GEORGE OSODI'S NIGERIAN MONARCHS: UNITY IN SUPREMACY

George Osodi. HRM Solomon Akenzua, Oba Erediauwa of Benin Kingdom. (2012)

George Osodi’s Nigerian Monarchs is a long-term body of work starting from 2012 up until 2017 in which Osodi aimed to display a unity in the diversity of Nigerian Monarchs. But what unifies them?

In January, 7 images out of the many were featured in Tafeta Gallery in London, in an exhibition entitled Royalty. Upon my first examination of Osodi’s sundry collection of Nigerian royalty from our multitudinous ethnicities is a rich exploration and presentation of Nigerian culture within our traditional forms of governance. But my second look finds something darker. A quite overt flex and showcase of wealth and power. Each image but a few holds in it a buff-chested exhibition of sovereignty, which I don’t believe comes from Osodi’s capturing of them but from the subject themselves, the kings and queens. Osodi’s goal was to document these images for posterity; where in the past there has been a lack of documentation and therefore a loss of identity or a documentation from the colonial perspective which coincided with moments where the traditional leaders were rendered powerless by the colonial masters. But now in a post-colonial, corruption-ridiculed Nigeria where the bourgeoisie has sub-alternated for the colonial masters to be the exploitative governing body these images of these ornamented extravagant leaders is almost like a slap in the face.



The images are dominated by mise-en-scene that supports the narrative of extravagance with wide shots to let the viewer’s eye focus in on key items that properly represent the level of their wealth. For example, the image of The Emir of Kano is a wide shot allowing you to take in the vastness of the setting while still drawing attention to main elements of the image. In the picture, the Emir sits in the backseat of his classic British Rolls Royce, a clear symbol both of wealth and colonial times, both of which he showcases proudly. His face is wrapped in white cloth and a servant stands to the side of him, outside of the car holding a sizeable umbrella over him. There is an excessiveness to the image that makes it achieve what it aims to achieve. Why else would the Emir of Kano choose this moment, while a photographer is present to hop into his green Rolls Royce, surrounded by his servants dressed also in green in the exterior of his palace also containing shades of green? The green is quite fitting as it is a colour often associated with wealth and greed.

George Osodi. Emir of Kano’s Rolls Royce (2012). Image via tafeta.com

The blatant display of wealth recalls the 1744 painting by Italian painter, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, The Banquet of Cleopatra. In the painting, Cleopatra who is depicted as a white woman left centre of the frame has prepared a lavish banquet to prove she is the most extravagant and therefore the most powerful between her and her husband, Marc Anthony who is depicted to the right of the frame. Like in the photograph of the Emir, Cleopatra is surrounded by servants dressed richly. She like the Emir also possesses the key item of wealth, which also happens to be the focus of the image, the pearl earring she holds outstretched over her glass, which she is about to dissolve. There is also an element of “celebrity culture” in both works. The Emir’s elusiveness and distance from the viewer, as his face is shrouded and Cleopatra’s audience watching from above also outside of her world and distant from her, echo what in the 21st century we now associate with celebrity culture tying in with the narrative of wealth and power.

Giambattista Tiepolo. The Banquet of Cleopatra (1743-1744). 

Another theme that is clearly present in this set is the male bravado of the kings. In a very simple way, the set embodies some of Nigeria’s most annoying issues, encouraged patriarchy, male supremacy and the sovereignty of the bourgeoisie. Nigerians are known to tolerate the wealthy and men in general, even at their worst. The images feature the unsmiling faces of the kings, showing off their opulence or any other form of superiority they can grasp. One image especially evokes this. The Ewi of Ado-Ekiti holds his Irukere, lifted up in his hands and captured in motion as if he is blessing us the viewer with the power bestowed upon him. It is ironic in a sense, we can imagine the viewers as common people, whom usually are the ones with the power to instate the rulers into power. Yet here The Ewi is blessing us with the power bestowed upon him by us. An interesting metaphor for the relationship between Nigerians and their government.

George Osodi. HRM Alayeluwa Oba Rufus Adeyemo Adejugbe, Aladesanmi III, The Ewi of Ado-Ekiti (2013).

Still on the topic of male bravado, in Tafeta’s gallery space, tucked at the back is the portrait of Queen Haji a Hadizatu Ahmedu, Magajiya of Knubwaba. In an alarming contrast to the images of her male counterparts, she is captured modestly in an environment that seems more closely linked to the settings of her people rather the far-off palaces of the Kings. She poses alone, mostly covered except for her face leaving no room to reveal ostentations like gold watches or beaded staffs. The chair on which she sits is a simple office chair rather than the intricately carved wooden chairs of the others and she smiles, quite warmly at the camera. There is something a lot more human about this piece and in fact, without this piece, the bluster of her peers could go unnoticed. Without having to point it out, this photograph draws a clear link to how women are treated in Nigeria as opposed to men.

George Osodi. HRH Queen Haji a Hadizatu Ahmedu, Magajiya of Knubwada (2012). Image via tafeta.com.

Osodi was trying to represent a unity in the culture and lifestyle of the Nigerian Monarchs and indeed he achieved that. He revealed that the excessiveness that we find in our new world democratic leaders, we also find in our traditional leaders showing the trickle-down effect of colonialism and the continued reign of a capitalist and sexist country, where the masses suffer.