Valentine Onah | The Graphic Chef

The Man. The Mantra.

Multi-talented isn’t a word that should be thrown around. So pardon me as I slip it into the description of this extremely creative, intelligent, forward-thinking, multi-talented perfectionist that is the Nigerian gifted artist and architect in the making Valentine Onah. The Graphic Chef as he likes to be known is a professional designer capable of "cooking" up breath taking artworks, brand identities and sustainable architectural designs. His brand, Eveonstudio is also known as The Graphic Kitchen.

So what could possibly be dream come true for this young man who seems to be on the track to having it all? “I have a lot of dreams! I would love to see Eveonstudio stand out as a recognisable, strong competitor in the field of art and design. I'm constantly developing, learning and increasing my capacity to drive it. If I wake up one day to realise my brand is suddenly nationally renowned, I think that would be phase one of that dream come true”. A man with a plan. And that plan is diverse, rich and multi-faceted because what many people don’t know about this artist and architect-in-training is that he is also environmentally conscious, a trait that is too often undermined.

Inspired by Breath of life | Florence and the Machines 

He spoke in detail to me about the importance of preserving the earth: “considering the rate of environmental degradation resulting from our actions and decisions, if we don't make conscious informed decisions today in the way we live and build there might be no earth for the future generations”. Yet we can’t just blindly build green and hope that this will somehow improve the environment. In order to avoid criticisms that will surely come such as those put against wind turbines that are supposedly killing off bald eagles in America, we must understand our environment not just on a global scale but also on a local, site-specific scale by recognising what works best where and why. When designing in such situations then it is the job of the architect to “meet the needs of the user without creating more negative impacts than necessary”. 

Charcoal on paper: Inspired by a photograph by Lee Jeffries of a homeless man. 

But Valentine being the ambitious young man he is takes it further, saying that minimising negative impact shouldn’t be where the goal ends; we should also be consciously trying to contribute positively to the world around us. He believes that if this mantra is accepted globally that we can restore the earth with a culmination of seemingly small actions. “We all should be aware that earth is currently sick, like an ill child. If we want her well again, we must do something other than continue our habit of poisoning her”.

This is all well and good but I’m sure many of my readers will be wondering like I was if this is something achievable for Nigeria. Valentine believes it is God’s gift to the motherland. He admits that if our aim is to finally shake the unreliable shackles of the Nigerian power authority PHCN then the initial installation costs will be high. However the money spent will be well worth it as we shouldn’t need to worry about power in the end. “Solar power can be harnessed any were the sun shines but wind power would require wind speeds in the area to reach a minimum velocity”. Most Nigerians will tell you that wind and sunshine are things we have in abundance. And he knows exactly how this can be achieved:

Proposed Abuja Art Expo Centre: Inspired by the Eyo masquerade. Solar panels, three 50kw vertical axis wind turbines for alternative renewable energy. GRFP pipes around the roof for harvesting rainwater into the annex building, "Greenhouse" for treatment and reuse. 

“An economical approach to natural alternative power will be incorporating inverters and batteries with a few solar panels. The public power charges the batteries when available, if unavailable your solar panels would supply power to charge them. The inverter could be configured to supply power to only a few electrical outlets and lighting fixtures (bulbs) to conserve energy when in use. Lastly the use of energy star rated appliances should be promoted to cut down power consumption. Your batteries would last longer that way”.

Seems complex but not impossible. According to the budget office of the Federal Government of Nigeria PHCN’s total capital for 2012 stood at over N51 billion (over $300 million). Surely some of those funds could be directed towards giving Nigeria a more stable, more environmentally friendly power alternative.

Beyond all that Valentine seemed excited for the future of the Nigerian architectural scene. “I'm aware that great and bold minds are emerging”. To him it is all a matter of getting the right equipment to our shores and developing the skill set to harness them. So where does that leave him? What will The Graphic Chef be cooking up five years from now? “Breaking newer grounds in arts and designs. Actively contributing in restoring earth with my environmental conscious designs. Engaged with philanthropic commitments from the plenty God would have blessed me with.” You know, the norm. Watch this space.

Madiba. A Tribute: Graphite on Charcoal

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Montage...Making Something Out of Nothing

This one is a bit close to home which is probably why it took me a while to post it up on here. Also the timing might seem a bit off now but the main message is still relevant I think. 

Making Something out of Nothing

As Nigeria embarks on the final leg of what has been an epic AFCON (African Cup of Nations) journey, I can’t help but think of all the bad publicity we have gotten lately. From the menace that is Boko Haram to the timeworn story of corruption, it seems we’ve had more to complain about than to celebrate in the last year. Yet things seem to be looking up for us.

It may come as a shock to the uninformed but Nigeria isn’t actually a poor country. It just has a surprising amount of poor people. Research shows that although it ranks as the 3^rd biggest African economy, Nigeria still falls short as the 160^th of 177 countries in the Human Development Index. In simple terms we are rich on paper but the money never seems to make it to the man on the street. You hear that there is money somewhere, but somehow you never actually see it. Do we blame this on corruption, illiteracy, the government? The average Nigerian will tell you that things only seem to get worse as time goes by, though our president boldly claimed otherwise on an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour. 

Despite all the bad news that seems to be surrounding Nigeria at the moment, there is still a measure of positivity in the air. Investing in real estate and construction in Nigeria right now seems to be quite common. All around the capital state of Abuja, there are new constructions taking place on both a private and public level. People are taking advantage of the developments and investing where they can.

That’s great for people who have the money to invest in big, high risk industries such as real estate. But what does all this mean for the average Nigerian? One simple solution is all there is; be your own boss. It’s something Nigerian’s do very well. We start businesses from scratch to feed the family and pay the bills. Now more than ever before it seems the average Nigerian is taking their elementary knowledge of mathematics and their people skills to the streets and making something out of nothing. Recalling my childhood, street hawkers and small shops that sold everything from African print to a good meal were part of the landmark. They seem even more vital now that the country is doing less and less for its people. These jobs may not be the most glamorous in the world but they offer a solution for many people who need the money to feed themselves, pay bills and put themselves or members of their family through school. Some of these people are graduates who have been unable to find an office job and have decided to make something else out of their lives rather than staying jobless. I don’t see them as less privileged but as resourceful. After all, they’re only doing what anyone else would do in their shoes by utilising the talents they have to get the money they need. So their talents aren’t the usual suspects; some sing, some dance, others make gates and weave baskets. Everybody is doing what they can to get where they must. We must realise that although we’ve been blessed with an education abroad that is supposed to give us an advantage over our peers, there are many out there who aren’t as lucky. Would we be quite as creative were the shoe on the other foot?