"I didn't attend secondary school, but today I teach in Harvard, Canada, UK" - Nike Okundaye

Meet Chief (Mrs) Nike Okundaye, a renowned textile artist and the Managing Di­rector, Nike Arts Centres and Galleries located in Lagos, Abuja, Osogbo, and her home town, Ogidi-Ijumu, Kogi State.


A committed artist and patriot whose career has spanned five decades, Mrs Okundaye is one of the country’s cultural ambassadors, and through her creativity, has been able to put Nigeria on world map by facilitating workshops and training programmes in the US, UK, Italy and other countries across Africa and the Caribbean.

She encourages youths of today to focus on their talents and market properly instead of waiting for non-existing white collar jobs.

In a chat with Daily Sun, Mrs Okundaye talks about how arts has made her famous and also advises aspiring female artists.

At what point she became famous

”It was the time I had a breakthrough to travel to the US and see how people over were making a living for themselves. That was 1974. After I returned to the country, I said to myself, if these people could package their arts properly, I should be able to do likewise. So, I began to train my colleagues, especially, the females on how to be self-reliant through their handiwork. I made sure I wasn’t working alone. I shared my knowledge



On what life has taught her

”Life has taught me to be closer to my root, share knowledge and if you have an opportunity, grab it. That explains why I was able to seize the opportunity to travel to the US in 1974. When I got there, I en­gaged in teaching and I returned to Nige­ria to teach my people here. Today, I have four centres. I was invited to Italy to teach some Nigerian girls on how they could work with their hands but not their body. It took me between 3-4 years to convince about 3,000 ladies to dump prostitution to become entrepreneurs in Italy. Presently, they are using their textile to design lin­en. They design for hollandaise and other textiles.”



Her advice for aspiring female artists

”They should know what they are good at. If they are good at cooking, cooking is art. They should focus on it and do it well. If they are good at sewing, they should sew well and shortly after, they will begin to make money. But if you are a graduate and you’re shy that people will call you a tailor instead of designer, please let them call you whatever they like, as long as you’re making your money. I want them to remain focused and the sky may be their beginning.”

Her Educational background

I lost my mother when I was six years old. My grandmother died and my great grandmother raised me. I grew up from nothing. I sold wares for my grandmother. That was why I was to be able to attend school up to primary six, so that I can express myself. I always thank God because, then, I could not speak English, For example, if I wanted to tell people that this is my work, I would say this is my signature. So, I didn’t stop learning. I learn from the younger people work­ing with me. I tell them that if I make mistakes, they should correct me. I didn’t attend secondary school but today, I teach people abroad. I teach people with doctorate degrees. I teach in Har­vard, Canada, Uk, and other African countries.

I was to be retained overseas as instructor but I said No, I wanted to return home and teach my people. Every minute I thank God for his grace over me, growing from nothing to become somebody.







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