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The official
Nigerian coat of arms; two golden horses on their hind legs in a field
of flowers perching circus-style with their front legs on either side
of a shield with a red eagle atop, denotes inspirational symbols of
nationhood. A prominent Y on the shield stands for the bifurcation of
the Rivers Niger and Benue. The horses, I presume, stand for strength
and, the eagle according to dictionary definition is ‘a large bird of
prey, of great powers of flight and vision; a military standard.’ One
can cynically insinuate that the last part of the eagle’s description
has been the ‘magnet’ that has always drawn our military to seize power
and control; unfortunately woefully, the vision of Nigeria whilst
preying with impunity on its great wealth!

Unlike our bland
green white and green national flag and, our first national anthem
composed by a British woman, the Nigerian coat of arms has not been too
controversial. It has been a successful seal of unity as it serves as
the official coat of arms and symbol of authority for the federal
government as well as all the other 36 States and Federal Capital
Territory.

It is instructive
that Nigeria’s foremost official/ceremonial parade grounds, the Tafawa
Balewa Square-TBS, Lagos, named after Nigeria’s first Prime Minister,
is decorated along its peripheries by huge sculptures of horses and
eagles. When General Olusegun Obasanjo handed over to President Shehu
Shagari at the TBS in 1979 the ceremony featured horsemen of the
Nigerian Army bearing flags and colours. The Abuja equivalent of TBS is
named Eagle Square (incredibly without a single monument of an Eagle)
and, again at the Eagle Square Abuja in 1999 when General Abdulsalam
handed over to a now-civilian President Obasanjo, horses (white) were
an integral part of the ceremonies.

That the national
teams of Nigeria’s most popular sport, football, are named Super
Eagles, Flying Eagles and Golden Eaglets completes Nigeria’s total
commitment to this special bird; the King of the Skies! Whether
Nigeria, in 50 years of nationhood, has achieved the sterling qualities
of both the horse and eagle, is at best very doubtful. All the same,
they remain very valid symbols Nigeria should aspire to faithfully
emulate.

Celebrations for
Nigeria @ 50 threw up so many possibilities to create lasting and
outstanding national monuments to commemorate half-a-century of
nationhood. Predictably, there were many celebratory creative events;
music, drama, art and photography exhibitions, symposia, workshops and
dinners all culminating in a grand parade at Eagle Square on Friday,
October 1, 2010.

Without doubt, one
of the most outstanding creative statements to celebrate Nigeria at 50
was appropriately made by one of Nigeria’s leading monumental sculptors
Tony Akinbola in Calabar, a city that is arguably regarded as the first
capital of Nigeria. Akinbola achieved a first when he sold the idea of
sculpting the Nigerian coat of arms for the first time; to Governor
Liyel Imoke of Cross River State. He was commissioned in early August
and completed the history-making 3-D sculpture in time for its official
unveiling by Governor Imoke on October 1, 2010.

According to
Akinbola who already has the Calabar Calabar and Monolith monumental
sculptures at two major Calabar roundabouts to his fame, his 3-D
sculpture of the Nigerian coat of arms is a combination of historical
and cultural realities. “I felt that to celebrate Nigeria at fifty we
needed to revisit where the whole idea of making Nigeria into one
entity began and, decided to use Art as a platform for rebranding
Nigeria and as a pedestal for reconstructing our Nigerian symbols. I am
interested in the idea of standardising and, monumental art is a strong
tool for making statements and elevating the psyche of the people.”

Akinbola points to
China, North Korea and Russia as good examples of using monumental art
for historical and cultural branding. “When America celebrated its 100
years of Independence the French government gave America the Statute of
Liberty and when France itself celebrated its 100 years of the French
Revolution it built the Eiffel Tower in Paris,” he points out. For him,
“rebranding means standardisation and making things more
representative.” Rebranding, he also believes, “should start with our
flag and coat of arms.”

The Calabar 3-D
Coat of Arms is strategically located. It stands ten feet in height at
the roundabout in front of the old Residency (once the headquarters of
the Royal Niger Company) now the National Museum and, near the
Presidential Guest House and leading to the Governor’s Residence.

The sculpture is
made of fibreglass and weather-protective materials and the artist
assures that it will be in good shape for a long time. “It will need
minimal maintenance every three or four years. We will partinate it to
re-embellish it.” He is now working on his fourth major sculpture, the
Cross River Brand Logo Monument in 3-D.

Akinbola strongly
believes that his 3-D Coat of Arms is a positive statement about
consistency and detail. “It is done in realism to capture all the
essence of the symbols; the stallion and eagle in particular. It is a
statement about rebranding in detail. Every entrance to a major
government building should be standardised with a 3-D Coat of Arms at
the national and State levels. We must emphasise a standard green in
our national flag and have a standard length for the pole on which to
fly the flag. Sometimes you see white stallions and a red eagle on the
coat of arms. Again we need to standardise so our national symbols are
the same in Abuja and the States.”

Abuja remains a
sore point for Tony Akinbola for its glaring lack of monuments. “We
should revisit the issue of monuments in Abuja,” he emphasises. “As you
approach the Abuja City Centre there should be monuments representing
each state in alphabetical order from Abia to Zamfara, to capture the
people’s aspirations and culture. We must be proud that we are the most
unique country in the world with as many as 250 nationalities.”

He is also at a loss as to why, as the world’s most populous Black
nation, we do not have Cultural Centres abroad. Meanwhile he suggests
that a Visual Touring Exhibition of 50 Art works to visually represent
every year of our independence should be put together as a global
exhibition. “1973 was All-Africa Games that gave birth to Surulere;
1977 was FESTAC that resulted in Festac Town and these are landmarks
and brand marks. It is very interesting how Lagos State has cleverly
rebranded the horses at TBS by placing Eyo masquerades under them and
all over Lagos. This is the beauty and power of Art in rebranding!”