Odan Series : The Nation's Youth

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The first part of the "Odan" series.

"Odan" is an Esan word which means "struggle" in English.

The image depict struggle in whatever perspective you tend to look at it from. To me, this series depicts struggles in three major ways especially.

This first image of the series depicts the current situation of the Nigerian youths. The Nigerian population consists of 60% of the youths. An average Nigerian youth is one bursting with vigour and a lot of promises. He is one who is hard working, hopeful, full of creativity, dynamism and ideas. But a lot of youths have their potential tied down by the system. The way Nigeria is, it is programmed to frustrate one's effort to self discovery and succeeding as a individual. The uprising of cultism, prostitution, and other vices in the country is becoming alarming. There are no jobs. The educational sector is nothing to write home about. The slots for admission into various tetiary institutions in ratio to the number of youths who apply for JAMB's UTME is an eye sore. What about the quality of teachers and the yearly released WAEC results? A lot of graduates are at home with their parents and guardians. A lot of graduates are working two to three odds jobs yet underpaid. We are slaves in our own country. The brain drain level is on the increase. The system doesn't value youths; it doesn't value graduates; it doesn't value professionals. We are economically disadvantaged as youths. Becoming a successful entrepreneur in Nigeria is one of the most difficult things to do. A lot of youths are loosing hope; a lot are going through different levels of depression. Escapism through narcotics is on the increase daily.
We were suffering and smiling, but not any more. Enough of the pseudo - optimistic phrase; "E go better," when infact things continue to be on a down turn. We are not living. We are struggling, hence birthing a revolution of youths saying enough is enough!

Email:bmaclyyfe@gmail.com
Title : The Nation's Youth
Series: Odan (Struggle)
Medium: Graphite Pencils on Paper (LLB)
Dimension : 36 by 48 inches  (3 by 4 feet)
Duration : One month (roughly 10 to 12 hours daily)
Art: Hyperrealism

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