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By Sunday Ani
“After creating the world, God was excited that he created man. That’s exactly what happens to artists after each creation of a piece of art. We are happy and excited that we are able to make something out of nothing.”
That was how Emeka Ilechukwu captured the world of an artist.
Ilechukwu, having graduated as a sculptor from the Institute of Management and Technology (IMT), Enugu, just wanted to live a simple, quiet life, catering for his family and possibly possess one small car that could drive him and his family around, but he did not know that life had a bigger plan for him.
In this interview, he shared his grass to grace experience, his near-death encounters with armed robbers, the world of arts, and why more men are in the field of arts than women, among other things. Excerpts:
Compared to your time, how is the enrollment of fine art related courses; is it on the increase or decrease?
For my Alma Mata, the Institute of Management and Technology (IMT), Enugu, there were more male doing Fine Arts, Art and Design than females because of the energy involved in it. Sculpturing requires physical exertion. If you are moulding something, for example, you will need to carry a bag of sand and a bag of cement. It is not everybody that can carry heavy things like that. Again, if you are moulding from clay, it requires a lot of energy to be able to get it done successfully, compared to just a bag of paint that you can use to do a whole lot of jobs. That is why there are more male sculptors than female sculptors. There are female sculptors, but they are not many, unlike their male counterparts. This affects the enrollment of students in the school. I won’t advise anybody with health challenges, particularly females, to go into sculptures. It’s not for people who are physically unfit except you are a very determined artist.
Would you choose this line again if the same opportunity presents itself?
I think I am a born artist except I don’t come with the same configuration I have now. I started drawing on the walls at the age of five. It’s innate. It’s inborn. I think there is nothing I can do without art. I enjoy it. It gives fulfillment. It is life. I pity other professionals that are not enjoying theirs like mine. When God created the world, he was excited that he created man. That’s exactly what happens to us after each creation of a piece of art. We are happy and excited that we are able to make something out of nothing. There is nothing in this world that matches that kind of fulfillment, nothing.
There are widely held views that one cannot create wealth through art, unlike other professions, but here you are; how did you do it?
I never thought I would be where I am today, that’s the truth. However, whatever you do in life, God will bless you, provided you are diligent in it. Once you keep reinventing, renovating, and persevering in it, something beautiful will naturally come out of it. When I set out in this profession, I was only interested in feeding my family, paying my house rent and probably getting one small car to be able to carry them around. I just wanted to take care of my family basically. That was all that occupied my mind. But by God’s grace, we have gone far beyond that aspiration. I have been in this job for the past 18 years, but the journey actually started in 1989 when I had an encounter with my art teacher. That was when I made up my mind to pursue a career in arts and sculptures.
What then is your biggest achievement so far, having gone far beyond your aspiration?
My biggest achievement is being able to take care of my responsibility without much sweat. There is nothing as important to me as that. The other one is being invited by the presidency to Aso Rock, where some of my works were purchased. This was during President Jonathan Goodluck era. It was a memorable event for me. In terms of putting a price on the work, art works are actually priceless. It is not just about the efforts put in. It is a combination of all that I have learnt over the years rolled into any particular work of art. So, putting a price to it won’t do enough justice to the work. However, I have sold works with some reasonable price tags, running into millions.
Why is your wife the face of your firm?
Initially, I wanted to marry from my tribe, the Igbo. That has always been my mindset. It’s either Igbo or nothing and I had someone I thought I was going to settle down with. But I was shocked when I made my intentions known to her and she said she didn’t believe that I, as an artist, could take care of her. She said I had better got this artistic thing out of my head and got a better job. I was not only shocked, but also disappointed and depressed. That encounter with her made me to start questioning if truly I was on the right path. Thankfully, the day I met my wife, a non-Igbo, everything changed. We were just friends at the time she came to my office, saw a painting hung on the wall, screamed and started praising me. I was actually taken aback, wondering what was so special in the painting. She said something that really changed my outlook in terms of hope. She said if I could do this, she would help me to market it. At this time, there was no relationship whatsoever. We were just friends. A lady said there wasn’t a future in what I was doing, and here was another lady saying she wanted to take the same rejected products to market around the world. I told myself that there was no wife elsewhere, but this woman. That was how the friendship turned to where we are now as husband and wife and parents to our children. Today, she is in charge of all the administrative duties of my firm. I will always tell any man to marry someone who loves what he does. I am an artist, and that is who I am, and she loves it. Apart from God, the credit goes to her. Without her, forget it. This was somebody who resigned a six digit paying job to join me in 2007 when Naira had more value. That was how much she believed in me and what I was doing. She said I believe you could make it. I believe we could work together and to make a legacy for our children. Today, the story has changed. She saw today which I never saw.
You are doing something unique here. Your staff who are in apprenticeship of sort, collect a monthly salary and a meal per day; why the incentive?
There was nothing of such during my time, for one to learn on the job and still get paid at the same time. This arrangement is a structured one such that we increase their salary as their performance improves.
How did you move from being a three-bedroom rented occupier to a proud owner of eight blocks of flats within days?
My former landlord, all of a sudden, gave me a three-month quit notice though such notice should have been six months. I have been staying in the apartment for the past 11 years, and I had a cordial relationship with my landlord. He even said that what existed between us was a father and son relationship. Suddenly, he said he didn’t want me in the house again. He insisted I must vacate within three months. I wanted to argue with him, but the Holy Spirit told me to be calm, so I told him no problem sir. I was really disappointed because the money I had in my account at that time was less than N300,000, which meant I couldn’t get a decent three bedroom accommodation. I occupied two flats in the compound; one was my studio. I repainted and remodeled both flats to my taste. I was paying more than N1 million for the two flats. My wife started calling agents for new accommodation as we had just three months to vacate the property. The following day, we got information that the next building, two plots of eight block flats, was vacant, but it was actually for sale, not for rent. We were just asked to come and look at it. As we stepped into the compound, my spirit connected to the building immediately. I told my wife that I like this place, and she too felt the same way. I had a strong feeling that the property belonged to us, yet we had nothing, absolutely nothing. I took the property to God in prayers even as we continued talking with the agent and the person who had the power of attorney to the property. The first time we spoke on the phone, the man said I just like you. I replied to him that if truly he liked me, he should allow the transaction to be in my favour. He obviously didn’t know I didn’t have anything on me. My lawyers requested the papers to the property so we could do our due diligence. Every detail of the property was checked at the government ministry, Alausa, and all was in order. Everything about the property was clean. There was no loan on the property. They accepted all the offers I sent to them. I then told them the payment would be four times. They said there was no problem. I stipulated dates of payment and they agreed. At this time, I was just living by faith because there was nothing on me. We signed contract sales thereafter. But between when the contract of sales was signed and the first payment date, I started getting orders of my works all over Nigeria. I have never experienced such. We made the first payment and even the second before the due date. As they say, the rest is history. Shortly after we moved in, less than two weeks later, we were attacked by armed robbers; they were about four of them. Of course, it was orchestrated by somebody close to me going by the kind of information they were asking me. They were asking for my account details, telling me the names of my bank, including the new one I just opened. They forced me to open my bank apps. They didn’t see what they were looking for because I had just finished paying my workers’ salaries. They beat up my wife, telling her that she is wicked. They took the cash meant to buy provisions and food for the house. They injured me as they smashed an iron rod on my head, leading to heavy flow of blood. When they saw the blood, they apologized. They even took me to the toilet to wash off the blood, bandaged my head and pleaded I pray for them for forgiveness, because according to them, every man is a sinner, and they were not different. They said they didn’t plan to be this brutal, but since it has happened, I should forgive them and pray for them before they depart. I thought that since they were remorseful of their action, they would drop all the gadgets and money they took. But, do you know that they still went away with their loot?
Are you fulfilled now?
In all honesty and sincerity, I am grateful to God for what he has done for me. The vision I had as a kid to be an artist had been surpassed. I just wanted to have one small car and be able to cater for my family. That was all I wanted. Today, we are not talking about renting, one small car, or just catering for my family; we are now talking about much bigger aspirations. So, I am more than fulfilled. My happiest moment was when I paid the N10, 000 I borrowed from my church. I had just resigned from my paid employment job at the time. I had borrowed N10,000 from a department in my church to pay back by month end. I had given a post dated cheque. Unfortunately, I had to resign from the job the same month. I immediately went into private practice, and I made double my salary that month. I was so happy that I was the one calling them in the church if they had gone to the bank to cash the cheque. You needed to see how happy I was when I called the church. I thought it would take at least a year before I would start making sales, but it was that same month that things started falling in place for me. I don’t have a sad moment. I consider such a moment as a learning curve, not a sad moment.
