The Oba of Lagos, His Royal Majesty Oba Riliwanu Babatunde Osuolale Aremu Akiolu I, has formally intervened in the growing controversy surrounding the forthcoming art showcase titled “An Owambe Exhibition” by Nigerian-American visual artist, Uzo Njoku.
The monarch described the event as potentially capable of provoking cultural unrest and misrepresenting Yoruba traditions.
In an official letter dated September 24, 2025, and addressed to the Lagos State Commissioner for Tourism, Arts, and Culture, Mrs. Toke Benson-Awoyinka, and the Special Assistant to the Governor on Tourism, Mr. Idris Aregbe, the monarch directed the Lagos State Government to take “appropriate action” on the matter to prevent any disturbance or public disorder.
The letter, seen by SaharaReporters, was titled “Forwarding of Petition Letter — Request to Cancel ‘An Owambe Exhibition’ by Uzo Njoku Due to Cultural Misrepresentation.”
The letter reads in part: “I am directed by His Royal Majesty, Alaiyeluwa Oba Riliwanu Babatunde Osuolale Aremu Akiolu I, Oba of Lagos, to forward the attached petition from the Yoruba Youth Council dated September 22, 2025, concerning the exhibition titled ‘An Owambe Exhibition’ by Uzo Njoku, which has raised serious concerns over cultural misrepresentation.
“Alaiyeluwa has instructed that you take appropriate action on this matter, as he is keen to avoid any form of disturbance or unrest within Lagos State and its environs.”
The Oba also requested that the Lagos State Ministry of Tourism review its policies on public cultural showcases to prevent such incidents in the future.
“Alaiyeluwa respectfully requests that your ministry review existing policies, rules, and regulations governing public exhibitions and cultural showcases. That will help ensure that this event, as well as future events of this nature, are subject to proper approval and oversight by your ministry before they are allowed to take place,” the monarch added.
Copies of the letter were also sent to the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, the Area Commander of Area “A” Command Headquarters (Lion Building), the Permanent Secretary for Tourism, Arts, and Culture, and the leadership of the Yoruba Youth Council, the petitioners, for record purposes.
SaharaReporters observed that the letter followed weeks of public uproar within Yoruba socio-cultural and online communities over Njoku’s planned Lagos exhibition, which critics have accused of “appropriating and distorting Yoruba cultural symbols” for political and ethnic propaganda.
Njoku, a Nigerian-American artist known internationally for her vivid Afrocentric works, announced plans for her debut homecoming exhibition in Lagos earlier in August.
The show, according to her, will feature nine new paintings exploring “intergenerational conflict, queer identity, female beauty standards, and spiritual resilience”, themes she said reflect the evolving Nigerian experience.
However, the exhibition, which Njoku titled “An Owambe Exhibition”, has generated fierce backlash from several Yoruba organizations, including the Yoruba Progressive Elites Forum (YPEF) and the Yoruba Youth Council, who alleged that the artist’s interpretation of Yoruba culture is “insulting, politically manipulative, and ethnically misleading.”
An online petition launched against the show has garnered hundreds of signatures, calling on the Lagos State Government, the Department of State Services (DSS), and the Nigeria Police Force to “halt the event pending a cultural and security review.”
Critics claim that Njoku’s artwork, which merges Yoruba traditional motifs such as Adire textiles and Gele headwear with colours and patterns reminiscent of the Biafran flag, represents a deliberate attempt to “reframe Lagos through a separatist lens.”
A prominent Yoruba commentator on social media, known by the handle @Ariremako, accused the artist of using “soft power” to push “a covert ideological agenda.”
“The danger lies in the subtlety,” the user wrote. “By embedding Biafran colours into Yoruba fabrics, attaching Igbo names to Yoruba traditions, and falsely presenting Lagos as anti-Igbo, such exhibitions attempt to rewrite history and alienate Lagosians from their own cultural heritage.
“This is cultural subversion with a political undertone, designed to delegitimise the identity of Lagos while promoting a proscribed group’s narrative. If tolerated in Lagos, this emboldens others to replicate the same subversion under the cover of ‘art’ or ‘expression’.”
By stepping into the controversy, the Oba of Lagos has effectively escalated the matter from public criticism to official government concern.
