Administration/Accounting (Honors) Howard University, Washington, DC. She has curated and over seen several commercially and critically successful high-profile art exhibitions; exhibitions that challenge the boundaries of art, engaging innovative subjects and techniques. She has also led the movement to break art out of ivory tower, with Rele gallery exploring and partnering with fields of

technology, community social causes & health. She was the first person to curate an art exhibition at Nigeria’s seat of power, The Presidency (Abuja) and has been featured in global publications such as the Financial Times, The Art Review, Forbes Africa, and Vogue. In 2016, she won the Future Awards Africa Prize for Arts and Culture. In 2017, she curated the first ever Nigerian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale. In 2018, she was selected as a member of the jury for the 13th edition of the Dakar Biennale.

The 2050: The Nigeria of our Dreams” Art contest is open to Visual Artists including photographers, illustrators, sculptors and graphic designers; Architects, Filmmakers, Animators; performing artists including Poets and spoken word artists and fashion designers; and their art submissions must show improvement across the sustainable development goals.

The Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) is a not-for profit/non-partisan think tank with a mandate to promote and champion the reform of the Nigerian economy into an open, private sector-led economy that is globally competitive on a sustainable basis. Being a prominent advocacy think tank, the NESG engages government, private sector and civil society in key development issues and economic policies in Nigeria.