Events

Tourism practitioners honour veteran, unveil permanent exhibition at National Museum

Published

3 years ago

January 15, 2024

Tour Operators in Nigeria and some other big shots within and outside Nigeria in the tourism space yesterday hosted Ambassador Ikechi Uko to a surprise birthday party as he turned 60.

Mr. Uko is a tourism legend in Nigeria and the founder of Akwaaba African travel market.

The party was held at the National Museum, Onikan, Lagos, where he was honoured with a permanent exhibition as tribute to his contributions to the industry.

Uko, was honoured by some tourism and hospitality practitioners with the exhibition named after one of his projects, “Seven Wonders of Nigeria”.

The “Seven Wonders of Nigeria” is an exhibition of the 35 most fascinating tourism destinations in Nigeria, compiled by Uko in 2020.

In 2020, Uko led a search trip to identify and market the tourism destinations peculiar to each state of the country, which he tagged “Seven Wonders of Nigeria”.

Some of the tourist destinations identified include Obudu Mountain in Cross River; Ado Awaye Suspended Lake in Oyo; Riyom Rock in Plateau; Owu Waterfall in Kwara; Badagry Beach in Lagos State, Mambila Plateau in Taraba and more.

The “Seven Wonders of Nigeria” exhibition has a display of the pictorial representation of the identified iconic destinations right from the entrance of the museum through to its entire surroundings, giving the museum some facelift.

Unveiling the exhibition, Chief Olusegun Runsewe, former Director-General of the National Council of Arts and Culture (NCAC), harped on the significance of the exhibition.

Runsewe commended Uko for his remarkable contributions toward the growth of the tourism, travel, aviation and hospitality industries.

Nigerian folklorist and dancer, Adeola Adebo, popularly known as “Ire D Stage Devi”, in an electrifying stagecraft performed in honour of the celebrator as she rendered prayers for him.

She said, “There is no Ire without Ikechi Uko, this is 20 years of supporting me as an artiste after attending an edition of AKWAABA Travel Market with the quest to perform, which you made me fulfil and you have been supporting me since then.

“Thank you for introducing AKWAABA African Travel Market and for supporting everyone in the tourism value chain.”

Up Next

MTV Base premieres music game show “Know your music”

Don't Miss

Nigerian filmmaker Mo Abudu Shines at the Oscars Governors Awards

Click to comment

Culture

WAKE UP! Art Exhibition Returns for a Second Act

Published

2 days ago

August 27, 2026

Mariam Balogun

The contemporary art and photography exhibition “Wake Up!” is back again for a second edition.

Curated by Awele Onwordi, Wake Up! 2 exhibition pays homage to the Nigerian youth and burgeoning street culture which many of its contributing artists reference in their works.

Also read: Five rising stars battle for 2026 Headies Next Rated

Titled “Young, Wild, Free”, the exhibition celebrates the creativity, resilience, freedom and cultural influence found in Nigerian youth.

Taking aim at societal issues and economic concerns, the exhibit reflects the youth and their refusal to compromise or bow despite all the challenges stacked against them while charting youth culture through art, music, fashion, skateboarding, photography and community.

The exhibition will be held, once again, at the Angel and Muse Gallery at 25 Sumbo Jibowu street off Ribadu Road off Awolowo Road in Ikoyi.

It will open on Saturday 5 September 2026 and will run until 11 September 2026
This second edition which focuses on celebrating, nurturing and exploring artistic practices rooted in youth and street culture will feature works from DENCITY and SUPERGLIDER HOUSE.

Exhibiting artists include Ajilore Kehinde – their work is deeply influenced by Nigerian street culture and works of other artists like Slawn, Peters Ejiro, etc, Chuka Onwordi – graphic designer who embodies themes of death, melancholy and beauty in his works, ZIDYEP – Abuja based creative whose works move between digital and physical spaces through art, graphic design and air brushing , Franklyn Okoye – graphic designer and artist whose works explore themes of identity and hyper-reality, Awele Onwordi – founder & curator of WAKE UP and multidisciplinary artist whose practice spans character art, creative logo design, album covers and more , Oluchi Kogolo – digital illustrator whose work explores street culture, personality and storytelling through a raw and playful visual style and Kozetuo Apeji – multidisciplinary artists who work explores experimental approaches to problem solving through both digital and traditional art forms.

Commenting on the exhibition in her curatorial statement, Awele noted that “despite economic instability, limited opportunities and socio-political challenges, Nigerian youth continue to shape culture through music, fashion, art, skateboarding, raves, photography and community.”

Also read: Five rising stars battle for 2026 Headies Next Rated

Continuing and harping on the raison d’etre of the exhibition she said, “Young, Wild and Free exists to celebrate Nigerian youth while also creating a platform that supports and amplifies them.”