Re-imagining Society: Nigeria’s New Generation

Through the work of some of Africa’s most exciting creative talent, writer Ozzy Etomi sees a new way of thinking emerge. Nevertheless, in a society where conservative values still rule, this new way of thinking is often at odds with the power structures in play. In a powerful and thought-provoking essay, Etomi explores this disconnect, advocating for the empowerment of Africa’s marginalized groups and the creativity they bring to the global stage.

It’s 2010, and I am sat cross-legged on my living room floor, poring over Maki Oh’s debut collection. While the fashion world will eventually become enamored with her revival of organic dyeing techniques and signature mix of patterns, unusual materials and motifs, I am paying close attention to the story being told through her sensual feminine silhouettes. 

The form-fitting silk tops embellished with broken calabashes are deliberately arranged to highlight the roundness of a woman’s breasts, as are the sheer blouses and dresses with delicately embroidered nipples. Even back then, I recognized it as something different, something special; a deliberate nod to the female form, and a very pointed message about Nigerian women’s sexuality. In the designer’s own words, she “wants to tell a different story about Africa, and challenge beauty and cultural norms through a womanist lens.”

It’s 2020, and the news breaks on Twitter that Kanye West has appointed Mowalola Ogunlesi as creative director for his GAP collaboration, the British-Nigerian designer known for her ultra-sexy, gender-neutral designs. Cut-out dresses, breast-grazing crop tops, barely-there miniskirts, thigh-high boots and colourful wigs. Her AW19 collection saw male models sporting cut-out jumpsuits, cropped jackets and skin-tight low-waisted pants with exposed laced panties: a blatant challenge to hypermasculine ideals of what it means to be a Black and African man. The designer cites inspiration from the 70s and 80s Nigerian rock scene to okada and danfo drivers, but her collections are also reminiscent of the “glamour girl” Nollywood aesthetic. Formerly depicted in a negative light in 90s cinema, the ‘Nollybabes’ movement heralded the reclamation of the women in these films as fashion, beauty and feminist icons.

This is more than just this moment. The majority of the new crop of African creatives have spent the last decade cultivating their ideas through the lens of radical self-expression, deconstructing respectability, heteronormativity, gender, sexuality, beauty. Challenging who gets to be called normal, through their art, fashion, photography, film, and writing. In doing so, they are slowly unravelling layers of stereotypes and stigmatization of marginalized groups within Nigerian society. 

Historically, art has always played a role in shaping culture, in giving a voice to those rarely heard. Afrobeats legend Fela Kuti was notorious for criticizing the ruling class through his music and flouting religious and cultural norms by flaunting his revolving army of “wives” - the young, free-spirited dancers who were harshly judged by patrons (who nevertheless flocked to the Shrine in their thousands to watch the wives perform.) The iconic photographs by  JD Okhai Ojeikere tells the story of the rich history of African hairstyles, while “The Joys of Motherhood” by Buchi Emecheta sheds light on the ambiguous rewards of motherhood and the toll of prescribed culture on the African woman.

Artists like Uthman Wahaab and photographer Lakin Ogunbanwo in his Notion of Form series visualize stories of women who aren’t afraid of their curves. Women with belly, women with body rolls, women who, in reality, encounter the difficulties of existing in a society ruled by fatphobia. On film, women are often depicted as heroes of their own stories; badass, feminist, sexual, unashamed beings. This sentiment is echoed on the fashion runways as designers release cutting-edge collections celebrating the female form. Nevertheless, out in the real world, women remain under the thumb of sexist expectations masquerading as cultural values.

This dichotomy is something that has always been prevalent in African society, where freedom is an almost dystopian concept, one found poking in pockets of organized rebellion but stifled in mainstream society. In our artistic expression, there is fluidity and sexual acceptance. There is a blurring of gender lines. There are bodies demanding that they also are recognized for their beauty; beautiful Black bodies, fat bodies, albino bodies, scarred bodies. There is eroticism and humanity. Creativity which celebrates these values has garnered global praise and recognition, which has subsequently made them noticed at home. 

Nevertheless, the message of liberation that is expressed through this newer generation of artists is rarely diffused beyond our bubbles; more widely many still live in fear for their existence. Nigeria still remains a veritable hotbed of human rights infringements. It is a place that stifles voices, individuality, and self-expression. A complex, outwardly conservative, religious, highly patriarchal society where women are second class citizens by law and tradition. Where rape culture is woven into its textile, and one amongst many African countries still upholding laws criminalizing homosexuality. In other words, it is a place of violent existence for its citizens, especially women and the queer community.

This othering has served as fuel to usher the rising intersection of the feminist movement and LGBTQ+ activism, defiant in the knowledge that liberation for one will never exist without the other. Nigeria has arguably the most relevant and globally recognized creative ecosystem in West Africa, a scene largely driven by women and queer creatives. This is evidenced by the rising use of “queer aesthetics”, a term coined in the 80s for art related to the politics of identity following the AIDS crisis and the feminist movement. 

Orange Culture’s Adebayo Oke-Lawal created his brand with liberation and freedom at its core, to “challenge stereotypical ideas of masculinity.” The brand has been embraced by Nigerian men sporting its gender non-conforming designs, and Nigerian-American pop star Davido collaborated with the designer on a capsule collection in 2017. This aesthetic has also been a device for the “alté” music scene, the movement of alternative artists churning out experimental, genre-bending music. It is now run of the mill to see the male artists in heels, skin-tight leather pants and makeup, or adorned with jewellery. Female artists, meanwhile, sport baggy pants, oversized shirts and sneakers. The message is clear: “normal is whatever we say it is.”

But much like a costume, something that can be worn and shed, this form of expression is at no real cost to their personhood, especially if these artists project heteronormative personas. For the queer creative community, the artists, writers, photographers, directors, stylists, and designers working to power the industry, their lives is not a costume or an aesthetic, it is simply an existence, one that does not need to be artistic to be considered valid, but one that remains under constant threat by such conservative norms.

Unsurprisingly, as in most virulently sexist and homophobic societies, the support on both fronts publicly has been abysmal. One cannot help but question the motives of those that are only willing to interact with these realities when it benefits their image (especially while continuing to uphold or ignore harmful ideals that stoke the fire of societal injustice).

Burna Boy recently came under scrutiny on social media when it was announced that the artist had collaborated with non-binary UK artist Sam Smith. Critiques about whether Burna Boy had ever spoken up or supported the queer community in Nigeria were re-awakened a few days later when he released his highly anticipated album and caused a stir with alleged homophobic lyrics on the track Real Life. Afro-soul artist Simi made publicly disparaging statements towards the queer community, only to tender a heartfelt apology months later, the same day her husband, Adekunle Gold, appeared on the cover of a queer publication. Similarly, Nigerian feminists continue to bemoan the reluctance of many powerful Nigerian women and female celebrities in speaking up against misogyny and rape culture, or lending their voices to high profile cases. And yet, Tiwa Savage, Nigeria’s most popular female musician, featured in a full-page spread in The Guardian titled Fighting Nigeria’s Rape Crisis. For those on the ground, the silence is deafening.

This is indeed the “Real Life” in Nigeria. It is not enough for marginalized communities to see themselves represented simply through the arts, thus we must be careful not to create caricatures that limit our ideas of who people have to be in order to be appreciated. People's existence does not have to be a resistance; We deserve to live full lives outside of our imagination. As a society, we owe it to ourselves to interact with ideas concerning liberation; the dismantling of gender norms; the rejection of hypermasculinity and the domination of the patriarchy. We cannot continue to benefit from marginalized communities, their aesthetics and their ideas, and only extend performative allyship in return. A judgment-free world cannot only be experienced between the pages of a book, in a song, on a canvas, or on the runway.

Our mark of progressiveness will not only come from dismantling society through our creative work, but dismantling society as it functions today. Making it safe for multiple, richer, fuller, and more accurate existences; a place that is acceptable for all. Only when we can live in the world we create with our art will we have succeeded.

Words By Ozzy Etomi

Related Reading:

Homecoming And Browns Present: Ni Agbaye
“Ma People, Ma People”
In Conversation With… Haute Fashion Africa
Come and See: Through The Lenses Of Kenneth Ize And Mowalola Ogunlesi

Burna Boy recently came under scrutiny on social media when it was announced that the artist had collaborated with non-binary UK artist Sam Smith. Critiques about whether Burna Boy had ever spoken up or supported the queer community in Nigeria were re-awakened a few days later when he released his highly anticipated album and caused a stir with alleged homophobic lyrics on the track Real Life. Afro-soul artist Simi made publicly disparaging statements towards the queer community, only to tender a heartfelt apology months later, the same day her husband, Adekunle Gold, appeared on the cover of a queer publication. Similarly, Nigerian feminists continue to bemoan the reluctance of many powerful Nigerian women and female celebrities in speaking up against misogyny and rape culture, or lending their voices to high profile cases. And yet, Tiwa Savage, Nigeria’s most popular female musician, featured in a full-page spread in The Guardian titled Fighting Nigeria’s Rape Crisis. For those on the ground, the silence is deafening.

This is indeed the “Real Life” in Nigeria. It is not enough for marginalized communities to see themselves represented simply through the arts, thus we must be careful not to create caricatures that limit our ideas of who people have to be in order to be appreciated. People's existence does not have to be a resistance; We deserve to live full lives outside of our imagination. As a society, we owe it to ourselves to interact with ideas concerning liberation; the dismantling of gender norms; the rejection of hypermasculinity and the domination of the patriarchy. We cannot continue to benefit from marginalized communities, their aesthetics and their ideas, and only extend performative allyship in return. A judgment-free world cannot only be experienced between the pages of a book, in a song, on a canvas, or on the runway.

Our mark of progressiveness will not only come from dismantling society through our creative work, but dismantling society as it functions today. Making it safe for multiple, richer, fuller, and more accurate existences; a place that is acceptable for all. Only when we can live in the world we create with our art will we have succeeded.

Words By Ozzy Etomi

Related Reading:

Homecoming And Browns Present: Ni Agbaye
“Ma People, Ma People”
In Conversation With… Haute Fashion Africa
Come and See: Through The Lenses Of Kenneth Ize And Mowalola Ogunlesi