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Foremost art collector and businessman, Prince Yemisi Shyllon, has condemned the posture of the Nigerian government in the area of art appreciation, saying that he would rather partner with the private sector in guaranteeing his legacy of art collection rather than releasing his collection to any section of Nigeria’s government.
Shyllon, a lawyer, businessman, engineer and art collector of international repute, made these remarks while featuring on the Toyin Falola Interview Series held on Sunday, January 15, 2023. The interview series which is a brainchild of renown historian and distinguished professor, Toyin Falola, has featured prominent individuals, policymakers, politicians, academics, captains of industries across the African continent.
Speaking, Prince Shyllon stated that given the history of governance in Nigeria and its attitude to the creative works of arts and the labour of those who have contributed to creativity, “I will not be amenable to surrendering my collection to the government. Some years ago, I was a member, on pro bono basis, of the board of one of Nigeria’s national museums. What I saw would not encourage me to want to deal with any government. I would rather deal with a private sector which I am already organizing. In Nigeria, there is the problem of underfunding of cultural values, lack of understanding of cultural values, leadership problems in terms of the appreciation of the importance of arts and culture to the development of any nation. I have had to give lectures on the importance of the relationship of arts, culture and tourism. I discovered during my investigation, looking at the World Tourism Council Report, that as at 2019 America generated 1.6 trillion dollars in terms of annual revenue through the combination of arts, culture and tourism. America was followed closely by China with 1.5 trillion dollars, and of course France with all its beautiful art works and cultural values. In fact, France had 30 per cent tourists than its population. The same thing goes with Spain and Germany. But look at my country. I would not want to deal with government; I would rather want to deal with the private sector and arrange my affairs such that there would be elements of continuity and the growing concern of advantage of the private sector. It is impossible to predict who becomes president of the nation or governor of any state, or minister of the ministry of arts and culture. My museum has not got the certificate for it to operate. They only gave us an approval. I have tried to get in touch but I have not got the right response. So, the attitude of government would not encourage me to do that.”
The panel of interviewers led by Professor Falola was made of prominent academics and critical stakeholders. The audience included Professor Peju Layiwola, Professor Dele Jegede, Victor Ekpuk, Professor Dele Layiwola, Professor Ebun Clark, Dr. Abimbola Adelakun, Ade Adekola, Pelumi Folajimi, Imal Silva, among others.
While reacting to a question from Professor Falola on being branded as fetish for his passion for art collection, Prince Shyllon said: “When we have visitors, particularly Nigerians, we have such issues. There was one, a very educated man, who came to my house and after listening to what I had to say, he got up and said: “Yemisi, I don’t understand. You are expected to be a Christian. What are you with all these idols?” I laughed. I laughed because of his ignorance. You can be educated and still be ignorant. I asked an artist to carve me a large image of Jesus Christ and I put it at the top of my building so that when people like that come up to say whatever they say, I show them that the image atop my building is not an idol but a representation of a spiritual belief. I also take them through the fact that I have gone to the origin of Christianity at the Vatican. I visited the Vatican and went to the museum. I have been to the cave where Apostle Paul ran into in Rome. I have seen the work of the great Michael Angelo, Leonardo Davinci, and many others around the world. The very people who brought Christianity were patrons of arts. Some people even tell me that the Bible forbids it and I tell them that in Exodus chapter 20 verse 4, Mark 9 verse 42 say it but that is when you want to interpret the Bible literarily. God created the creativity in our artists. Even at the beginning the Christianity, art works were used to promote Christianity. I have been to the ancient museum in Central Brussels and I saw how art was used to promote Christianity. I have also been to places in Brazil where to my shock, I saw the stained glass produced by artists where religious rites were performed. I try my best in educating those who accuse me of idol worship. The problem is very bad given the fact that we tend to want to behave holier than the pope in our misinterpretation of religious injunctions.”
Shyllon called for more appreciation of art and artists in Nigeria, and a better appreciation of culture and tradition. The interview was beamed across Youtube, Facebook, Telegram, and zoom.
