Background & Education

1. Question: What year did you graduate from the University of Benin and what motivated you to choose the University of Benin for your studies?

Answer: I graduated in 2018. My decision to pick the University of Benin was actually a funny one because I was really interested in the arts, but I wasn’t bold enough to tell my parents that I wanted to study art or theatre arts. I had always been performing and writing poetry, so I wanted something in that direction, but I didn’t know how to go about it.

While searching, I came across the University of Benin. I’m also from Edo State, Benin, so it felt familiar.

When I looked up the courses I could apply for, I saw Mass Communication, which was in the same department as Theatre Arts. It sounded interesting. I figured I might get to offer courses in both areas, and it was easier to explain to my parents. My Mum accepted it.

When I got to school, I realized that since I had chosen Mass Communication, I had to focus on that. I only had the opportunity to take about one Theatre Arts course as an elective. But because the campus was quite small and we had the Mass Communication, Theatre Arts, and Fine & Applied Arts Departments, it was a very creative environment. You mixed with artists from different disciplines.

Everyone was creating. You weren’t just stuck in your department; you absorbed the energy of the fine artists and other creatives around you.

It was a small, intimate space. Some of us were even roommates. It felt like four years of residency with artists from different fields. I think that sharpened my skill for other art forms because, before school, I was mostly doing poetry. Being in that space pushed me to explore different forms and build on them.

UNIBEN Experience & Influence

2. Question: During your time at UNIBEN, were there any specific experiences, professors, or mentors that shaped your creativity or perspective? Also, are there any classmates you studied with who you still collaborate with or who have influenced your work?

Answer: In school, things were very interesting. A lot of people knew me, probably because I wasn’t the typical Mass Communication student. Every time there was an event in the Ekenhuan Campus, there would be a Blast Event or some sort of activation, rap battles, performances, all of that, and it was happening constantly. It was a new space for me. As a poet who had already joined the Creative Writers’ Club, I began taking poetry out of reading rooms and onto stages.

I found myself collaborating with musicians, blending poetry and music. At some point, I even joined a music group, and they pushed me into rap because my delivery leaned in that direction. I kept exploring different things until photography came along.

I started hanging out with Jonathan (Jonathan Chambalin), he was on my block, and there was Bami (Ayobami Ogungbe), who was already deep into photography in his final year. These were the top photographers on campus. I had always been interested in photography. Growing up, we had a camera at home and used it to document a lot, so I was already familiar with handling one. But I wanted to understand what using a digital camera felt like. Hanging around them, assisting with shoots, helping with lighting, and watching their process gave me a proper understanding of how they made images.

Eventually, I started doing my own photography too.After they graduated, we still had other photographers like Racheal Seidu doing amazing work. There was also Benjamin, now in Abuja. It was a strong, vibrant line of photographers, and we always shared ideas, reviewing and critiquing each other’s work, and had those long creative conversations. These guys really inspired me to take photography seriously. And then there were artists like George and others in Fine Arts, all doing their own thing. The whole environment was intimate, small enough that we were constantly interacting and learning from each other.

Looking back, what really shaped me as an artist was those cross-disciplinary interactions. Jonathan was in Theatre Arts but also doing photography; others were mixing performance, visual art, writing, everything. Being around that kind of creativity meant you were always picking up something: sometimes consciously, sometimes subconsciously.

All of that made me realize I didn’t have to stay in one box. I could explore beyond what I started with. And that’s really how school shaped me into the kind of artist I am today.

In addition to all of this, I also had one particular experience that wasn’t so pleasant at all. Something happened to a friend of mine, and she asked me to accompany her to the place where it happened. It was a situation rooted in extended family dynamics, and that was the first time I experienced patriarchy so clearly and so violently. I remember standing there thinking“What on earth is going on?” The level of subjugation, among men and women, and even among the women themselves, was shocking. Seeing it play out in real time made me start questioning society deeply, especially what exactly shapes Benin as a cultural and historical space. We’re always told it was a warrior kingdom before the colonial looting and repression, but I began wondering: “Did that history translate into the behaviors of men today? Has it always been like this? What parts of our past are still informing how people act now?”

Being present in that moment was overwhelming. It pushed me to think beyond my own perspective and interrogate the structures people live under: the social, cultural, and historical forces that shape how we behave. That experience really influenced how I understand life, community, and identity, far beyond anything I was learning in class.

3. Question: Are there specific traditions or aspects of Benin’s culture and artistry that have shaped your perspective or work?

Answer: Yeah, I’m really thinking about this, because I think it’s the first time I’m actually reflecting on it. In a way, I never really explored much of Benin culture or spirituality, at least not as deeply as I would have wanted to when I still had the opportunity. Back then, all I thought about was school. I wasn’t thinking seriously as an artist yet. Looking back now, I would say yes, Benin did influence me but in a very subtle way. Benin is a deeply cultural place, but you don’t always see it on the surface. It shows up more in the everyday behaviour of the people, the way traditions have been quietly synthesized into daily life.

There’s this stubbornness in Benin: this attitude of just do it, regardless of what anyone has to say. People will talk, they’ll criticize, but they also still do whatever they want. You can’t show weakness. You just have to make your decision and stand by it. I think that rubbed off on me: the boldness to explore ideas through different mediums, the refusal to let myself be boxed into one thing.

Now that I’m out of school and doing more research around the culture, things aren’t so difficult for meto comprehend. I already had some exposure to that synthesized form of tradition, so there’s a kind of intuitive understanding I’m building on.

So yes, if the question is about any specific thing or influence, I’d say it’s that: the culture’s quiet but persistent presence, and the way it shaped how I move, create, and make decisions.